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Google's at it again... Why would they think that arbitrarily banning IMers is a good idea?!

by dseisner
37 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I got my "Final Notice" for Google today, citing "multiple account violations." Kinda funny considering it was also my first notice. At least I was lucky enough to get even one notice! Apparently that wasn't the case for some people who'd been advertising with Google for over 5 years and hadn't touched their campaigns in months...

Come on Goog. What are you doing?


I love this paragraph the most:

"Pausing or deleting an ad or ad group that advertises a site will not affect or improve the site's landing page quality. The only way to improve poor landing page quality is to correct the site according to our Landing Page and Site Quality Guidelines; after you have done this, please contact Google AdWords support by replying to this email so that we can re-evaluate your site's landing page quality. Once a site's landing page quality has markedly improved based on these guidelines, ads associated with the site should also see an improvement in Quality Score as it relates to landing page quality."


So basically, I need to correct my landing pages until your bots like it again for every one of the tens of thousands of keywords I have listed? That sounds logical!


Ooo oo ooo! I love this one too:


Landing pages advertised via AdWords must have relevant, original content, and must be transparent about the nature of the business being promoted. Further, advertisers are prohibited from promoting certain types of sites, which include, but are not limited to:


So what you're saying is, basically any site is subject to be in violation of your TOS? Could you be more vague please?


I can only say how sad I feel for the marketers who relied on Google for their income and had it taken away in a flash. This is the kind of big corporation cruelty that people cry out against.

But I suppose that's how it is though. You want to work with Google, you need to play by their rules, no matter how ambiguous and unfair they may be. They are the big kids on the block and we contributed to their rise.

The question is though, with Google keeping up these antics and taking out IMers left and right... are they decreasing their risk as they're hoping or are they opening a Pandora's box that they will ultimately regret? I suppose only time will tell...
#arbitrarily #banning #good #google #idea #imers
  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    Well, Google is the big boss in the industry so you gotta do as they say.

    BTW, Google gets more than 90% of all search traffic:

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    • Profile picture of the author lowjo
      The word in my head is arrogance.

      And I seem to remember a rather large engine which was dominating the scene for a while did some similar things a few years back...and they have never recovered.

      Beware G....karma...

      I can understand keeping organic results as clean as possible but an ad is an ad and unless it is grossly misleading or illegal what is the real problem.

      And as far as this goes...

      Originally Posted by mohammad111 View Post

      BTW, Google gets more than 90% of all search traffic:

      Sure for now but there's plenty of traffic outside of Google and it is growing every day.

      Cheers,

      Jonathan
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    • Profile picture of the author Money on the Side
      Originally Posted by mohammad111 View Post

      Well, Google is the big boss in the industry so you gotta do as they say.

      BTW, Google gets more than 90% of all search traffic:
      ....Gulp
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by dseisner View Post

    So basically, I need to correct my landing pages until your bots like it again for every one of the tens of thousands of keywords I have listed?
    But you don't have tens of thousands of landing pages... do you?

    Generally, you have one landing page with several hundred keywords on the ads for it. If the keywords are sufficiently targeted, that's one page to fix all those keywords.

    Now, if you've used crappy keywords, you may have no choice but to delete some keywords. Like if you're selling carrots, and you use the keyword "broccoli" because you figure lots of people who like broccoli like carrots, but you're WRONG and they DON'T - you have to stop advertising carrots on broccoli searches.

    That's not deleting or pausing the ad. It's deleting keywords. Subtle... and maybe not even the intended meaning. But I'm guessing it probably is.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
      Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

      Like if you're selling carrots, and you use the keyword "broccoli"
      Are you on a diet LOL
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by mohammad111 View Post

        Are you on a diet LOL
        No, I was just thinking that it would be nice to have some carrots. I've been eating an awful lot of chicken breast and oatmeal lately. I think I need vitamin A.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Originally Posted by dseisner View Post

    So basically, I need to correct my landing pages until your bots like it again for every one of the tens of thousands of keywords I have listed? That sounds logical!
    Google does have human reviewers, you know.
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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    • Profile picture of the author lowjo
      Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

      Google does have human reviewers, you know.

      Now there is your problem:p

      ...and oddly enough, this is no joke, I am opening my mail now and right before my eyes on my very messy desk is an Adwords Coupon for $75!


      Now this is very spooky!


      I kid you not and a very nice letter from Jason Chuck, Head of Marketing - Google Australia And New Zealand telling me all sorts of wonderful things I can do with their service.


      Well, now I must admit I don't know what all the complaining is about. This company is brilliant and I can only see good karma in their future.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
        Originally Posted by lowjo View Post

        Well, now I must admit I don't know what all the complaining is about. This company is brilliant and I can only see good karma in their future.
        I would say that Google is just trying to make things better for their billions and billions of users. If I was dominating the search engine game like Google is, I would be trying to make it better for my users too. Don't you think.

        Do you like it when a visits your website everyday and then suddenly turns to your competitor's and never returns. That's what BIG G is trying to do.
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        • Profile picture of the author lowjo
          I can understand that point of view for the organic results but for advertising?
          They are not just cleaning up shoddy marketers, they are taking out legitimate businesses with no reasonable explanation and that is the bit I don't like.

          It's just a poor way to treat your customers, if I behaved like that I'd go broke.

          Originally Posted by mohammad111 View Post

          Do you like it when a visits your website everyday and then suddenly turns to your competitor's and never returns. That's what BIG G is trying to do.
          Umm but that is business...I lose customers to competitors all the time and I steal customers from competitors all the time. It's marketing, market share...advertising...maybe Google should just dish up traffic equally to all sites in a niche for a given keyword....

          Cheers,

          Jonathan
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      • Profile picture of the author dseisner
        Originally Posted by lowjo View Post

        Now there is your problem:p

        ...and oddly enough, this is no joke, I am opening my mail now and right before my eyes on my very messy desk is an Adwords Coupon for $75!


        Now this is very spooky!


        I kid you not and a very nice letter from Jason Chuck, Head of Marketing - Google Australia And New Zealand telling me all sorts of wonderful things I can do with their service.


        Well, now I must admit I don't know what all the complaining is about. This company is brilliant and I can only see good karma in their future.

        Haha I also got a coupon only 2 weeks before I got my "final notice" of termination. Don't be fooled.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Formby
    Here is the funny part,

    Now that Internet Marketers are moving into offline consulting were going to have to help companies setup ppc campaigns.

    Do they think these small companies no what there doing maybe there just milking them, becuase we use it we know how to use it and so were the people who will run the campaigns for them tbh i hate google there a law onto themselves.

    Mikey
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  • Profile picture of the author BIG Mike
    Banned
    Re: Google's at it again... Why would they think that arbitrarily banning IMers is a good idea?!
    In the big scheme of things, I somehow doubt that the total amount of revenue brought in through IM'er accounts is much more than a drop in the proverbial bucket.

    Imagine you're running your own online service like this and a clearly identifiable group of people do everything they possibly can to continually game your system - what are you going to do about it?

    Short-term revenue that is harmful to long-term business goals is not worth holding to. In other words, they're not being arrogant - they're just doing smart business and protecting their interests.

    If you want to lay blame on anyone's doorstep, lay it right on the IM community, where it belongs...at least on those who continually work hard to exploit all of their systems. And of course, everyone else pays the price for it...
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    • Profile picture of the author jimkirk1943
      Originally Posted by BIG Mike View Post

      In the big scheme of things, I somehow doubt that the total amount of revenue brought in through IM'er accounts is much more than a drop in the proverbial bucket.

      Imagine you're running your own online service like this and a clearly identifiable group of people do everything they possibly can to continually game your system - what are you going to do about it?

      Short-term revenue that is harmful to long-term business goals is not worth holding to. In other words, they're not being arrogant - they're just doing smart business and protecting their interests.

      If you want to lay blame on anyone's doorstep, lay it right on the IM community, where it belongs...at least on those who continually work hard to exploit all of their systems. And of course, everyone else pays the price for it...
      You can`t really argue with this answer !! Next time anyone moans about google they should read this and remember that IMs aren`t really that important to google !
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  • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
    Ever ponder the fact that even Google is under the watchful eye of the FTC? They have an obligation to monitor and police their ad network. If they do not, they will get stomped. And as you can imagine, with their deep pockets, there are plenty of politicians, bureaucrats, etc., who see them as a goldmine.

    I'm not suggesting DSeisner or any of the other banned advertisers have necessarily done anything wrong, but if you are working on the edges of their rules, and on the edges of the FTC rules, you are taking risks, which could easily lead to having a campaign, or your account banned.

    Google has a lot to protect, and you can be sure they will. They will err on the side of safety and their interests, not on the side of an individual advertiser's interests.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
      Originally Posted by KansasDragon View Post

      Ever ponder the fact that even Google is under the watchful eye of the FTC? They have an obligation to monitor and police their ad network. If they do not, they will get stomped. And as you can imagine, with their deep pockets, there are plenty of politicians, bureaucrats, etc., who see them as a goldmine.
      .
      That's a very good point. Uncle Sam loves going after deep pockets.
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      Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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      • Profile picture of the author psresearch
        Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

        That's a very good point. Uncle Sam loves going after deep pockets.
        Yes, that's why Google gave back all the money they took over the years from advertisers running ads for hidden negative option scams.

        Really, they gave it all back.

        They did. Right?
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    • Profile picture of the author dseisner
      Originally Posted by KansasDragon View Post

      Ever ponder the fact that even Google is under the watchful eye of the FTC? They have an obligation to monitor and police their ad network. If they do not, they will get stomped. And as you can imagine, with their deep pockets, there are plenty of politicians, bureaucrats, etc., who see them as a goldmine.

      I'm not suggesting DSeisner or any of the other banned advertisers have necessarily done anything wrong, but if you are working on the edges of their rules, and on the edges of the FTC rules, you are taking risks, which could easily lead to having a campaign, or your account banned.

      Google has a lot to protect, and you can be sure they will. They will err on the side of safety and their interests, not on the side of an individual advertiser's interests.

      First of all, I am not banned.

      And I have also not violated their TOC or tried to game their system. I merely advertise with them. Why would I want to send untargeted visitors to my page? That makes no sense, business-wise.

      The letter I got is totally arbitrary based on arbitrary quality scores.

      For example, why would a landing page having to do with losing weight have a 10/10 quality score for "lose stomach" and 1/10 for "lose weight". This happens all the time. Then, I don't notice the low quality score for some keywords and I'm getting the email.

      I just removed the keywords that Google just won't let me win with, for whatever reasons. My point is, their bots are far from perfect.
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  • Profile picture of the author kennyjewels
    its not a fun google has hum editors and it try to minimize spamming so aware and take same necessary steps..
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
    The only way to improve poor landing page quality is to correct the site according to our Landing Page and Site Quality Guidelines; after you have done this, please contact Google AdWords support by replying to this email so that we can re-evaluate your site's landing page quality.
    Sounds like you just have a little work in front of you not that Google is done with you.
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  • Profile picture of the author ElMundodelExito
    It is easy just make your landing page look like a real website to google, with privacy page, contact us, disclaimer, put a 500 words article, link to other pages with similar content, do onsite seo like keyword on h1, etc.
    I almost forget the easiest and more important part >>hide you optin box
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  • Profile picture of the author tjcocker
    To answer the question in the title of this thread:

    Because in their view "IMers" are spammers gaming their system, but real "advertisers" are valuable to them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Oscar D
    I hate to say it, but there is no denying it.

    Big G is BOSS!
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    • Profile picture of the author Jordan JD
      Scary stuff, I am currently a beginner and yet to make my first sale but, should I even bother anymore?!?!?!
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      • Profile picture of the author MarketWave
        Sounds to me like Google is "firing" some of their customers.

        I've read other threads where this is viewed as a good thing, when you do it for your own business. When Google does it why is it a bad thing?

        Seems to me like they view it as getting rid of their problem customers.
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        • Profile picture of the author dseisner
          Originally Posted by MarketWave View Post

          Sounds to me like Google is "firing" some of their customers.

          I've read other threads where this is viewed as a good thing, when you do it for your own business. When Google does it why is it a bad thing?

          Seems to me like they view it as getting rid of their problem customers.
          Uh, I am not a problem customer. I have not scammed one person, ever. I deliver relevant ads for searchers who by the way, CHOOSE to click and buy. Why is my money for advertising not as good as the next guy when I'm making sales of good products?

          Either way, I've moved onto the content network, that's where the opportunity is. And I deleted the keywords with low quality score (even though those campaigns had been paused for months or years!) just to make G happy and ensure that I keep my account.
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          • Profile picture of the author MarketWave
            It doesn't matter if you think you're a good customer, and I'm not debating if you are or not, it's what they think.

            I wasn't trying to say anything against you, I was just trying to think of a reason why they might be sending letters out like the one you received.
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        • Profile picture of the author Edk
          No one queries their right to get rid of whomever they want. It just must not be arbitrary.
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        • Profile picture of the author Lucid
          Originally Posted by MarketWave View Post

          Seems to me like they view it as getting rid of their problem customers.
          That's it in a nutshell. Big Mike also said it well: Google is protecting their business.

          Dseisner, if you are not banned yet, then I suggest you read the policies here before they do ban you:

          adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=guidelines.cs

          Their definition of problem customer is not following these policies and guidelines. You are an IMer? I'd pay close attention to the Affiliate Policy
          section near the bottom of that page. My guess is that most people get banned for not following this particular rule, not because of promoting things like **** berry or dubious make money claims, although many are.
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  • Profile picture of the author tjcocker
    A lot of people in the "make money from home", "**** berry", and "weight loss" niches have already been banned outright.

    My guess is no matter how good the product seems, if you are in a niche that Google deems as spammy, or you have a thin landing page in any way, then you're on their bad list.

    Also people who don't advertise all the time and let their account sit for a while. Google may view this as not a professional advertiser.

    From what I've heard you are extremely lucky to just get a warning.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by tjcocker View Post

      A lot of people in the "make money from home", "**** berry", and "weight loss" niches have already been banned outright.

      My guess is no matter how good the product seems, if you are in a niche that Google deems as spammy, or you have a thin landing page in any way, then you're on their bad list.

      Also people who don't advertise all the time and let their account sit for a while. Google may view this as not a professional advertiser.

      From what I've heard you are extremely lucky to just get a warning.
      If you're going to fly with a flock of ducks, don't be surprised that you get shot at when duck season opens...
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      • Profile picture of the author Lex87
        If you're going to fly with a flock of ducks, don't be surprised that you get shot at when duck season opens...



        Haha I also got a coupon only 2 weeks before I got my "final notice" of termination. Don't be fooled.
        Hmmmmm......nothing has arrived in the mail. Yet.
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      • Profile picture of the author tjcocker
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        If you're going to fly with a flock of ducks, don't be surprised that you get shot at when duck season opens...
        Darn you and you're pithy summation. Way better than I phrased it... :p
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  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    more affiliate information just to confuse you

    What should I know if I'm the parent company of an affiliate or reseller program? - AdWords Help

    Affiliates and resellers are welcome to advertise with AdWords
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    Umm but that is business...I lose customers to competitors all the time and I steal customers from competitors all the time. It's marketing, market share...advertising...maybe Google should just dish up traffic equally to all sites in a niche for a given keyword....
    But you know it won't happen right
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  • Profile picture of the author bigcat1967
    That's why I hate relying on G so much. I'm really trying to make a break and get a lot of referral traffic through article marketing, Youtube, Twitter and a little FB.
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