Question About Overture
 

Ok, it may be stupid, but I want to know now (rather than waiting and testing). Now overture shows this result for one of the keywords I want to bid on

Monthly Search Volume Est. Clicks
6,334 316

Firstly I know from experience with free SE listings overture monthly search volume is usually quite a bit off. But than I also realise that (I believe?) overture results also are shown across yahoogroups, directory, etc etc. So what I am wondering is there monthly search volume shown inflated? Or is it actually what their network receives? (Perhaps a stupid question, but anyway).

Additionally, they base their Est. Clicks on a 5% clickthrough rate, obviously very high. I have never dealt with PPC stuff before (dabbling in it now for a mainstream project) and I notice that, unlike Google, if you pay good $ Yahoo shows your ad at the top of it's search results (and not to the side). So I am wondering what is a good CTR I could expect to achieve with a highly targetted ad campaign?

Thanks in advance to those that help!

Good question, here's a bump for you. I have yet to try Overture.

buuuuuuump

Overture has been gone for months :winkwink:

Their 20 buck per month minimum is bullshit! I had some money left over from a previous month that carried over and the fuckers charge me 20 bucks for not meeting the 20 dollar minimum the following month. If you deposit money and are active why the fuck would they charge you for something that you didn't even use? That's why I don't fuck with them anymore.

that sucks. but obviously you atleast gave them a small try. do you have any insight to my particularly question?

They basically deem that if you're not spending $20/month, you're not worth their time. Thats their mentality since they've blown up so much.

WG

I believe their search volumes are based only on actual searches and not contexual advertising they may carry. As for the positioning of the ads (top versus left side), the top 2 bids go ontop, the next bunch go on the side.

WG

Just the man I hoped would come in this thread :) Can you give me a quick idea how many clicks I can expect from a high paying ad that is well targetted? Say their 5% estimate is 316 clicks, what would you yourself expect to get if you paid for the top spot, and targetted it well?

Appreciate your help :)

It depends strongly on what position you're trying to get. If you get the number one spot, then their estimation tool is usually an understatement from my opinion. If you're aiming for spots 3-5, their estimation tool is overstated. It varies a little widely so its tricky. To be honest though, 316 keyword volume is so little its not even worth it. I won't even promote a niche unless the cumulative total of all keywords has at least 100,000 search volume.

WG

Understood. The industry I am targetting though does not get that many searches. For me I have to really work to get a decent flow of traffic coming in through the PPC engines (have to find all the possibile keywords and do my best to target each one for the best CTR). The up side though is each sale equals a few thousand dollars profit, and the industry isn't tooo hard to sell to. But I am very glad to hear that top spot is an understatement, I had feared it might of been totally the otherway around. Thanks WG!

Make sure you spend at least $20/month though or Overture is gonna nail you for the minimum charge. I guess if you're making thousands in return you could afford it though.
WG

No...wish I could answer that...I use free Google and Yahoo SE traffic now..Sorry for going off topic...but the mention of Overture struck a cord with me.

Thanks for that info WG

That's cool. You shared a bit of info I didn't already know anyway and gave the thread a bump :thumbsup