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PPC To Affiliate Review Site = Adword Ban?

by GuerrillaIM
13 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Does google consider review sites to be "thin sites" and ban your adwords account?

I still see lots of 1 page review sites linking to affiliate products advertising on Adwords, but I am also seeing lots of people complaining they are getting banned.

If I advertise my affiliate sites on adwords am I risking losing my account? My adwords account is kinda crucial to me so don't want to lose it, but want to test keyword for my affiliate sites.

Are many people still making affiliate sales through adwords without problems?
#adword #affiliate #ban #ppc #review #site
  • Profile picture of the author EntreP
    Check this out: http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...pages-ban.html
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    • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
      Originally Posted by EntreP View Post

      I have read that thread (I am the third poster mentioning thin affiliate policy).

      Originally the thin affiliate rule was for people who made a page just to get a quality score and slap a big link to an affiliate offer.

      Technically a review page was not a thin affiliate site, but last few weeks people are saying they have been told that their accounts have been banned because of their business model, something that Google have not previously admitted to, hence the reason I am starting this thread to get an update on how people are doing. I have a lot staked on my adwords account and don't want to lose it.

      EntreP, are you doing PPC to affiliate offers? Do you have any information to contribute?
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      • Profile picture of the author Mert Elver
        Does Google Slaps or Not?

        This still remains as an enigma.

        Let me give you a couple of examples that which i have experienced in my IM business:

        E.G. 1: Weight Loss Review Site

        This site that which i had designed was consisted of just 1 page; and I was reviewing 5 products in this page. After we started publishing with Adwords; Google slapped it in 7 days.

        E.G. 2: Teeth Whitening Review Site

        First constructed the site as I was like a simple "Blogger". But I designed specified pages for each product. And yet again created 5 different pages for each of the products; different than the E.G. 1; I had increased the review's word count by 150 for each. The site is approximately being published for about 2 months now so is the Adwords and no "slapping" at all.

        WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

        In my opinion rather than to appear like an affilate site; If you unleash the sense of an "ordinary consumer who is reviewing any product" in your site; slapping will be a thing you will not be faced; which we have not faced any problems since then.
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        • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
          Originally Posted by Mert Elver View Post

          Does Google Slaps or Not?

          This still remains as an enigma.

          Let me give you a couple of examples that which i have experienced in my IM business:

          E.G. 1: Weight Loss Review Site

          This site that which i had designed was consisted of just 1 page; and I was reviewing 5 products in this page. After we started publishing with Adwords; Google slapped it in 7 days.

          E.G. 2: Teeth Whitening Review Site

          First constructed the site as I was like a simple "Blogger". But I designed specified pages for each product. And yet again created 5 different pages for each of the products; different than the E.G. 1; I had increased the review's word count by 150 for each. The site is approximately being published for about 2 months now so is the Adwords and no "slapping" at all.

          WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

          In my opinion rather than to appear like an affilate site; If you unleash the sense of an "ordinary consumer who is reviewing any product" in your site; slapping will be a thing you will not be faced; which we have not faced any problems since then.
          I think you are talking about quality score i.e. "google slap". I'm not so worried about that, I am concerned about having my account banned for TOS violation like lots of people have reported.
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          • Profile picture of the author Mert Elver
            Actually I am not talking about quality score; I am talking about google's "adword suspensions". Once you follow as I suggested; you will induce your chances of suspension almost to zero.
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          • Profile picture of the author dustinlemos
            You can easily avoid problems with Google by doing a few simple things with your affiliate sites:

            1. Have an FAQ page. Answer not only typical questions like "Do these products actually work?" and "Are they safe" but also questions about your operation, such as "Are your reviews really unbiased?" or "Do you make money from these products?". This is a perfect place for full disclosure if you want to be compliant with the FTC's new policies.

            2. Have a contact page with an email form. A phone number and physical address would be even better, but all sites should have an email form AT THE LEAST.

            3. If you're collecting data for your list, a privacy policy is an absolute must.

            4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL: Make your landing page look good. If you don't know anything about layout or design, then find someone who does, because your page will not pass human review if it looks like you put it together in 5 minutes.
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      • Profile picture of the author EntreP
        Originally Posted by GuerrillaIM View Post

        EntreP, are you doing PPC to affiliate offers? Do you have any information to contribute?
        I am doing none at the moment. Can't help you further. That was the only experience I have. Maybe try the Google Adwords Forum?
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  • Profile picture of the author actionplanbiz
    adwords is cool with review sites
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  • Profile picture of the author webdango
    Well allI know is that I ran that type of site exclusively, dozens of them for the past 8 years, and I got Adwords banned a couple of months back when they did the purge.
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  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    Originally Posted by GuerrillaIM View Post

    Are many people still making affiliate sales through adwords without problems?
    yes and i am unsure why many people fall over ?

    First rule forget about the link type, affiliate or non affiliate, it does not matter, a link is a link is a link.

    Next ask yourself about the landing page / site, does it meet googles guidlines in sites ? is a make millions in 2 seconds type site, is it a snake oil type site, a slim shady reboil offer type site, a gambling site or any other type of site / product ? not endorsed by google

    Next ask do you have all of the normal support pages ?

    about us
    contact us
    FAQ
    privacy
    resources
    site map
    terms

    does the land page then meet the land page requirements? is it a bridge page ?

    a bridge is basically no information and i sqillion affiliate links = bad

    your better of with quality content and lots of it and a small separate ad (1 only)

    is it an i frame = no

    are you doing any shady redirects ? if so no

    so in short

    does the page meet g terms / allowed product / service
    does the land page avoid the bridge or mirror policy
    does the page have good content with few outbound links
    does the site have good structure.

    cover most of that off and you should be OK
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  • Profile picture of the author dsm091
    I started one last week. I am using wordpress for my site. No issues from google. I never even heard of this until this thread. I might have to modify my site a little bit. I actually got an email from google saying to up my dollar amount for this site. So I guarantee it has been looked at by them on some level.

    I could see Google getting mad about 1 html page that sends you somewhere else. I always use a database driven site. I will keep you posted if I hear anything from them.

    -jb
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    • Profile picture of the author Lee MacRae
      I still see lots of 1 page review sites linking to affiliate products advertising on Adwords, but I am also seeing lots of people complaining they are getting banned.
      Here is a quote from google webmaster tools

      Thin affiliate sites: These sites collect pay-per-click (PPC) revenue by sending visitors to the sites of affiliate programs, while providing little or no value-added content or service to the user. These sites usually have no original content and may be cookie-cutter sites or templates with no unique content.

      There is no problem in being an affiliate as long as you create some added value for your users and produce valuable content that gives a user a reason to visit your site. For example, you could create product reviews, ratings, and product comparisons

      Little or no original content - Webmaster Tools Help
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      • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
        Originally Posted by Lee MacRae View Post

        Here is a quote from google webmaster tools

        Thin affiliate sites: These sites collect pay-per-click (PPC) revenue by sending visitors to the sites of affiliate programs, while providing little or no value-added content or service to the user. These sites usually have no original content and may be cookie-cutter sites or templates with no unique content.

        There is no problem in being an affiliate as long as you create some added value for your users and produce valuable content that gives a user a reason to visit your site. For example, you could create product reviews, ratings, and product comparisons

        Little or no original content - Webmaster Tools Help
        Yes, I know what Google TOS says. At first when people were all crying about getting banned, I like many assumed they had broken that rule. But the sheer volume of people who have complained they did not break the rule and still got banned lead me to at least consider the possibility that there is a risk factor for any affiliate promotion via adwords.

        I think I am going to start a second adwords account on a VCC for all affiliate type advertising just to be safe. Going to be annoying to show it in company account though as will have to do it as expense account.
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