Google, Is This a Legal Thing to Do? The Story of Over-Promotion
Ok, I am not that knowledgeable in PPC stuff (I am 100% organic) but these Google Ads appearing for SITE: search look too sneaky to me:
Firstly, they seem dynamic (appearing for whatever SITE: search you run but bolding the domain name). Secondly, this is just search hijacking!
What are your thoughts?
Ann Smarty
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10 Responses to “Google, Is This a Legal Thing to Do? The Story of Over-Promotion”
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I get the same result for domains that I own, that are registered in WMT. I wonder what their rationale here is. There must be some rationale for promoting WMT, just not sure what it is. I don’t see the harm in it if it’s only appearing for the site: command. That reportedly is not nearly as accurate as it once was, anyway.
My understanding is that Google let advertisers bid on brand name keywords but prevent them from using those keywords in the advert. So essentially Google are breaking their own terms. Having said that, Google own it so it is theirs to do with what they will!
I totally agree. Google is bit by bit switching over from the lean efficient search engine that they used to be to an advertising portal. Their search results are dominated by paid ads these days.
Vote with your feet, people. Switch to Bing for your personal searches and send Google a clear message.
Looks fine. they always bold the search terms.
I read about job seekers buying ads for the names of 2-3 potential hiring managers. when those people “googled” themselves, they saw this guy’s ad, with their name bolded (of course, it was the only ad), and it caught their attention. he got an interview & i think a job. Google probably saw the same article & said “why not us?!”
Well Google is showing their ads in the above example.
Plus all is fair in the world of business! People/Companies bid on competitor terms all the time. Its capitalism at its best!
It does seem that they’re getting a bit more lax when it comes to enforcing these types of rules. A great example is the recent BP ads that were allowed to run on AdWords. The guidelines state that the URL listed on the ad has to be the destination URL but this wasn’t the case. The destination was actually going to their Youtube channel.
This is going against their policy but those who makes the rules can break ‘em right??
Thanks!
Joe
–
University of San Francisco – 100% online
Master Internet Marketing training
I’ve seen this about a week ago and I think it’s legal, why not ? Aren’t you promoting your own services on your own website ?
I dont see anything wrong with it myself. However if a user is using the “site:” query I would have presumed they would have heard of Google Webmasters already. Google obviously knows different!
It is google advertising so they can do what they want. And they are just looking to help people – if you are analysing a particular site then your likely looking at how your site can perform better. So Google Webmaster tools will help you.
Yes they may appear sneaky. But then at the same time you may not know why they are doing that. Maybe people should have complained about them.