On 10/24/07, Kwan Ting Chan <ktc(a)ktchan.info> wrote:
One can argue that there no COI if one assume say the
advert is
completely random and the advertiser have no control exactly when or
where it appears. Ask Facebook (and YouTube) how that went (see
[[Criticism of Facebook#Removal of advertising]]).
The ad is not all that valuable to advertisers or readers if it is
*completely random*. (Yes I said readers, some readers would consider
ads useful if they were relevant... ::shrugs::)
Google adwords allows advertisers to specify keywords (and negative
keywords). And a price they are willing to pay per-click-through.
Every search or page view results in an auction among the ads with
matching keywords. The ads bid they keyword price * their (google
measured) click through rate i.e. their expected profit to google.
This also results in poorly targeted ads costing large amounts of
money per click and ultimately not displaying at all. (There is also a
click through rate floor, and other factors that come into play..)
The bid results determine who shows and in what order.
Do you think a scheme like this produces COI problems?