Did you know that Google will be lowering the minimum bid for an ad to just 1 penny? From the AdWords blog:

Increased Control: We’re replacing the static USD $0.05 minimum bid for all keywords with a minimum bid that varies based on the quality of your keyword and ad text. High quality keywords (determined by the Quality Score) will have minimum bids as low as $0.01, while keywords with a lower Quality Score will be assigned higher minimum bids. As long as the maximum CPC meets the minimum bid, your keyword will be active. You no longer have to worry about on hold, in trial, or disabled keywords.

This is a good change. Advertisers who know their conversion rates will be able to bid for more inventory at low cost, as long as they can create good ads.

What's the downside of this? You have to know even more about how Google works. And it's not really getting easier to explain... Reading the freakin' manual carefully is becoming a must.

¶ 7/19/2005