Is admob completely bogus?

[mediaspree]

After waiting weeks for them to approve my ad it began running.
My ad is simply "My App Name for iPhone -FREE!" with my app icon as the icon so the user knows what they are clicking on, that is for the iphone, and that it is free. I target only US traffic and only the iphone.


199 clicks at a cost of 10 Cents per click for a total of $19.90

0 downloads. Thats right 0! How is this possible? Is my description THAT bad?

What a shame.

[varchar]

Originally Posted by mediaspree

After waiting weeks for them to approve my ad it began running.
My ad is simply "My App Name for iPhone -FREE!" with my app icon as the icon so the user knows what they are clicking on, that is for the iphone, and that it is free. I target only US traffic and only the iphone.


199 clicks at a cost of 10 Cents per click for a total of $19.90

0 downloads. Thats right 0! How is this possible? Is my description THAT bad?

What a shame.

I think your description is fine. The problem can be a multitude of factors. Maybe app is not attractive enough for the target audience. Maybe app description is not good enough. Or really what I think based on experience is admb does not work.

I spent thousands about 1 year ago on admob ads and the conversation ratio of downloads was less than 1%. So I stopped after learning the lesson which cost me thousands.

Mate admob works for others but for me it was a flaw. So I would quit that avenue if I were you. Instead put your dollars into stuff like buying downloads.

[ilmman]

is your app free?

[mediaspree]

Originally Posted by ilmman

is your app free?

Yes. Which is why I am so perplexed. If the ad specifically tells what the app is, that it is free, and links directly to the itunes download page, what stopped all those 199 people from downloading it after showing enough interest to click the ad. My thought it they weren't people at all.

[Graphite Fusion]

I keep hearing the story over and over again that advertising on admob ends with terrible results. Come to think of it I don't think I've heard any positive results from using it. I'm curious, which of your games were you trying to advertise using admob?

[mediaspree]

Originally Posted by Graphite Fusion

I keep hearing the story over and over again that advertising on admob ends with terrible results. Come to think of it I don't think I've heard any positive results from using it. I'm curious, which of your games were you trying to advertise using admob?

I was trying to advertise the free version of my Movie Clock app. The text of the ad was simply "Movie Countdown Clock For iPhone - FREE!" with a picture of the app icon which generated 199 clicks and 0 downloads of the free app. I only advertised on iphone 4 and up and in the US (supposedly) so I do not think there would be compatibility or language barrier issues. What did the users who clicked except to find when they clicked through? Its clearly not legit clickthroughs being delivered.

[lifewares]

Originally Posted by mediaspree

Thats right 0! How is this possible? Is my description THAT bad?

It is possible, I had very similar results. Don't think descriptions matter that much at all.

[Oral B]

Just curious, how much did it cost you to promote with Admob?

[KarlJay]

Originally Posted by mediaspree

Yes. Which is why I am so perplexed. If the ad specifically tells what the app is, that it is free, and links directly to the itunes download page, what stopped all those 199 people from downloading it after showing enough interest to click the ad. My thought it they weren't people at all.

That's a big issue with these kind of setups, no way to tell if the clicks were real or if they happened at all.

I have an idea:
Have the click go to your website. Make a very simple fast loading website and have a counter on it. Have the counter also track how long the people were on the site and a link to the free download.

In your case, the only thing I can think of is the download was too large. However, people usually know this going in.

I'm guessing that you paid per click, that would really make me question things. They sell time, they have X amount of time on the phones, the more 'clicks' they sell the more money they make. Ad money is tight right now, even with the merge from print/classic methods to electronic, money is still tight.

They want to maximize, the income (clicks) per number of ad spaces/ ad time they purchase.

If they are scamming us, they won't get away with it for long. Once the word gets out, they'll get no money from devs.