As part of my new self-teaching, getting involved to figure out what works initiative, I decided to try out an advertising engine that I never heard of before, 7Search.com. Now despite providing amazing Internet marketing tips, I’m struggling like the rest of America. I’m not going to front and pretend I have loads of money that I can toss around on advertising for online experiments. But seeing as I just put together a free Internet marketing tools bundle with landing page, I decided to take bust open my piggy bank a crack at it.
7Search.com Overview
7Search.com is a self proclaimed “leading pay per click search engine advertising and affiliate network” that helps advertisers gain more traffic to their websites. This traffic supposedly results in increased revenue and a larger brand reach.
7Search.com offers three main advertising programs which are as follows:
- 7Search PPC Ad Network: Allows advertisers the option of running their ads through 7Search’s search engines, niche “portals”, and other third party websites.
- 7Search AccessoryAds: Permits advertisers the ability to push text-based advertisements to category specific websites where the ad is only shown in a specific area.
- Click-Free™ Direct Navigation: Gives advertisers the ability to bid for keyword specific direct traffic that will redirect ad clickers to a landing page that is being promoted.
The 7Search.com Review
I decided to see how far I could get with my whopping $25.00. I know this is chump change. However, if 7Search.com didn’t work, I don’t think it would really matter if I spent $25.00 or $500.00. So I dove into the 7Search PPC Ad Network and the 7Search AccessoryAds for my experiment.
7Search.com Advertising Campaign Set Up
My campaign was based around the following broad phrases: social media, Internet marketing, search engine optimization, PPC, and entrepreneurship. This amounted in a campaign focused on 500 keywords that were selected using their “broad match” keyword tool. I created my advertisement (seen below), set my daily budget to $5.00, and then I was good to go.
So my $25.00 got me the following:
- Campaign lasted 9 days (5/1/13-5/9/13)
- Total of 114,299 impressions
- 539 clicks
- $.05 cost per click
- 1st position (if there even is one)
- Average daily impressions 12,699
- Average daily clicks 59
- Average daily click through rate .49%
That is how the results of my $25.00 looked on the 7Search side. Now let me take the time to analyze the performance of my site according to Google Analytics.
7Search Vs. Google Analytics Metrics
When looking over the Google Analytics for my site during the given 9 day time frame between 5/1 and 5/9, there were a few interesting pieces of data that are worth pointing out.
#1- Clicks Vs. Actual Visits
7Search.com claims to have referred me 539 visitors where Google Analytics only registered 398. That is a 35.4% error! Now obviously I don’t expect the numbers to be 100% exact, but I’d like to think Google is much more capable of measuring traffic to my site. In fact, others have reported that you will see more visits than clicks from time to time in Google Analytics.
#2- Bounce Rate
The average bounce rate for those 398 registered visitors was 95.44%. This is extremely high, especially for paid advertisements as they are supposed to be more targeted. Comparing this rate to campaigns I’ve run using Google Adwords and the bounce rates don’t even compare. I’m aware there are many differences between Google and 7Search, but it still can create a bench mark for expectations. I’ve seen many clients record an average bounce rate on paid campaigns between 60-70%.
#3- Pages Per Visit
The pages per visit metric varies depending on the traffic source. Visitors coming from the 7Search campaigns only visited an average of 1.3 pages per visit whereas visitors coming from organic traffic saw a rate of 1.4 and direct traffic was much higher at 2.4.
#4- Landing Page Vs. Actual Visits Vs. Click
When I created the campaign on 7Search, the had all of my advertisements pointing to one URL. So naturally one would think that if there were 398 visitors to the site from 7Search.com, then the landing page that all of the traffic was directed to should register 398 (or close to it). Well according to GA, the landing page received 376 visits from the 7Search network so this isn’t too far off. However, 7Search.com is claiming to have sent 539 so this number shows a much larger divide.
#5- Referring Site Quality (The Good Shit)
Okay so this is where it gets good. I mean when I was doing this final bit of conclusive research I felt like Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes. So let me get after it.
I decide to analyze the top 25 websites that referred traffic to my website. These sites roughly accounted for 50% of all the registered visitors within Google Analytics. Of these 25 websites, 6 websites had the the exact same content and website template. The only difference was the logo:
Another 7 out of the 25 websites from 7Search.com network were educational based websites with almost identical content that had absolutely nothing to do with the keywords I was bidding on.
I even looked at the inner pages of the websites to see if the content was related to the keywords I was bidding on and…nope! Also, while checking out these pages, after about 10 seconds on a page I would be bombarded with a bunch of floating ads taking over my screen.
Given the nature of these ads, I believe it is safe to assume these are the advertisements that people like me are bidding on. If that is the case, it isn’t setting an advertiser up for success within the 7Search.com network of sites. The reason being, 72% of my top 25 traffic referrers, are from junk sites with content that is no way related to the keywords I was bidding on. If these sites were to increase search engine ranking well that would possibly be a different story seeing as the average PA was 23 and the average DA was 21 (all relevancy aside).
#6- Conversions from 7Search.com Campaign
So how many conversions did I receive from my $25.00, 9 days, 114,299 impressions, and 539 clicks?
0!
Now I would have expected at least one conversion to be the result of the activity associated with my campaign, especially since the landing page is fairly decent. But nope, my dreams were crushed like kids finding out about Santa Clause’s non-existence.
Conclusions About 7Search.com Advertising
A few conclusions can be drawn that all point to me never using the 7Search.com network again:
- This is simple: the network provided absolutely no return on investment.
- Based on my analysis of the sites that drove traffic to my landing page, they are all junk sites. I mean a few of them even returned 403 and 404 errors.
- Despite the claims of “target specific” websites and advertisement areas, there appeared to be very little targeting of where the ads were displayed. A handful of my advertisements were on humor websites that had videos and a ton of duplicate content that was in no way related to my site.
- The metrics provided by 7Search.com are inaccurate compared to the tracking capabilities of a more advanced system like Google Adwords. This should have been expected (the UI sucks) but since they claim to be a “leader” who has been around since 1999, I had higher expectations.
- They have an aggressive sales team. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing because a business has to make money, but I received multiple calls about my campaign and the processing of my card. Eventually, they did stop calling but just know if you sign up, they will be calling.
Disclaimer: The point of this post isn’t to bad mouth or put down 7Search.com. It is simply to explain my experience with the campaigns I decided to run through their network. There are a number of factors that could contribute to the results of my campaign such as keywords targeted, the title I choose for my ad, the description I used, the landing page, and the amount of money spent. However, I am confident my experience with 7Search.com is similar to what other advertisers trying out their network have seen.
I’d love to hear about your experience and if you’ve had a better one, please share it so readers can hear both sides of the spectrum.
About the Author
38 Comments on “7search Pay Per Click Search Engine Experiment- Results Shocking!”
Nice sharing. I am newbie in CPC advertise. I used Google Adwords and now I would like to use 7Search.com, but after your experience, I think I should consider about that.
I was about to start a campaign on 7search but now I am not sure about it.
Where to start a successful PPC campaign?
Well this is weird, a friend of mine reported that he has had great results from advertising with 7search and he has got conversions promoting clickbank product as well -_- I think I will need to check it out myself.
Anyway thanks for your article. Well explained.
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve heard of others experiencing success with 7search as well. It’s probably about the product being offered.
Hi Michael, I have just started out on 7search and will report back in a few days. Most of us go for 7search considering their low CPC. Till now I have a few clicks but 0 conversions. Obviously if they are not targeted, we ill get zero convs. The offer is a peerfly email zip offer.
What other CPC networks do you recommend based on your experience ?
Thanks
I’ve had mixed success with 7search. I could get conversions with 7search on peerfly email submits after blocking the junk refer(r)ers and heavily targeting keyword traffic, but even at that, it was about break-even. 7search does offer a tool to block bad traffic if you know where it’s coming from. I use Prosper202 for tracking this since I’m essentially direct-linking.
I recently tried promoting a Clickbank offer I know converts from a YouTube video. Odd thing is that I got a conversion within the week after spending less than $2. I left the default $.05 bids in for the KWs and hadn’t optimized the ads per keyword at the time. Since then i’ve increased bids to rank at the top and opted the ads. Been running for a little over a week now and not a single conversion. Maybe paying more isn’t better. I dunno. Just thought I’d share.
Side note- I’m working on developing a tool for P202 using Clickbank’s instant notification API for tracking conversions. It’s probably going to be similar to cbtrax. I’m cheap so I didn’t want to pay for something I could develop. I’d like to find a way to monetize it. If you have ideas please let me know. It’s pretty dumb right now. It will send a conversion v
Good luck!
Steve
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for reaching out and leaving a comment. I have heard from others that 7Search works well for them, but based on my results I find that hard to believe. However, two points I’d like to make regarding my test are 1. I didn’t spend a ton of money and 2. I didn’t get very specific with my ad targeting (which could play a major role). As for other CPC networks I recommend, I’m afraid I can’t shed too much light on the matter as this isn’t really my expertise. I generally use Google for most of my PPC. I did some digging around and found a good list of other networks that you may want to check out: 10 CPC Networks
Sorry I couldn’t provide more assistance and I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Mike
Hello Michael,
Yes you are right as I had almost same experience with 7search.com advertising channel as what they are offering is absolutely low quality / self or false traffic as MOST of the affiliates site and this is one of the most in-demand platform for the affiliate advertisers.
Thanks for the sharing!
RA
I never made a dime from 7search traffic. When I tried to close my account, I got the following email.
Hello Ronnie,
Thank you for using 7Search.com. Please be advised that we have received your refund request however; based on our terms and conditions your account is not currently eligible to receive a refund. There are two conditions that must be met in order for a refund to be issued on a 7search advertising account. The first condition is that there is a fee of $25 that must be deducted from any account requesting a refund. Second, any promotional credits received during the life of your account will need to be deducted from the balance before a refund is issued as they are non-refundable. Additionally, we do not issue refunds for any amounts below $25. Due to the fact that your current balance will not allow for these conditions to be met we are unable to complete your request. You are free to allow your campaigns to run until your funds are depleted and we can honor your request at that time. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Hi Team,
I am Vish, Working On 7search account got suspended for tech support website and few of people using the same search engine for tech support website intresting part in this is they are redirecting to 404 error pages, why they are redirecting there pages to 404 pages, most of the advertisers apart from iyogi, Please any one can tell, with 404 error page we can avoid suspension
Wow – so glad I saw this post! Just getting ready to start a GA campaign for my new site that’s targeted to live event goers who want to invite their friends to join them for a concert, theater or sporting event but don’t want to get stuck footing the bill. Was searching for additional options to GA and found some threads pointing to 7search so it piqued my interest. Have you had any success with other options?
Hey, I have been testing out 7search with no success also. All clicks and no conversion. If possible, can you tell me how you find out the websites that gave you the traffic? I want to see how ridiculous those sites are myself.
Thanks for sharing!
Ian
Sure Ian. Sorry to hear it isn’t working out well for you either. To see the traffic sources do the following:
1. Login to Google Analytics
2. Set the date range for when you were running the campaign on 7search -> http://screencast.com/t/bGH05rtsqNI
3. On the left hand side click “Acquisitions”
4. From the drop down select “All Referrals”
5. In the grid section below the line chart you will see the referral sources -> http://screencast.com/t/qHzxp8WfCeh
6. Review those sources and you can assume the ones that don’t look natural or have a high bounce rate (95%+) are from 7Search
I hope that helps. Let me know if you need anything else.
I have had the same experience using 7search in November of 2014. I tried hard to work some PPC camapigns due to the cheap PPC cost. I even used mouseflow so I could watch visitors.
My conclusion – over 95% of PPC clicks are BS. I wasted more than $200.00. Keep your money in your pocket.
7search helped me get international sales from my male enhancement site at Christmas time, when US sales slowed down. So, I am grateful for that. At this point, I don’t care if it was low quality traffic. I got results that helped me continue making sales that I would have been making from the US if it wasn’t for the commercialization of Christmas.
I have wasted $100 on 7search but no luck.. their support number is always not answerable.. overall its not worth spending money.
I used to use 7search as a publisher, but now moved over to http://www.adclx.com/
Your results are true. I have also invested $100 with 7search and I received absolutely nothing in return (no conversions). However, this is my first time doing PPC so I would have not known.
Can you do a tutorial on PPC using Google Adwords or do you know other platofrms that are easy to use (like 7search). Their platform is easy to use and setting up the campaigns are a breeze.
i just started 7search campaign for my client’s offer in betting tips. Google adwords doesnt allow that so i had to use 7search. http://www.worldbettips.com
Result, No conversion. lol
Interesting you’re results sound so familiar 😛
Thanks for your comments Shaun.
Interesting your results seem so familiar 😛
Thanks for your insight Shaun!
I was looking to start an campaign on 7 search when i stumble across this site. I thing i’m going to pass on their service.
09/12/2015 stated service. Wow, I wish I had of saw this site before paying the $400.00 they demanded out of me. Its been 22 days now . I have ran ads for 6 different campaigns. I’m so disgusted! 2 weeks into my campaign. I noticed no results. I called and spoke with Charles, who was very rude! He told me I need to up my amount from 5 per day to 10 per day to see if that makes a difference. 4 days days later, no results, so I put the price back down to 5.00 per day. I ask where do you marketing url/links/ada’s on the search engine? He names search engines that I have never heard of. ( no google, bing, explorer, ect). Needless to say at the 22 day mark I did not receive any results from using them. I normally use google adword but its getting so expensive, i figured I would find an alternative. Please don’t waste your money!
Hi! Thanks for sharing your experience and sorry to hear it went so poorly. Hopefully others will learn from our mistakes or maybe, just maybe, 7Search will change the way they operate.
Cheers,
Mike
I’m running campaigns now I hope this is not my results. Great post btw.
Hi Neil. I’m sure your results may be different but only time will tell. Good luck.
I’ve had clients reference this article throughout the years, even before the rebrand of this site, and have always abstained from participating in the discussion. Why? Well, because there are so many factors that were excluded from this article that should have been shared in order to paint a truly fair portrait of your user experience.
I have always had trouble understanding the point of this article. There are no tutorials, tips, or best practices provided here to help any marketer move forward and succeed in their craft. Your data sample is too small to draw the conclusions you have and the effect has been to negatively color the perspective of readers. Essentially, all you’ve done is craft an article to rank highly organically on negative phrases related to 7Search.
It is more than a bit irresponsible to bash a brand without being upfront about what you brought to the table. If you were promoting a PPC course or an SEM service, people would be hard pressed to succeed mirroring your test. Some of the finer points of your marketing strategy included:
• Selecting a tiny budget while running a huge (500+) keyword library.
• Running all of those keywords on a BROAD match (major no-no on any platform).
• Running your campaigns globally (we have traffic from 247 different countries; not all geos perform equally and most affiliate marketing offers are geo-specific).
• Never optimizing (A/B testing) ad copy (orig. description 185+ characters) to see what works.
• Running your campaign on both mobile and desktop traffic sources. Mobile traffic performs significantly different than desktop industry-wide and can seriously impact your results.
• Never requesting a traffic review. 7Search has always featured a dedicated TQ team in place that reviews any requests and reimburses for poor quality traffic. The link has always been available on the dashboard.
• Never requesting any domain blocks.
• Not making use of our available account tools, including referrer ID blocking, to optimize the traffic sources delivering traffic to your offer.
• Never contacting customer support at all.
It almost feels as though your intention was to run a campaign in order to gather “data” to craft a post & highjack a negative SERP, which in turn allows you to grow yourself as an authority and better promote your product. What better way to grow authority than to cater to like-minded (unhappy) customers of a brand? I can appreciate the strategy, but to continue to address this post with statements like “Hopefully others will learn from our mistakes or maybe, just maybe, 7Search will change the way they operate.” is a bit thoughtless. In marketing, as in life, you get out of it what you put in; your campaign was never set up to succeed at all.
If your intention is to truly help your readers to succeed on 7Search, or marketing in general, please consider sharing what you did wrong so that they might truly “learn from your mistakes”, Mike. They can also contact our team Monday through Friday via chat, email (clientsupport@7search.com), or phone to discuss any issues they are experiencing. We will always do our best to help them succeed because, ultimately, if they fail, we fail.
Regards,
Cleo
7Search Team
Hi Cleo,
Thanks for stopping by and adding your lengthy comment. It definitely sheds a different light on the post and also what I did wrong when setting up my little test. It’s unfortunate that people reference this post and come across it when researching your brand. Despite what you think my “strategy” was, I actually didn’t have one beyond writing the post and publishing it. I simply was messing around with 7Search and needed to write a blog post so I combined the two.
Now users know where they can contact your team when they are ready to succeed using 7Search.
Happy New Year Cleo.
Cheers,
Mike
Hi i was thinking about using 7 search, I would agree that having any campaign set on broad is a basic no no for anyone to do. Thanks anyway for the info Ryan ~http://www.homebusinesseducation.co.uk/
Sheeesh this post got turnt up towards the end. LOL
Read every post. Got quite entertaining by the end 🙂
Will give them a shot and post my results
Hi Nick,
Thanks for the comment 🙂 Let us know how you make out and be sure to learn from my mistakes…
Cheers,
Mike
I have used them at times, with mixed results. I think I will give it another go.
Mark Schneider
http://www.standardconcessionsupply.com
I can verify the existence of 7search back in 1999. In fact I used them back in those days in multiple ways. I was once a source of their traffic aka affiliate and I was also a buyer aka advertiser. Back in those days the way of doing business was sending traffic (we now call them people) in any manor possible. We didn’t worry about user experience unless they didn’t convert to money. Back then it was not unheard of to send tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of visitors daily to pop ups, squeeze pages etc. and we’d do it over and over again. It was about that time when Google had the for sight to think a quality user experience was the future and they were correct.
I am not going to run 7search down because they had their rightful place in the development of what the Internet is now today but it is probably time for them to consider heading in the direction that google plowed before us.
Thanks Michael for your unique perspective. I’m sure you have some very interesting insight into the way digital marketing has evolved over the years. Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
Mike
Use SupremeSearch.net its 100 times better!
Thanks. I will be sure to check that out.
Know this is an older thread, but thought you might be interested in knowing 7search seems to no longer exist. Was doing research from a book and the site had been down since yesterday. For those giving you flak….I would just like to say that even a broken clock is right twice a day.