Considering the rules and guidance for Google AdWords
SearchEngineLand, in a post that appeared last week, lists four main ways of falling foul of Google AdWords’ rules:
• Using multiple accounts for one business
• Masquerading as someone else to attract traffic
• Selling free items
• Distributing malware/infecting searchers’ PCs
At least three of these might be obvious, but Adrac Ltd reckons that using multiple accounts might be one rather innocent way to get a suspension or ban from using Google’s paid advertising platform.
Google’s standards for AdWords are quite high, and rightly so. Sometimes the accessibility of the internet and its magic makes people want to rush in and get started and forget to proof read or even read the content guidelines.
If you are considering handling your paid search advertising (pay per click or PPC) yourself, or even if you want to understand a little about what your account manager is doing on your behalf, read on. But we also recommend you read Google’s rules, too. Not only is it interesting, giving insight into the wider world of natural search, it could stop a shed load of trouble.
Here are some of the stipulations laid down in Google’s guidance for AdWords – a shortlist by Adrac of the ones people could accidentally, or purposefully, fall foul of.
And in here somewhere is the formula for the perfect AdWords text. Honestly!
• Spelling: must be correct, though common abbreviations or spellings such as ‘tonite’ or ‘pix’ are permitted. stifles a wince
• Adverts and keywords must be relevant to your landing page.
• Language: no profanity, plus Google prohibits call-to-action phrases like ‘click here’.
• Prices: must be accurate and easily found within one or two clicks of the landing page.
• Warranty: if mentioned, any limitations should be included in the advert.
• Some examples of what is specifically banned from AdWords: escort agencies, anti-abortion promotion, herbal drugs, fireworks, some mobile content, travel aggregation websites, selling items or services available free elsewhere, the selling of items breaching copyright, online pharmacies, websites that are unclear about their billing practices.
• Take care with your landing page. Error messages, incorrectly displayed links, locking users into the landing page, using a landing page with the sole purpose of driving traffic on to another webpage, use of popups and poor server security are no-nos. Consult Google’s WebMaster advice. Landing page relevance is vital.
So, while you might not be able to imagine your reputable business falling foul of the ‘no phishing’ or ‘no malware’ rules, it’s conceivable that your AdWords account could be suspended or terminated because you missed something really simple.
AdWords is a fabulous tool and, despite all these rules and regulations, relatively easy to learn. However, Adrac recommends using paid search management for AdWords (and other PPC providers like Bing, Facebook and so on) because this places your budget into the safe hands of business development managers, and the profits into your business bank account.
