Hacking Google - getting your ad out there for free. Possible? Chris Anderson believes so, and he’s done it.

But I chose a bunch of very obscure terms to advertise against. And my ad sucks (see above) and nobody ever clicks on it. The result is that I get hundreds (sometimes thousands) of impressions a day for free. Every now and then Google notices that my ad isn’t performing, so I have to raise the price I’ll pay for each click (I’m now at $0.40). But since I get no clicks it doesn’t matter.

I have to admit to a slight rush of pride that I’ve managed to outsmart Google in some tiny way and get free impressions. Granted, the value of those impressions is at most a couple bucks a day. And because my ad, as mentioned, sucks, the actual benefit to me is probably close to zero. Furthermore, if anyone were to actually click on the ads, I’d quickly lose whatever gains I’ve made (if you do happen to see my ad out in the wild, please don’t click on it). But still! I’ve hacked Google! Woot!

Ok, so you get “impressions” on your ad. Probably some awareness building. But your ad is so bad that nobody really cares to click on it. So Google let’s you keep “trying”, and you keep getting free advertising. Bid price makes no difference, since you’re not paying for it anyway. Interesting. Good one Chris.