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This has always been asked on the major forums about Google AdWords. Many advertisers want to know if it is generally profitable to advertise on the content network. Well, the short answer is - it depends. Most of the time, you’ll get more clicks but lower conversion compared to the search network.

Now, first let’s talk about the search network. There is an option when you go into your AdWords campaign settings to turn the search and content network syndication on or off. Basically if you turn the search network off, your ads will only show on the Google search engine results pages. They will not be syndicated to other search engines such as AskJeeves and AOL.

If you turn on content network syndication, your ads will also show on other websites that display Google ads (AdSense). In the early days when I tested out turning on the content network option, I got lots of clicks but very few conversions. It’s mainly because the traffic is much less targeted than the search networks (if you are bidding on the right keywords, that is).

But there’s a new development lately where Google allows you to bid separately for the search network vs. content network. That means you can specify a lower bid for the content networks. You could for instance bid 20 cents per click on the search networks but only 5 cents per click on the content network.

However, there’s still the question of tracking. Google doesn’t really provide you with a good way to track where your ads are appearing. Wouldn’t that be nice to know? And what if you could measure the conversions as well?

I just tested a product that does both. It tracks exactly which domains are showing your ads and sending your the clicks. Not only that, you can also dig into the specific page on that domain where the click originated from. You can also track conversions such as sales, newsletter sign ups, or any other action and use that information to then exclude sites froms showing your ads.

Find out more here (Did I mention you can try it out for free?)

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