This seems suspect for a number of reasons, but it's interesting to think about so we'll let the reader decide. Widely read PBS tech-author, Robert X. Cringely, outlines an experiment (one experiment, one reader, one website) that concludes Google AdWords punishes advertisers for dropping keyword bid amounts. But many remain unconvinced.

A reader who follows Cringely's work intimated to him an experiment to test Google's highly profitable AdWords program by setting up a duplicate website to see how his click-through rate fared at different AdWords bid amounts.

Find out more about this Google Adwords experiment at http://www.webpronews.com/insidesearch/insidesearch/wpn-56-20050927AdWordsExperimentGoneWrong.html.