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My business is basically gone, and I just quit my job

by sree94
90 replies
  • SEO
    • |
So for months now, I have been making about 3 times more with IM than my job, which I really don't like and has awful hours. I put aside 6 months of savings to live off, and decided to put in my notice and do IM full time

Then Tuesday, Google dropped the hammer

They have not outright banned me yet from Adwords, but I have been getting that dreaded "system delay" message for almost 2 straight days now. And I got an email saying my pages are in violation because they have affiliate URL's on them. Unreal

I am going to do everything I can to get around the ban and get a new account, but it is clear to me now that Adwords is not a viable long term business strategy. And this is something I knew, but I got blinded by the potential for the good life

A part of me wants to still give it a shot full time, but someone once said you shouldn't quit a job until you have steady, converting traffic. So it looks like I am going to have to lie and convince my bosses that I can't truly see myself leaving this job

What a nightmare
#basically #business #job #quit
  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

    They have not outright banned me yet from Adwords, but I have been getting that dreaded "system delay" message for almost 2 straight days now. And I got an email saying my pages are in violation because they have affiliate URL's on them. Unreal
    ?? they said in black and white you were banned with the words because of affiliate urls ?
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Yes, adwords alone can not be a safe strategy.

      Are you signed up to the ad networks on msn and yahoo?

      If you have not been, you've been losing some good traffic. They are cheaper in general and can be pretty effective.

      Long term, you really do want to go organic and just build your ranking. If you are promoting products with adwords that may not longer be interesting next year, then just do that on the side and look for some long term niche or product that you can build a real site around.

      It is going to take some time to do this right, but it's the right way for the long haul.
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeHumphreys
        I'm not an attorney nor do I play in real life but it seems to me that you need to diversify your traffic sources. Relying on only one traffic source is playing with fire... eventually you will get burned.

        Spend 1-2 weeks and get multiple traffic sources going to your sites. It would also be a good idea to use a link cloaker to cover your affiliate links, especially to prevent people from hi-jacking your affiliate commissions (i.e. replacing your Clickbank ID in a Clickbank URL with their own Clickbank ID)

        If you're doing testing on your sites, then do NOT use Google's tool on your affiliate pages. Otherwise, you are basically announcing the URLs to Google and saying "please ban these pages for me"
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        • Profile picture of the author windtalker
          Originally Posted by MikeHumphreys View Post

          I'm not an attorney nor do I play in real life but it seems to me that you need to diversify your traffic sources. Relying on only one traffic source is playing with fire... eventually you will get burned.

          Spend 1-2 weeks and get multiple traffic sources going to your sites. It would also be a good idea to use a link cloaker to cover your affiliate links, especially to prevent people from hi-jacking your affiliate commissions (i.e. replacing your Clickbank ID in a Clickbank URL with their own Clickbank ID)

          If you're doing testing on your sites, then do NOT use Google's tool on your affiliate pages. Otherwise, you are basically announcing the URLs to Google and saying "please ban these pages for me"
          This is good advice to take note of
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          • Profile picture of the author sree94
            After doing some digging, I have found that others have in my niche have had the same thing happen to them. Google is basically targeting downloadable software products because of all the scams out there. You know, the fake spyware removers that say "your computer is infected, you'd better buy ___ or else"

            Instead of looking at products on a case-by-case basis, they are just throwing a blanket ban on many advertisers. Oh sure, there are people still advertising, but it's probably only a matter of time before the same thing happens to them. Even the main site for Driver Detective was slapped

            But again, the official reason I got from Google was that I was in trouble for this:

            o The sites were disabled because these URLs are: Affiliate sites.
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            • Profile picture of the author Ti
              Originally Posted by sree94 View Post


              But again, the official reason I got from Google was that I was in trouble for this:

              o The sites were disabled because these URLs are: Affiliate sites.
              Could you please contact Google and inform them that they fully allow Affiliate sites and to rescind ban? Even if you have removed the sites, I think this needs to be clarified, if not for you, but the community as a whole.
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              • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
                Originally Posted by Ti View Post

                Could you please contact Google and inform them that they fully allow Affiliate sites and to rescind ban? Even if you have removed the sites, I think this needs to be clarified, if not for you, but the community as a whole.
                it is already posted that G accepts affiliates, the op has only posted a section out of context, the real problem is probably what he is promoting as it does not meet g terms over affiliate.
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    • Profile picture of the author sree94
      Originally Posted by tryinhere View Post

      ?? they said in black and white you were banned with the words because of affiliate urls ?
      Here is what it said, word for word:

      o The sites were disabled because these URLs are: Affiliate sites
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      • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
        Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

        Here is what it said, word for word:

        o The sites were disabled because these URLs are: Affiliate sites
        ? can you pm or post the whole thing so i can see that in context please because that makes no sense ?
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  • Profile picture of the author sree94
    I am signed up on Yahoo and MSN. MSN gave me very little sales. Yahoo is a little better, but far from sustainable
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  • Profile picture of the author TheMagicShow
    Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

    So for months now, I have been making about 3 times more with IM than my job, which I really don't like and has awful hours. I put aside 6 months of savings to live off, and decided to put in my notice and do IM full time

    Then Tuesday, Google dropped the hammer

    They have not outright banned me yet from Adwords, but I have been getting that dreaded "system delay" message for almost 2 straight days now. And I got an email saying my pages are in violation because they have affiliate URL's on them. Unreal

    I am going to do everything I can to get around the ban and get a new account, but it is clear to me now that Adwords is not a viable long term business strategy. And this is something I knew, but I got blinded by the potential for the good life

    A part of me wants to still give it a shot full time, but someone once said you shouldn't quit a job until you have steady, converting traffic. So it looks like I am going to have to lie and convince my bosses that I can't truly see myself leaving this job

    What a nightmare
    That sucks...Bigtime! Google can never be fully trusted, adwords, seo...Nothing is 100%, especially with google.
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  • Profile picture of the author Wide
    I'm completly confused now.
    Banned for promoting an affiliate product? Isnt this what most people do on adwords?
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    • Profile picture of the author sree94
      Originally Posted by Wide View Post

      I'm completly confused now.
      Banned for promoting an affiliate product? Isnt this what most people do on adwords?
      It's no secret that Google is basically trying to get rid of affiliates. Guess they are tired of policing all the **** and flog scams

      I am probably targeted too because I promote downloadable software. It's totally legit, but there are a lot of software that are not. I've heard Google is targeting these as well
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    • Profile picture of the author Jude.A
      Originally Posted by Wide View Post

      I'm completly confused now.
      Banned for promoting an affiliate product? Isnt this what most people do on adwords?
      I thought i was the only confused one here.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Were you going directly to an affiliate url or to your own website first?
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    Gone Fishing
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  • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
    People above gave the most important advice which is to
    diversify your traffic/marketing sources. So in that spirit,
    I highly recommend doing PPV marketing sans middleman
    with this WSO by Profit Smart:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...seriously.html

    Also, just as an example of what can be done, a Canadian
    gentleman named Gauher Chaudry was heavily vested with
    adwords for his CPA businesses. He's made a tremendous
    amount of money with CPA.

    After Google really went off the deep-end over a year ago,
    or further back, Gauher decided to wisely start moving away
    from heavy dependence on adwords. I read on his blog that
    he wanted to reduce his adwords traffic to about 15-20% of
    his total and he accomplished that. Then, after he did that he
    decided he wanted to reduce it even more.

    So it can be done, but I understand you're a bit under the gun.
    I highly suggest you look at Jordan's (profit smart) WSO. You
    can be up and running in a day/two if you hustle.

    Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    Affiliates and resellers are welcome to advertise with AdWords.

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

    well that is still on googles site and until it is shown in full context its hard to call, and it would be the first email of any kind i have heard of where G states up front not to use affiliate links, which makes the statement on their site null and void.
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  • Profile picture of the author Damz
    Yeah Sree;
    Your posts were always impressive and Im so inspired...I'm watching you since your 1st IM success post "Article Marketing with EZA-Your earned around $800 first month".and then your $1000 a day post. I think you've built your list and improve the number of subscribers using other free traffic methods you already familiar with..Don't frustrate bro..That's life..We all have to face success and failure at times...Remember there are plenty of alternatives out there...Good luck to your business!
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    • Profile picture of the author sree94
      Originally Posted by DamZ View Post

      Yeah Sree;
      Your posts were always impressive and Im so inspired...I'm watching you since your 1st IM success post "Article Marketing with EZA-Your earned around $800 first month".and then your $1000 a day post. I think you've built your list and improve the number of subscribers using other free traffic methods you already familiar with..Don't frustrate bro..That's life..We all have to face success and failure at times...Remember there are plenty of alternatives out there...Good luck to your business!
      Thanks for the support

      Honestly, I have not focused on list building as much as I should... primarily because my main niche is of the "desperate" variety and not the best for backend sales

      I had planned to really focus on more "backend" niches once I was working FT in IM. Looks like the days of getting off work and then working for 5 hours at home are back!
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  • Profile picture of the author Lilach
    Well, firstly you have a business. And the biggest mistake people make in business is "putting all their eggs in one basket".

    That could be with either having 1 large client, and then they disappear for whatever reason or like what's happening with you in that your main (and perhaps only) form of marketing has gone pear shaped.

    There are other options, yahoo, Facebook etc. I'm not a google ad word expert but perhaps you could set up new lead capture pages etc. (and follow their rules this time?) not sure if its as simple as that so forgive me if it isn't.

    I think this should be a huge learning curve to you. There are so many ways to market your business and although google ad words has a place and is quick for getting results, it doesn't build a profile presence of you and when it stops (or the money runs out) so does the sales...

    I wish you the best of luck with what you decide to do.

    Lilach
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

      Here is what it said, word for word:

      o The sites were disabled because these URLs are: Affiliate sites
      Are these one page websites?

      Are they knock off sites that were handed to you?

      Do they have any valuable/unique information on them?

      I know technically it shouldn't matter, but this is what Google is looking for.

      You might get away with adding blogs or some additional pages of information for some of those.

      Hard to say.
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      • Profile picture of the author sree94
        Originally Posted by avenuegirl View Post

        Are these one page websites?

        Are they knock off sites that were handed to you?

        Do they have any valuable/unique information on them?

        I know technically it shouldn't matter, but this is what Google is looking for.

        You might get away with adding blogs or some additional pages of information for some of those.

        Hard to say.

        These are not one page sites. They are based on the Conduit Method by Chris Rempel

        I basically make my money off three products. All are computer repair software. Two separate sites
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        • Profile picture of the author garyv
          Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

          These are not one page sites. They are based on the Conduit Method by Chris Rempel

          I basically make my money off three products. All are computer repair software. Two separate sites
          You might want to try changing up your niche. Many of the "computer repair" softwares out there are known to be carrying adware, and other hidden cookie stuffing softwares that google really hates. If your site has links to a product that has been complained to them about a lot, then they'll just block you until you remove it.
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    • Profile picture of the author entrepenerd
      I'd really take to heart what's being said about email list building here.

      Before you give up altogether and head back to a JOB. Try sending your PPC traffic to a lead capture page. You just need to make sure it's quality score friendly, but this time it won't have any affiliate links on it, so Google can't complain about that. If you're dangling the right carrot, you can snare a pretty high percentage of sign-ups. And, with the right auto-responder series, you can quickly convert even "desperate" prospects into customers. Not only that, but you'll have built a list that you can continue to promote offers to when you find something that they might be interested in.

      You can also send the visitor that signs-up directly to the vendor page after they've completed the sign-up form. Google won't see this because they won't sign up after the form. All they care about is what page the clicker is going to land on.

      I ran a little experiment a while back in a small desperate niche and was able to build a list of several hundred subscribers in a just a few days for little cost with PPC traffic only.

      It's worth a shot.

      Good luck

      Originally Posted by Lilach View Post

      Well, firstly you have a business. And the biggest mistake people make in business is "putting all their eggs in one basket".

      That could be with either having 1 large client, and then they disappear for whatever reason or like what's happening with you in that your main (and perhaps only) form of marketing has gone pear shaped.

      There are other options, yahoo, Facebook etc. I'm not a google ad word expert but perhaps you could set up new lead capture pages etc. (and follow their rules this time?) not sure if its as simple as that so forgive me if it isn't.

      I think this should be a huge learning curve to you. There are so many ways to market your business and although google ad words has a place and is quick for getting results, it doesn't build a profile presence of you and when it stops (or the money runs out) so does the sales...

      I wish you the best of luck with what you decide to do.

      Lilach
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      • Profile picture of the author sree94
        Originally Posted by entrepenerd View Post

        I'd really take to heart what's being said about email list building here.

        Before you give up altogether and head back to a JOB. Try sending your PPC traffic to a lead capture page. You just need to make sure it's quality score friendly, but this time it won't have any affiliate links on it, so Google can't complain about that. If you're dangling the right carrot, you can snare a pretty high percentage of sign-ups. And, with the right auto-responder series, you can quickly convert even "desperate" prospects into customers. Not only that, but you'll have built a list that you can continue to promote offers to when you find something that they might be interested in.

        You can also send the visitor that signs-up directly to the vendor page after they've completed the sign-up form. Google won't see this because they won't sign up after the form. All they care about is what page the clicker is going to land on.

        I ran a little experiment a while back in a small desperate niche and was able to build a list of several hundred subscribers in a just a few days for little cost with PPC traffic only.

        It's worth a shot.

        Good luck

        I would definitely be open to this... if I could even get back in to Google

        I also don't want them to fill my position, so I probably will go in today and beg for them to let me keep it
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        • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
          Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

          I would definitely be open to this... if I could even get back in to Google

          I also don't want them to fill my position, so I probably will go in today and beg for them to let me keep it
          you said in your open post you were not banned, so you only need fix what is broken, also g have no problems with affiliate links, but they do have problems with certain types of sites or layouts etc that some affiliates use, this is the part that needs fixing
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          • Profile picture of the author sree94
            Originally Posted by tryinhere View Post

            you said in your open post you were not banned, so you only need fix what is broken, also g have no problems with affiliate links, but they do have problems with certain types of sites or layouts etc that some affiliates use, this is the part that needs fixing
            The sites that they did not like, I actually deleted them, and emailed Google to tell them I was doing this
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            • Profile picture of the author ktmurf
              Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

              The sites that they did not like, I actually deleted them, and emailed Google to tell them I was doing this

              Google has a system in place where you can resubmit your sites for approval after an incident like this. They know that it's people like you that keep their two major ad systems working, they want you advertising with them, or posting their ads no matter what. You should be fine, they're pretty forgiving when it comes to minor things like this.
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            • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
              Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

              The sites that they did not like, I actually deleted them, and emailed Google to tell them I was doing this
              You just deleted the campaigns and not the sites, correct?


              There are other ways to drive traffic to them - especially if they are converting.
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              • Profile picture of the author sree94
                Originally Posted by avenuegirl View Post

                You just deleted the campaigns and not the sites, correct?


                There are other ways to drive traffic to them - especially if they are converting.
                No, started new campaigns with new domains on different Adwords accounts

                I probably didn't cover my tracks as well as I should have
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                • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
                  Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

                  No, started new campaigns with new domains on different Adwords accounts

                  I probably didn't cover my tracks as well as I should have
                  LOL, I shouldn't be laughing - sorry.

                  No, you may want to rethink that strategy.

                  Well, here is what I'd do.

                  Take that converting copy what ever it is and use it as a front page or top blog post.

                  Whip up some quick articles on the topic, give yourself some blog posts, and set that review/sales page as the front page of the site.

                  You can pay someone to make some articles for you in a jiffy or rewrite some plr.

                  I'd also stick an autoresponder on the sidebar.

                  When you pay for traffic, you may as well collect the names of those passing by if you can.

                  Get a quick report or ebook put together as a free giveaway.

                  You'll be able to push your products several more times if people are on your list.

                  Then, I'd sit down and think about a serious long term site that you can build a sustainable business on - if lets say adwords ever shut down your account.

                  Go for something you can start building links to and a niche you want to go into long term.
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                  • Profile picture of the author entrepenerd
                    Seeing now that you're in the computer software niche I'd definitely look deeper into building a list. These leads are very desperate as you mentioned, but re-selling them later is not as hard as you might think. You'll find that those that are desperate for computer help now are going to be just as desperate later because they're going to keep doing the same things that caused them issues in the first place.

                    Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

                    I would definitely be open to this... if I could even get back in to Google

                    I also don't want them to fill my position, so I probably will go in today and beg for them to let me keep it
                    Originally Posted by entrepenerd View Post

                    I'd really take to heart what's being said about email list building here.

                    Before you give up altogether and head back to a JOB. Try sending your PPC traffic to a lead capture page. You just need to make sure it's quality score friendly, but this time it won't have any affiliate links on it, so Google can't complain about that. If you're dangling the right carrot, you can snare a pretty high percentage of sign-ups. And, with the right auto-responder series, you can quickly convert even "desperate" prospects into customers. Not only that, but you'll have built a list that you can continue to promote offers to when you find something that they might be interested in.

                    You can also send the visitor that signs-up directly to the vendor page after they've completed the sign-up form. Google won't see this because they won't sign up after the form. All they care about is what page the clicker is going to land on.

                    I ran a little experiment a while back in a small desperate niche and was able to build a list of several hundred subscribers in a just a few days for little cost with PPC traffic only.

                    It's worth a shot.

                    Good luck
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                • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
                  Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

                  No, started new campaigns with new domains on different Adwords account
                  I probably didn't cover my tracks as well as I should have
                  OK as mentioned above its probably the product you were promoting.

                  Be thankful you still have your account if you have done all of this, do a little digging there are hundreds if not thousands upon thousands of products you can promote with no problems and still make money from with adwords.

                  when you find the products like this one plug in your alternate cpc options with other networks and traffic systems, so in many ways also as above above have many traffic streams to your offers and then like a power board in the home plug in the ones that suit that offer and your going to be good to go.
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        • Profile picture of the author FrankBowman
          Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

          I would definitely be open to this... if I could even get back in to Google

          I also don't want them to fill my position, so I probably will go in today and beg for them to let me keep it
          Its easy to get another adwords account......PM me if you want
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      • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
        Originally Posted by entrepenerd View Post

        I'd really take to heart what's being said about email list building here.

        Before you give up altogether and head back to a JOB. Try sending your PPC traffic to a lead capture page. You just need to make sure it's quality score friendly, but this time it won't have any affiliate links on it, so Google can't complain about that. If you're dangling the right carrot, you can snare a pretty high percentage of sign-ups. And, with the right auto-responder series, you can quickly convert even "desperate" prospects into customers. Not only that, but you'll have built a list that you can continue to promote offers to when you find something that they might be interested in.

        You can also send the visitor that signs-up directly to the vendor page after they've completed the sign-up form. Google won't see this because they won't sign up after the form. All they care about is what page the clicker is going to land on.

        I ran a little experiment a while back in a small desperate niche and was able to build a list of several hundred subscribers in a just a few days for little cost with PPC traffic only.

        It's worth a shot.

        Good luck
        If you want to get banned from Adwords quickly this is one of the quickest ways, send everyone straight to a lead capture page.

        A huge percentage of the bans in recent weeks have been for people running these types of pages, they call them data collection sites.

        Eben Pagan got rid of his capture page straight away in the dating niche when the rule came into effect a few months ago:

        Double Your Dating

        If you watch the video you will see towards the end of the video he asks viewers to enter their name and e-mail address below, BUT there isn't any place to do so because he removed it mindful of the new Adwords rules banning squeeze pages.

        He isn't stupid, he knows if he left it on he was running the risk of a ban.

        There are still some sites on Adwords which go straight to a squeeze page (data collection page), but how long they will last is anyones guess.

        Squeeze Pages/Lead Capture/Data Collection sites or whatever you want to call them are NOT allowed on Adwords anymore.

        With regards to the original posters issue, perhaps there was a lack of clear declaration on his part that he was an affiliate of the websites he was promoting on the page.
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        • Profile picture of the author Ti
          Originally Posted by oneplusone View Post


          Squeeze Pages/Lead Capture/Data Collection sites or whatever you want to call them are NOT allowed on Adwords anymore.
          Could you please link to where Google says this is not allowed? I do not see it anywhere. All I see is Google stating that adwords for affiliate sites is perfectly ok.

          We still do not know why he was banned by Google. All the information so far in this post points to either Google breaking their own policy or that the OP is not telling the whole truth.
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    • Profile picture of the author Monika Mundell
      Originally Posted by Lilach View Post

      Well, firstly you have a business. And the biggest mistake people make in business is "putting all their eggs in one basket".
      I can attest to that statement... argh... it damn well hurts like hell when you find yourself at the wrong end of the (busyness) because you totally sucked at protecting your asset (business) from the dreaded "no show," or "no action."

      I've had to learn the hard way myself and would advise anyone not currently diversifying their business to do so ASAP.

      Having said this, it's the best education I could have ever dreamed off and in hindsight it was a blessing in disguise.

      Monika
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    • Profile picture of the author jmarketing
      You may have the hit nail on the head. That is what I was thinking. His lead capture page should just grab the names/emails then he should send them to the affiliate page from there. I hope he reads this.

      There is always away to get around things.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
    If you can convert Google PPC traffic (cold) then you have a killer sales process which works, and you can be sure to make a lot more money by targeting the other 80% of online traffic which is free, and much warmer...so don't lose hope just yet

    Here's the ironic thing...

    Google is quick to ban people who use affiliate links. But affiliates are directly responsible for some of Adword's largest clients' growth...

    ...such as the mighty Amazon.com themselves.

    Cutting off affiliates is basically one step towards cutting off their own client's revenue. And when clients lose revenue, they might just start easing up on their advertising budgets too.

    Talk about burning bridges.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Well, that all stinks, but I have a feeling that you will come out on top and even stronger than before!

    I think it's smart that you are going to try to get your job back. I would probably go for it full time even without the IM income .... Oh wait ... that's what I did do when I got laid off!
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  • Profile picture of the author LeapingHorse
    I'm still confused about the ban - is there just one product that you're promoting? I can see Google not allowing promotion of certain products, but I've never heard about them flatout banning affiliate links
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  • Profile picture of the author marklyford
    I have learnt my lessons hard about not having multiple streams of income , i wont be doing it again. hope you situation turns around mate.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paleochora
    Don't forget that Google is not the only act in town.

    Get an account with Clicksor (pay out via paypal net 15), Admanage, Adbrite (or whatever they are know as these days) or Adoptim.

    All have good enough reach whether you are an advertiser or a publisher and many cost less to advertise than Adwords and pay out better than Adsense.
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  • Profile picture of the author dmtaylor247
    Was your site known as an "affiliate bridge" or a "thin affiliate site" ? I have a massive campaign in google ready to go but have been looking into what google will and won't accept.

    The two sides to the story I have heard is that there are too many cloned sites in adwords and search results are showing to many simmilar sites? do you know if people have been cloning your campaigns? have a look.

    The other side of the coin is Google getting greedy and wanting to be the top dog affiliate. Look at Google base...OK it's not affiliate, but many think it soon will be and it's not really any different to other comparison shopping sites out there. It has copied and republished datafeeds so google is also guilty of the duplicate crime.

    This is the only way I have though of overcoming this, by first writing a blog, building a thousand or so backlinks and gaining some trust, slap plenty of unique content on there and then in 2 months or so convert a page dedicated to affilaite sales and re publish with adwords.

    Was your site also considered to be a framed site? meaning that it is identical to the redirect? Google doesn't like sites that only have one affiliate link too and its better to have a few, which is why I have been thinking about building a comparison site.

    Personally I think that their explanation of why you got pulled isn't adequete enough.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lisa Gergets
    I certainly can't give better advice than all that's been given here, but I will say this again and again: diversify, diversify, diversify...

    Get back on the horse...you say you have three months saved so that will save your butt while you get yourself back up and running...

    Much luck to you!
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  • Profile picture of the author allsabqat
    Banned
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  • Profile picture of the author John_Edwards
    Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

    So for months now, I have been making about 3 times more with IM than my job, which I really don't like and has awful hours. I put aside 6 months of savings to live off, and decided to put in my notice and do IM full time

    Then Tuesday, Google dropped the hammer

    They have not outright banned me yet from Adwords, but I have been getting that dreaded "system delay" message for almost 2 straight days now. And I got an email saying my pages are in violation because they have affiliate URL's on them. Unreal

    I am going to do everything I can to get around the ban and get a new account, but it is clear to me now that Adwords is not a viable long term business strategy. And this is something I knew, but I got blinded by the potential for the good life

    A part of me wants to still give it a shot full time, but someone once said you shouldn't quit a job until you have steady, converting traffic. So it looks like I am going to have to lie and convince my bosses that I can't truly see myself leaving this job

    What a nightmare
    Hi,

    Adwords was something i was thinking strongly about when starting out, but after following courses from the likes of Perry Marshall and Howie Jacobson, i realised it takes a lot of time to learn the formula, and it`s a big step to go full time with?

    If Google pull the `slap` out of the bag the business is gone, i strongly recommend you create your own product put it on Clickbank, get a blog going as your hub site catering to a supply and demand niche for info use the internet to research and learn the best niches monetise it, then build your brand organicly on the Google, for your niche product and blog!

    As regards to the product, simply wash rinse and repeat the process, build your online empire that way, then when you have secured the foundations to your business, then use PPC as an extra income stream, but first get your job back to fund all this?

    Check out John Thornhill on Google, he has an excellent course on product creation!

    Good luck....John
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    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      First, contact the Google Complaint Department and voice your concerns over this action.

      Basically the message from the big Internet companies, from Google to eBay, has become "Go Big or Go Home". That's why a company like TheFind.com or NexTag.com can get away with essentially wafer thin scrapped content affiliate sites while us regular Joes/Janes get slapped around by Google and others. Overall, I've come to believe that the best long term strategy is to build a brand of some type supported by your own product base rather than on an affiliate relationship.
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      • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
        Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

        First, contact the Google Complaint Department and voice your concerns over this action.

        Basically the message from the big Internet companies, from Google to eBay, has become "Go Big or Go Home". That's why a company like TheFind.com or NexTag.com can get away with essentially wafer thin scrapped content affiliate sites while us regular Joes/Janes get slapped around by Google and others. Overall, I've come to believe that the best long term strategy is to build a brand of some type supported by your own product base rather than on an affiliate relationship.
        Like what kind of product? Do you mean developing something like Fat Loss 4 Idiots and getting affiliates to work for you?
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        • Profile picture of the author ronr
          As the old saying goes..."Don't throw the baby out with the bath water"

          You have a good converting process. Just add another step to keep google happy.

          If it's not too late, I agree with the advice of keeping everything but changing your landing page to a squeeze page (with good content of course so it gets a good quality score) and building a list and making sales with autoresponder messages about your offers. It will probably reduce your conversions at first but it shouldn't totally kill your sales totally and time they could even improve because of your list building.

          I also like the other idea of creating your own product. You've already found a hungry market and know how to sell to them. So feed them your own product and you can earn a lot more money and continue to use adwords while you diversify.

          Ron
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          • Profile picture of the author sree94
            Well, my employer took me back

            I am very disappointed because I really had made big plans for my life that were based on me being able to make my own hours. Also, I work the graveyard shift at my job, and I'm tired all the time, so I was really looking forward to getting to sleep like a normal human. But if I was worrying all the time about money coming in, I wouldn't get any sleep anyway

            I am determined to come up with at least 2 other income streams that *I* control before quitting my job
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            • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
              Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

              Well, my employer took me back

              I am very disappointed because I really had made big plans for my life that were based on me being able to make my own hours. Also, I work the graveyard shift at my job, and I'm tired all the time, so I was really looking forward to getting to sleep like a normal human. But if I was worrying all the time about money coming in, I wouldn't get any sleep anyway

              I am determined to come up with at least 2 other income streams that *I* control before quitting my job
              disappointed ? are you feeling OK, most people talk about doing the walk but never do, you stood up and danced the tango, you should be feeling very proud
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              | > Choosing to go off the grid for a while to focus on family, work and life in general. Have a great 2020 < |
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            • Profile picture of the author SEOPoints
              Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

              I am determined to come up with at least 2 other income streams that *I* control before quitting my job
              Believe it or not, I bought your WSO from WAY back in the day... about getting from 0 to around 800 to 1000 a month. It helped me a LOT. Seriously, it was really inspirational and practical, too. So this is my way of helping you out...

              There's a company called Rebrand Software that produces a bunch of software that you can private label with your own name and stuff like that. They've got stuff that does the SAME basic stuff as RegCure and Registry Easy and they even have an anti-Spywre/Adware type product that's kind of like NoAdware.

              If you do a quick search in Google, you'll see a link for the company's website. It's only like $350-$400 for each software piece, and you can basically sell it directly to the people you've got coming to your site(s). This MIGHT get Adwords to lay off and let you keep making sales since it would be your OWN product.

              Do you think this might do the trick?

              I would have sent this as a PM but I don't have 50 posts. Hope this helps you out man, it's a tough situation you've just described.
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              • Profile picture of the author Ti
                Am I the only one here who is confused by Google banning you because you are an affiliate website?

                Google's own policy quite clearly states that you can advertise affiliate websites. Google's own policy states:

                Affiliates and resellers are welcome to advertise with AdWords
                So why would they ban you and say it was because you were advertising an affiliate site?

                Isn't this a huge red flag to anybody else?
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                • Profile picture of the author Hanz
                  Originally Posted by Ti View Post

                  Am I the only one here who is confused by Google banning you because you are an affiliate website?

                  Google's own policy quite clearly states that you can advertise affiliate websites. Google's own policy states:



                  So why would they ban you and say it was because you were advertising an affiliate site?

                  Isn't this a huge red flag to anybody else?
                  Hmmm, the OP said "I got an email saying my pages are in violation because they have affiliate URL's on them."
                  I'm also confused.:confused:
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  • Profile picture of the author euhlir
    For a year, I busted my butt daily with SEO.
    Until you get yourself back on track I'd get back into your article marketing. I remember your post about doing 10/day and making some decent sales. Build your list while doing that and you'll be able to figure out where to go from there soon enough.

    There's always Facebook, Yahoo, MSN, Twitter, and a ton of other PPC platforms you're probably not utilizing to the fullest.

    Hope things work out for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Amir Rimer
    Yes, I agree John Thornhill is amazing.

    I have been through all his courses, and his content is outstanding.
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  • Profile picture of the author badboy_Nick
    Call Google first. If you did nothing wrong they will re-activate your accounts. But I suggest to go part-time and still concentrate on IM as life really IS great!
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

    .....A part of me wants to still give it a shot full time, but someone once said you shouldn't quit a job until you have steady, converting traffic. So it looks like I am going to have to lie and convince my bosses that I can't truly see myself leaving this job
    What a nightmare
    Any financial advisor / planner would say the same thing. Do not quit your job until you have steady income and at least 6 months worth of living expenses. Props to you for having saved up for a rainy day, most people don't do that.

    Google Adwords is great if you're able to keep up with their constantly moving targets. There's also places like Yahoo and Bing. You can also buy impressions from a plethora of media networks. You can also buy traffic directly from website owners in many situations. The key is to diversify all of the big 4:

    Paid advertising
    Content traffic
    Free publicity
    Strategic relationships (example: joint ventures, cross-promoting, cross-branding, etc.)

    Very few people /organizations do all four well. While you don't have to do all four, once you have traffic coming from 3 to 4 of the big 4, you wouldn't be able to turn the traffic off even if you wanted to.

    Good luck,

    RoD
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  • Profile picture of the author amitjain
    Why you worry so much about Google adwords? join other ad networks and carry on with your dream job (IM).
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  • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
    I am so sorry this happened to you. The power that Google has is really scary. Sometimes I wonder if Matt Cutt's sweetheart said "hey honey I am selling product X could you please get rid of the competition" if he would send out letters banning them.

    Regardless I hate to say this but yes yes yes yes yes yes go get your job back. It is a terrible job market out there as you know. I have a brilliant daughter who worked so hard in college and can't find a job. I read about people making over a hundred thousand who are now delivering pizzas. There are a lot of people looking for work.

    You do not know what will happen with your online businesses and how long it will take you to build them up again. If it was a different economic climate my thoughts would be different.

    My advice - Get that job back! At least for now.
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  • Profile picture of the author sdentrepreneur
    Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

    So for months now, I have been making about 3 times more with IM than my job, which I really don't like and has awful hours. I put aside 6 months of savings to live off, and decided to put in my notice and do IM full time

    Then Tuesday, Google dropped the hammer

    They have not outright banned me yet from Adwords, but I have been getting that dreaded "system delay" message for almost 2 straight days now. And I got an email saying my pages are in violation because they have affiliate URL's on them. Unreal

    I am going to do everything I can to get around the ban and get a new account, but it is clear to me now that Adwords is not a viable long term business strategy. And this is something I knew, but I got blinded by the potential for the good life

    A part of me wants to still give it a shot full time, but someone once said you shouldn't quit a job until you have steady, converting traffic. So it looks like I am going to have to lie and convince my bosses that I can't truly see myself leaving this job

    What a nightmare
    That is one of MANY reasons why I don't like Affiliate Marketing and CPA Marketing.
    There is so much money to be made online that doesn't involve both of those methods.
    Good luck my friend, I hope it works out for you !!!
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    • Profile picture of the author MRomeo09
      If you live in US, it's no big deal to create an LLC or multiple and use different companies to do business with. Should cost you around $200-400 to setup a different company. Then setup different hosting, etc. You should never just have one Adwords account, when it is so simple to create more than one.

      My offline business makes more than half of the business from adwords, and even still I have a backup plan. I have a complete different LLC, different hosting, different accounts, and the whole ball of wax all setup just in case. And I do absolutely nothing that is against terms. Which was really helpful when one of my accounts got hacked, and had to transfer almost everything over to a completely different bank account, took me just a few hours and I was ready to go.

      HTH,

      Marcos
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    • Profile picture of the author Boris_yo
      Originally Posted by sdentrepreneur View Post

      That is one of MANY reasons why I don't like Affiliate Marketing and CPA Marketing.
      There is so much money to be made online that doesn't involve both of those methods.
      Good luck my friend, I hope it works out for you !!!

      And what doesn't involve both of those methods?
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  • Profile picture of the author cypherslock
    Why would you put all your eggs in Adwords? I've used Adwords in the past but it is not my sole method of traffic. Articles....blog feeders.....squidoo.....hubpages....squeeze pages. That being said, DON'T give up!
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgR.
    I have been making about 3 times more with IM than my job
    you already did a BIG step, obviously you're not an IM dummy, you made/make big money with adwords!

    What holds you back doing the same on other ad/PPC networks?

    Relying on Google is bad!
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Cutts
    Hello,

    Thats sucks!

    I learnt the hard way a while ago and have learnt NEVER!!! build a business on the back of another business it can only end badly.

    Dont get me wrong make money from ebay and from amazon and adsense but dont build a whole business around just one system...

    Good luck fella but dont get stresses it wont help

    Danny
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  • Profile picture of the author entrepenerd
    Sorry to see you going back to the JOB, but understandable. You had big cajones to turn in the resignation in the first place, so big props for that. Just be sure to NOT let this turn you off of IM or slow you down. If anything, let that taste of freedom further motivate you to build the income streams even faster.

    Definitely try to diversify your traffic if possible. But, don't get completely turned off on Google. There are tons of people out there making fat cash off of Google Adwords solely. As I mentioned earlier, you should definitely be using PPC to drive people to an email capture. That way you can always tap that list for more money in the future. That's a huge safety net, and may be all the safety net you need.

    Another thing to consider for affiliate offers promoted through Adwords is a multi-page pre-sell. That way you can send people to a landing page that has a really high quality score and no affiliate links. Andre Chaperon is huge on this. You'll have to do a fantastic job with creating the pre-sell to really keep your conversions up, but it can easily satisfy Google's demands for good content in order to sell affiliate products.

    Check out Andre's Affiliate Bully free case study here: How To Promote ClickBank Products | Free ClickBank Guide

    NOTE: I have no affiliation with Andre whatsoever (other than being a customer) and the link above is not an affiliate link.

    Be sure to pay close attention to the Landing Pages link. It will show you 2 important things. Build a high-quality landing page that Google likes on a real site that Google likes, and do it while building a list. If you continue to follow Andre, you'll also learn a lot about the multi-page pre-sell that he uses and it really goes directly with what Google is looking for and if done correctly can really be a high converter.

    Good luck! Hope this helps!

    PS: Even though the link above talks about Clickbank. The concept can be used on promoting any product whether through Clickbank or any other network. It also works for CPA promotion.
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  • Profile picture of the author DrGUID
    Yes eggs and baskets spring to mind here.

    I am trying to get 20 different money making schemes going. I am up to No. 11.

    My main scheme (selling my own software) has been torpedoed due to recession or something, and I am learning the importance of eggs and baskets. Diversify, diversify, diversify!
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  • Profile picture of the author macchiavelli
    Google is ass...I hate them with a passion.
    I had my own website earning $3000 a day spending only $300 a day...ccraazzzy ROI!!!
    Then just 1 day BOOOMM 0 impressions..........Sent them an email and after 4 weeks they hit me back with the dreaded TERMINATION email.

    I was like what the kcuf....tried to open another account, wouldnt let me.
    Its strange because I wasnt advertising illegal stuff at all!
    Man that b.s made me want to cry.

    Bounced back though...I got allot of eggs in allot of baskets!
    Dont depend on google, way too much traffic out there for them to be playing with our money like that!
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisChoiSEO
    It's sad that they're shutting down legitimate marketers because of a few bad affiliates in their system.
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  • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
    I know you can't show your URL's but here's my interpretation of your situation.

    Almost every site on the internet makes money through some version of "affiliate " marketing.

    That includes almost every major news outlet, all of which Google has love for.

    Every advert you see on a site is either an affiliate model or a paid model.

    Either way it's taking revenue for promoting a product.

    Google isn't anti advertising etc.

    What Google is really hating and you can expect this to get worse is a gazillion little mini sites all targeting a few long tails, cluttering up the SERPS and containing about 10 pages of content with the obligatory privacy, T&C etc and that's it.

    They hate it because they feel it's a manipulation of their results and the sites don't add much value .

    This isn't always true but Google just throws paint at a wall rather than brushes carefully when it comes to the hammer.

    I love the model, and I've actually put good content on to my sites, but even some of those have fallen foul.

    I'm actually now moving fully away from the model because I think Google is going to become more and more stringent.

    I'm now building two huge sites, complete with forums, blogs people can add to themselves, hundreds of articles, tools relevent to the niche, social elements and so forth.

    Now within many of the articles on the site I have links to affiliate products.

    When it's within the context of a site like that - you're safe.
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  • Profile picture of the author ArtFlipper
    I'm just having a hard time believing this story...
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  • Profile picture of the author ZerosToHero
    Why not try the content network where quality score is a less of an issue or so I've heard from Andre Chaperon.
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  • Profile picture of the author Palusko
    It's already said and done, but like others said, you did it before, you'll make it again. I am surprised you decided to go back to work, especially since you had 6-months of savings which you could have used (after all, these are the situations why the savings are recommended to have before quitting job). Good luck to you, hope you will post a little update from time to time. Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author larryburr
    I am sure you can find a way around this issue. The key is to not give up. You have made money so you can continue to do it. Just find another approach. Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author numba8
    hmmm, the scenario you described is scary. I'd suggest calling Google because the industry would be dead if people weren't allowed to promote affiliate links on their own websites and then promote those websites through adwords. So it sounds like Google might have made a mistake, or maybe you haven't described everything well enough.

    Either way, don't give up on IM. The only thing standing between you and success is persistence. The whole industry is based on trial and error. Keep trying! =p
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    Am I the only one here who is confused by Google banning you because you are an affiliate website?
    Yes, I find this disturbing that Google would do this.

    But, I am thinking it probably has more to do with the actual structure of the page than the fact that affiliate links were there?

    Hard telling not knowing what the pages looked like.
    Signature
    Gone Fishing
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    I don't use Adwords for traffic so this comment might be worthless . . . but were you linking directly to the affiliate on your page, or linking to a redirect page on your site?

    What if you did this...

    Put an "index, no follow" meta tag on the page you're sending traffic to, link to a redirect page in another directory with a "no index, no follow" meta tag on it, and use a robots.txt file to keep the search spiders out of the directory with the redirect pages.

    Would G still see the affiliate link that way?
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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 Ti
      The point is that it does not matter if Google sees it as an affiliate link. Using adwords to promote affiliate pages is perfectly acceptable according to Google's own policy.

      This is why the OP's post is so concerning. The way I see it, one of three things is happening here:

      1) OP is not telling us the whole truth
      2) The Google person who banned him has made a big mistake because Google's policy does allow affiliate websites
      3) Google is in the middle of changing their policy and for some unknown reason has not updated their documentation to state affiliate advertising is unacceptable.


      We need to get to the bottom of which of those 3 things (or otherwise) it is.
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      Affiliates Wanted --> http://Pwnboxer.com <-- Promote to your MMORPG/World of Warcraft Niche
      Insanely Popular Software Lets You Play 5x WoW+ On 1 PC - 100% Legit Bliz Approves Multiboxing
      Current Affiliate Stats: June 4th 2011: EPC = $3.50, Conversions = 10.2%, $23.50/sale

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  • Profile picture of the author marcwhite
    My heart certainly goes out to you...and for your courage to keep on the path...a suggestion in effectively planning the what-if's would be to create a simple "cash flow from what source" spread sheet by week for the next 3-4 months. put your assumptions down as well for the master template...and then do a best case and worst case senario. be conservative, as u know things most always take a bit longer than we think! blessings to you...
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  • Profile picture of the author Terry Matthews
    Are your affiliate links cloaked, out of curiosity?
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  • Profile picture of the author LetsGoViral
    Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

    So for months now, I have been making about 3 times more with IM than my job, which I really don't like and has awful hours. I put aside 6 months of savings to live off, and decided to put in my notice and do IM full time

    Then Tuesday, Google dropped the hammer

    They have not outright banned me yet from Adwords, but I have been getting that dreaded "system delay" message for almost 2 straight days now. And I got an email saying my pages are in violation because they have affiliate URL's on them. Unreal

    I am going to do everything I can to get around the ban and get a new account, but it is clear to me now that Adwords is not a viable long term business strategy. And this is something I knew, but I got blinded by the potential for the good life

    A part of me wants to still give it a shot full time, but someone once said you shouldn't quit a job until you have steady, converting traffic. So it looks like I am going to have to lie and convince my bosses that I can't truly see myself leaving this job

    What a nightmare
    Why would you leave your job? You should be thankful of having a job in this economy. It's a privilege. Furthermore, you could have worked on your internet ventures in your free time. That's what I would do in your place.

    And relying on Adwords alone is not safe.
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    Time of thinking is over.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    Never put all your eggs in one basket and always concentrate on list building.

    Now, I think you need to move on to PPV and stuff.
    Signature

    “The first draft of anything is shit.” ~Ernest Hemingway

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  • Profile picture of the author Ruka
    There are still some sites on Adwords which go straight to a squeeze page (data collection page), but how long they will last is anyones guess.

    Squeeze Pages/Lead Capture/Data Collection sites or whatever you want to call them are NOT allowed on Adwords anymore.

    Ouch! Does this apply to the product owner's site as well?

    I was planning to use squeeze page -> sales page, and use PPC for my upcoming product ...

    Can anyone comment on this?
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  • Profile picture of the author rovad
    It's really sad. I have actually never tried paid advertising, the only thing I relied was SEO. Now, a lot of my 2.0 properties, articles and high ranking minisites got buried deep on the 5th 6th 10000000th pages of SERPS. So it's basically the same as you and I feel your pain.
    The thing is that affiliate marketing is simply getting harder and harder to do these days.

    I am also sort of dead in the water, all my 8 months hard work and sweat slowly got down now taking me to 1-2 sales per week which is plain MISERY. I had last sale 17 days ago - depressing.

    I still love doing SEO, but I realize that the only real way left for us will be e-mail marketing - Google doesn't have authority on that! And the best part is it can be done without Google - forums, groups, blogs, Facebook profiles, fan pages and groups, Twitter and stuff like that.
    That is the direction I am on now. We'll see how it goes.

    Anyway, keep your head up, this is business, and every business is a risk. And risk sometimes f***s you up :/.
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