Double standards over adwords?

**jrisby** · 06-12-05

Hi All,

Anyone got any thoughts on this.

We've been told off by Google in the past because our ads said something that wasn't on the landing page (even if it was on the site somewhere) and as far as I am aware, if you claim something in the ad it has to be on the landing page (ie, 10% off etc).

A company is bidding on a set of keywords that we bid on. We bid on it for the correct use, and sell the product that the user is searching on. The other company (actually, two at least) are knocking up the bid price but do not sell anything to do with the product!

Not only do they bid on the words (I accept that can't be stopped without a trademark applicaiton) but the text of their advert suggests they sell the product. That's the bit that gets me. If you click on their ad there is nothing at all on the landing page, or the page it leads to, about the product. They do not sell it, at all.

I complained to Google but they have told me "The AdWords program provides a venue for companies to advertise their services. However, we are not responsible for nor are we able to monitor the actions of each company. "

And have told me I can complain to trading standards!

This seems to go against everything we know about how Adwords works. Google do very much monitor the actions of each advertiser and quickly stop ads that are breaking T&Cs.

Any thoughts?
John

**Wardy** · 06-12-05

Not an answer to your question, but are you sure the other sites adverts aren't displaying throgh broadmatch terms?

Cheers
Wardy

**jrisby** · 06-12-05

Thanks Wardy but no, that's not the issue.

**KirstyM** · 06-12-05

I frequently see other sites getting away with things that Google has busted me for in the keyword areas that I'm working in / monitoring.

I've had ads switched off for using the wrong variation of a merchant url (.co.uk rather than .com) and then watched as some other affiliate popped in and did exactly the same without any seeming penalty (despite my futile efforts to get my ads back on once I saw that).

It's irritating, and you might think its unfair. However, for the sake of my blood pressure and personal relationships I have resolved to be philosophical in my dealings with Google!

**jrisby** · 06-12-05

I know what you mean Kirsty, dealing with Google should carry a health warning!

**Pete Taylor** · 06-12-05

Search Adwords and the ad reads

Google Adwords
Check out Google's advertising programs online. Get started today!
www.google.co.uk

It then goes to https://adwords.google.com

Yes, double standards indeed when they can't comply with their own rules!

**Web Diversity** · 06-12-05

As you can appreciate Google are a technology company with a massive advertiser base.

As such they don't have the editorial bandwidth to vet every contravention of rules, which is why on occasion you will find you get penalised for something (hand edit) that others don't (automatic acceptance).

Because of the democratic effect of the auction process if their ads are getting clicked and their is no relevance then you have to say they are not the smartest advertiser on the network. If there is ambiguity then it may be a trojan horse. If you sell a loosely related product where the CPC is 10% of the other product then you could convert poorly and still make better ROI than advertisers bidding on the product itself.

Change yours and you go back into the general queue and if you don't fall foul of another hand edit you might be OK.

Just don't get too uptight, as has been said it's part of doing business with PPC providers. Google are no exception to that.

**jrisby** · 06-12-05

Originally Posted by Web Diversity

Because of the democratic effect of the auction process if their ads are getting clicked and their is no relevance then you have to say they are not the smartest advertiser on the network. If there is ambiguity then it may be a trojan horse. If you sell a loosely related product where the CPC is 10% of the other product then you could convert poorly and still make better ROI than advertisers bidding on the product itself.

Change yours and you go back into the general queue and if you don't fall foul of another hand edit you might be OK.

Just don't get too uptight, as has been said it's part of doing business with PPC providers. Google are no exception to that.

Thanks for the reply.

Don't get me wrong, our ad has a good CTR and is still showing but these two companies have popped up from nowhere outbidding us, forcing us to bid higher to remain in the position we want. They are selling a related product but not the one they are advertising. One of them is related - imagine if their ad said "Audi A6 - order today" and when you clicked on it was a link to a Ford dealer, it's along those lines.

This one will probably disappear again soon, but I would expect google to remove them once alerted to the fact they are, in my view, misusing the system.

The other one is selling something even less related (back to the Audi analogy, imagine if they were linking to a site selling HGV tyres!) But this one is being run by an agecy for a big brand, so they obviously have their clients money to waste.

Ho hum!

**KieronD** · 06-12-05

If I got worried every time Google seemingly contradicted themselves then I would be using Grecian 2000 by now.

Best example was the other week when the Google AdWords Optimisation team were creating some campaigns and ads for me. All went well and the ads were running fine. Then I get an email from the editorial department stating that my ads were breaking some of their T's and C's and would need to be re-written and re-submitted.

So it seems even Google themselves fall foul of their own editorial policy. Go figure.

**ian** · 06-12-05

It can drive you mad, but you just have to remember that they are only human, and not as bad as Overture! They seem to flip a coin to decide if a new ad is good enough, allow the same companies to post the same ad twice etc etc.

**pericom** · 06-12-05

We all know about favourtism & Google.. another of their Pals is Kelkoo and dealtime.

**km8** · 06-12-05

I go with Web Diversity's view.
And no, there is no rhyme or reason to G's vetting process.

If I recall, Adwords T&C say the offer should be "within one or two clicks of the landing page", or words to that effect.

Just beware, if you repeatedly re-submit ads with no discernible (to the GA editor) change to the ad or landing page you could get the dreaded warning:
"one more violation and you're history mate" (I'm paraphrasing of course).

That's a scary warning because it doesn't just threaten to permanently suspend the ad or ads going to that landing page - it means your entire Adwords account.

I suspect Diversity is right though - it's the luck of the draw whether you get automatic acceptance or human-review, with the latter being much more erratic.

**km8** · 06-12-05

Originally Posted by ian

It can drive you mad, but you just have to remember that they are only human, and not as bad as Overture! They seem to flip a coin to decide if a new ad is good enough, allow the same companies to post the same ad twice etc etc.

Amen to that!

I've just signed up with Yahoo Search - hoping it will be a bit more efficient and reasonable than Overture - which I gave up on because it was just too hard and slow to work with.

I used to watch several coats of paint dry while waiting for Overture to decide on my ads.

**Pete Taylor** · 06-12-05

Originally Posted by km8

Amen to that!

I've just signed up with Yahoo Search - hoping it will be a bit more efficient and reasonable than Overture - which I gave up on because it was just too hard and slow to work with.

I used to watch several coats of paint dry while waiting for Overture to decide on my ads.

Is Yahoo Search seperate from Pi55 poor Overture?

**ian** · 06-12-05

'Yahoo Search' looks like the family name, of which Overture provides the 'sponsored search' element. They've got other apps to get listed in their shopping, directory, travel web channels - http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/index.php