I definitely agree. I don't think anyone is getting 40% - though they could. They could outsource it to start-ups who do this. There are firms who will have an army of experts optimize the crap out of your PPC assets for money later.

In other words, if they don't save you money, they don't make any money. That simple.

A while back, I took a clients' old stuff, and with a partner turned what one would perceive as trash - into treasure. Keep in mind, this client spent a ton on PPC. I'll have another post about "old leads" soon, but that was the genesis of this "brain fart."

I recently got back deep into the trenches recently myself... Working deals, generating leads, etc. I'm glad I did. I found quickly that leads 30 - 45 days old performed pretty well. In speaking with merchants who all invariably play games, I found that some (I wish I knew a precise percentage), went to the next guy just to save face. If you gave me an option; "Jay we are going to now fund Real Estate Agents who are barely getting by, and we guarantee 100% approval, or, you can work our leads from 30 days ago." I'm choosing the leads form 30 days ago. Those leads from 30 days ago are educated, jaded, and in prime position for me to close them if I approach them right.

For instance, you quote a guy 1.38, he says "screw you", I quote him 1.38, he says screw me, and then he goes to Joe ISO who quotes him 1.38, he says "aww hell, I'll sign." I want the guy who's willing to say "aww hell I'll sign" over any instant Google ad - period.

So, based on my empirical observations, I know that if two guys sat down and came to an agreement on a unified code, and agreed framework there's value to be exchanged.

It starts with campaign construction, on to lead management. If two guys agree on mirroring each others; PPC optimization - by outsourcing it to Silicon Valley, on page optimization, and lead response management, that establishes a solid control, in as much as both guys who are spending a bazillion are basically casting a wide net anyway.

So yes, I'd be buying a guys start-up leads from a purely mathematical perspective. However, there's surely to be an "aww hell I'll sign" lead in there as well.

Mind you, this can all be micro tested... Never go gung ho without testing.