My Big "G" final warning-what a joke

[ronr]

Today I got the big "G" final notice telling me my account is about to be suspended and I will be thrown in prison, (ok I just added that part) because I'm violation of numerous vague things that they list.

Funny thing is . . .

-This is the first notice I've received.

-My quality scores have been decent but they have now lowered almost all of them to 1/10.

-I've been running the same ads to the same landing pages for 5 years of more.

-The landing pages are exactly on topic, and there is nothing greyhat whatsoever.

-They aren't squeeze pages and I haven't violated any of there rules that I can see.

So rather than jump through their hoops since they don't even tell me where the hoops are I'm thinking of just canceling the account. As far as I understand if I they suspend my account I'm banned for life but if I cancel it, in the future I can open up a new account in the future if I ever want to use them again.

Any thoughts?

Ron

[Mohammad Afaq]

I would think yes but I am not a 100% sure so I would recommend you wait till some warrior who has experience with this helps you out.

[Thomas Lucas]

That pretty strange. I wonder what went wrong. What changes have you made recently?

[Harlan]

Originally Posted by ronr

Today I got the big "G" final notice telling me my account is about to be suspended and I will be thrown in prison, (ok I just added that part) because I'm violation of numerous vague things that they list.

Funny thing is . . .

-This is the first notice I've received.

-My quality scores have been decent but they have now lowered almost all of them to 1/10.

-I've been running the same ads to the same landing pages for 5 years of more.

-The landing pages are exactly on topic, and there is nothing greyhat whatsoever.

-They aren't squeeze pages and I haven't violated any of there rules that I can see.

So rather than jump through their hoops since they don't even tell me where the hoops are I'm thinking of just canceling the account. As far as I understand if I they suspend my account I'm banned for life but if I cancel it, in the future I can open up a new account in the future if I ever want to use them again.

Any thoughts?

Ron

Quickly, delete the campaigns in your account.

It means Google suspects serious breach of terms of service.

Don't quibble. It's a pain in the butt to get back in.

Just delete the campaigns.

[timpears]

How bad do you need this account? The likelihood they will tell you what you did wrong is slim, so you will have to decipher their double talk, if they respond before they end up banning you.

Canceling your account sounds like a good business plan to me, unless you really need it.

[tryinhere]

Originally Posted by Harlan

Quickly, delete the campaigns in your account.
.

Can agree with that / make sure you delete it all from the ground up if you do not want the repair mode, do not just let it sit or swelter away with a blind eye or next time you look it will be gone.

[ronr]

I haven't changed the landing page or the ads.

The one thing I have changed over the last few months is to lower my bid amount and my daily budget a few times. My return over the years from the ads has diminished quite a bit so I was reducing my expenses until I could come up with a new plan.

Maybe the amount was spending now was so small that they don't want to bother with me any more.

So I think I will just go ahead and cancel the whole account before it gets suspended.

[JustVisiting]

Probably a new zealot staff member. Google have no idea how to treat advertisers.

[dburk]

Hi Ron,

Google has been under close scrutiny by the FTC in the US. The FTC issued new guidelines that went into effect recently regarding the recommendation of goods or services without disclosing an affiliation. They consider this deceptive practices and Google is trying to clean up their customer list.

You must comply with the new guidelines or you will be banned from AdWords. I don't believe deleting your campaigns will work either, since a number of people have reported being warned and subsequently banned for campaigns that were long deleted.

I believe what you must do is update your landing pages to comply with the new FTC full disclosure requirements. Naturally, your landing page will now be looked at very closely and you should go through all of AdWords' current policies and make sure that you are in compliance and not pushing the limits of what is acceptable.

[ronr]

What you say is a possibility but I was selling my own software on the landing page. No affiliate marketing, no recommended products whatsoever and I had all the normal links on the page, privacy notices, terms or services, disclaimers etc.

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi Ron,

Google has been under close scrutiny by the FTC in the US. The FTC issued new guidelines that went into effect recently regarding the recommendation of goods or services without disclosing an affiliation. They consider this deceptive practices and Google is trying to clean up their customer list.

You must comply with the new guidelines or you will be banned from AdWords. I don't believe deleting your campaigns will work either, since a number of people have reported being warned and subsequently banned for campaigns that were long deleted.

I believe what you must do is update your landing pages to comply with the new FTC full disclosure requirements. Naturally, your landing page will now be looked at very closely and you should go through all of AdWords' current policies and make sure that you are in compliance and not pushing the limits of what is acceptable.

[Whothar]

Same over here..after a few months of running my ads, I get an e-mail stating my account is now closed because my landing page can be "harmful" to viewers. It is in no way "harmful", in fact, I'm selling music that's suppose to heal. I e-mailed them back asking why exactly they did this, as I did not break any rules, and they said they cannot discuss it.

[dburk]

Originally Posted by ronr

What you say is a possibility but I was selling my own software on the landing page. No affiliate marketing, no recommended products whatsoever and I had all the normal links on the page, privacy notices, terms or services, disclaimers etc.

Hi Ron,

Is it clear on your landing page that you are creator of the product? Are you presenting it as a testimonial or review? Are there any claims that are not substantiated or that could be misleading? Is there anything about your offer that would make Google uncomfortable endorsing or assuming liability for?

If you sell a defective product Google could be held liable, is your credibility strong enough to make Google comfortable?

[dburk]

Originally Posted by Whothar

Same over here..after a few months of running my ads, I get an e-mail stating my account is now closed because my landing page can be "harmful" to viewers. It is in no way "harmful", in fact, I'm selling music that's suppose to heal. I e-mailed them back asking why exactly they did this, as I did not break any rules, and they said they cannot discuss it.

Hi Whothar,

So if someone selects your product, over seeking advice from a licensed medical doctor, no harm will come to them? Does your sales copy strongly recommend that that readers seek the advice of a licensed medical professional before purchasing or using your product?

When it comes to healthcare there is a much higher standard of scrutiny due to the potential for serious harm. Perhaps you crossed a very bright line here.

[ronr]

No I don't represent it as a testimonial but there are testimonials on the page. Maybe that is it.

I already deleted account so I wouldn't get suspended. Maybe in the future I'll try again and take off anything they could consider "salesy". That should really help sales :-)

Ron

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi Ron,

Is it clear on your landing page that you are creator of the product? Are you presenting it as a testimonial or review? Are there any claims that are not substantiated or that could be misleading? Is there anything about your offer that would make Google uncomfortable endorsing or assuming liability for?

If you sell a defective product Google could be held liable, is your credibility strong enough to make Google comfortable?

[dburk]

Originally Posted by ronr

No I don't represent it as a testimonial but there are testimonials on the page. Maybe that is it.

I already deleted account so I wouldn't get suspended. Maybe in the future I'll try again and take off anything they could consider "salesy". That should really help sales :-)

Ron

Hi Ron,

Based on the experience of others, it may not be enough to simply delete the account to avoid being banned. You ought to correct any deficiencies in your existing landing pages as they will likely check those for compliance and ban you personally not just your deleted account.

[ronr]

That is part of the problem I don't know for sure what the deficiencies are other than a vague list of general boilerplate they sent me. It might be the testimonials but who knows for sure. I cancelled my AW account so a this point I really don't care what they think anymore.

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi Ron,

Based on the experience of others, it may not be enough to simply delete the account to avoid being banned. You ought to correct any deficiencies in your existing landing pages as they will likely check those for compliance and ban you personally not just your deleted account.