Google Cracking Down on AdWords Scams
You’ve probably seen the “Make Money on Google” ads floating around the Internet these days. (Or maybe not. . . .) The banner ads are one thing (I think most of us know to take them with a grain of salt). But when you see the same scam advertised on Google, even intelligent users might begin to wonder if there’s an association between the two—maybe it’s true.
(Don’t worry, you didn’t miss out. It is a scam.)
Screencap by Barry Schwartz
Though these ads have been appearing for months, Google has finally started to crack down on them. According to Search Engine Roundtable, Google is banning ads with keywords that look related to these AdWords scams. They’re also taking action against the account owners, according to an email to an advertiser posted Google AdWords Help thread:
It’s come to our attention that you have submitted ads that promote Google Money Tree or ads that promote a misrepresented affiliation with Google. Due to multiple complaints from our users and publishers, we’ve made the decision not to accept these ads.
This is a notification that your account has been suspended due to the submission of these ads and your ads will no longer run on Google. Please note that future accounts you open will also be suspended.
Apparently Google started the strict enforcement of this part of the guidelines on July 1.
What do you think? Is this crack down going to help protect more victims of the scams, or is it just Google covering itself?
