Should Google Brace Itself for an Ad Backlash?

Will Google face a backlash from advertisers because of its plummeting click-through rates? Here’s the thing: because of a recent price change, advertisers are now paying more for less.

In March, Google changed its AdWords algorithm, which means that some advertising are paying much higher rates … yet their conversion rates have hit the skids.

“If it were just a rate increase, I would have tolerated it. But my ad rates have doubled and I’ve got no business,” an anonymous tipster told Wired.com.

Google, for its part, says that its drop in paid clicks is … intentional. The Web titan justifies the higher ad rates, saying that serving fewer, but more relevant ads more than makes up for the lower conversion rates.

But advertisers ain’t having it, Wired reports.

“I am seeing large-scale advertisers whose general cost per clicks is trending up … and they’re seeing impressions go down,” Jeremy Chatfield, an analyst at Web marketing firm Merjis, told Wired.com.