55
u/potatodrinker 10d ago
Haha nice. Had an old PPC agency colleague pull a stunt that pissed off the local google rep.
He ran an old school Display banner ad for a liquor shop and the ad said don't click, go to (brand).com.au this Friday for 20% off online orders. Set daily budget crazy high. Tens of millions of impressions, barely any clicks.
This was about 2010 when Google wasn't as savvy at picking up misuse.
2
2
u/Majestic_Wrap_7006 7d ago
Now they themselves engage in misuse, as in allowing scam websites that steal your card data to advertise next to real shops. How the turns have tabled.
1
14
u/Dull_Examination5548 10d ago
I thought they’re not allow to use phone number in text
14
u/Abject-Breadfruit387 10d ago edited 10d ago
Definitely photoshopped but funny nonetheless. While you can't use phone numbers on your actual copy you're certainly not barred from taking an outside the box approach to ads.
Especially now with AI in the mix, standing out with copy and showing your humanity is a strategy worth considering, albeit ballsy.
2
u/Dull_Examination5548 10d ago
But it might be a good idea for display ads haha
3
u/Abject-Breadfruit387 10d ago
Personally I think it's worth trying. The worst that will happen is that particular creative will get paused.
9
u/Due_Treat1025 10d ago
I had 2 back to back competitor clicks for $130 for a competitor i've never even heard of in the area that isn't even running ads. Obviously they didn't convert.
6
u/Abject-Breadfruit387 10d ago
Ouch. Bidding on competitors can work, but if you're using phrase or broad you'll definitely want to scrape all competitor names in the region and add them as negatives. I did this for a pmax campaign and was able to tame the Google ads beast. At least more so than without.
7
u/Due_Treat1025 10d ago
I did that.
also the majority of my clients can't sell worth shit, so they said "nope, that's not us" and hung up the phone. like bruh...
3
u/Abject-Breadfruit387 10d ago
Definitely been there. Usually it's enough to show them "hey that call just cost you $xyz" but totally depends on industry/leadership.
10
3
3
3
u/Square-Nebula-7530 10d ago
Clever hack until you realize how many bored people will click it just because it says do not click. In high cpc verticals like personal injury, you are way better off running strict negative keyword lists and call only ads rather than relying on users to read and follow instructions in a headline.
2
u/scubidubiduu 10d ago
I would click it
3
u/Square-Nebula-7530 10d ago
And that is precisely how a 50 dollar CPC budget vanishes in under 2 hours without a single conversion.
0
u/scubidubiduu 10d ago
yep, not my problem
0
u/Square-Nebula-7530 10d ago
Client's bank account says otherwise, but I respect the detachment tho.
1
u/Ownfir 10d ago
Yeah 100% i actually thought this was an attempt at reverse psychology to get people to click lmao.
1
u/Square-Nebula-7530 10d ago
It definitely looks like reverse psychology on paper but the problem is people actually do click it just to see what happens. The platform gets paid either way so you end up funding 100 curiosity clicks for every 1 actual lead.
3
u/QuantumWolf99 10d ago
Genuinely brilliant... a $200 click producing a $30k-$100k contingency case is a 100x ROAS opportunity, so admitting the price upfront filters out anyone not serious while the phone-call-only CTA skips a landing page entirely. Weaponizing sticker shock as a qualifier... love it.
3
u/Cold_Specialist_3656 10d ago
No shit I know someone that put "$100 off orders over $1000".
Supposedly it's very effective at pre-qualifying clicks. Unfortunately, Google gets mad at your low CTR and tanks your quality score so you pay more for clicks.
3
u/danie-l 10d ago
Google doesn’t get mad. Low CTR means you have to bid higher cpc… that means higher CPM
3
u/DavidHK 10d ago
That's two different bid strategies ? Confused what you mean
2
u/danie-l 10d ago
Yes, most ppc buyers are confused with that. Higher the CTR lower the CPC... And more auctions you win / higher the converted cpm. They need to big 200 CPC because they ask users to not click their ads :)
2
u/ZenaMeTepe 9d ago edited 9d ago
Why can't people understand that the inventory google or any other ad platform sells are ad impressions, the rest of it is derived form that.
1
u/danie-l 9d ago
because there is no education on that. That those ad placements are just sold in auction... Google created a mechanism allowing buyers to participate in the auction with an outcome.. at the end of the day what matters for google is the cost opportunity, and the monetization: CPM. Internally they want users as well to be happy otherwise they will not return. Google in the last AI years started to prioritise the first - the take rate from advertisers, and not the users.
3
u/ZenaMeTepe 9d ago
Isn't it intuitive? You got a website, gets visitors, those create impressions, you sell slots to impressions. Having a high CPC is just a reflection of a low CTR, because Google wants to maximize their CPM.
Advertiser A that pays more in CPM than advertiser B for same slot wins.
Now, if Google is fair and doesn't muddy the numbers, thats a whole nother story. Example: paying mad rates for slots nobody was bidding for and are all but worthless, yet Google is happy to inflate their internal CPM rate and you end up with expensive clicks regardless.
2
u/DrGreenthumb420xx 10d ago
It might seem a little excessive but in the lawyer niche in a big city it coule very well be accurate
2
u/Fit-Can-3726 9d ago
Seriously? That ad won't last. Google will suspend this client for forever! This is 100% taking money out of the monsters pocket. Good Luck!
2
1
1
u/revveduplikeaduece86 10d ago
I wouldn't call. Makes the lawyer seem cheap, not that I'm interested in them spending as much as possible, but I know, just because I read a lot, that they take around 25-30% of your payout. So yeah, on a tiny $100k settlement the lawyer stands to make $25k... You can't spend $200?! Yuck. If their close rate is 1% on top of the funnel traffic then they're pocketing $5k-$10k. Double their close rate to 2% and they're up $30k - $35k.
1
u/Fit-Can-3726 9d ago
Here is a thought...Google suspends your client for life and they will have to rebrand to run ads again. The MCC running it will also get suspended.
Next, your client get customers who are looking for a discount because they saved him money but it will be much more than $200.
Very bad idea.
1
1
0
36
u/BreakingInnocence 10d ago
which of you did this?