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Comment by Bombthecat | Hacker News Reader

For real?

I also think that prices are extremely inflated.

Even stuff which shows like hundred people a day costs you 8 dollar per click. No amount of selling will you get back the money.

Imho something is wrong there...

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I've never done work for a law firm but have talked to some and the small shops specializing in easy cases like DUI's and personal bankruptcies can pretty easily fill up their billable hours by turning an AdSense campaign on and not coming close to eating away their margin.

I'd guess on the keywords where law firms are spending hundreds per click, you're dealing with malpractice and personal injury cases. Those cases are likely to be done on contingent and can have pretty huge upsides. I'd think a well-run firm would have some idea of the expected value of those types of cases and can spend accordingly to acquire clients. Considering how targeted search ads are compared to how these firms normally advertise -- local TV, radio, billboards, busses, etc. the costs probably aren't radically different than they're used to spending on advertising.

Early on in my career I was an SEO Account Manager (barf) and mortgage lending PPC ads could run up to $50/click. This was in 2005. Having some specialized markets with clicks in the hundreds these days would make me raise an eyebrow, but certainly isn't shocking.

You'd be surprised - it often implies the lifetime value of the potential customer is exceptionally high, despite low conversion rates (a medical lawyer is a good example, as are insurance products with high stickiness).

> No amount of selling will you get back the money.

If that were true these ads would just go away, or cost less. They are making money.

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