Imagine my surprise the other day when I open an e-mail from Google AdWords and found this amazing note.
"We are writing to let you know that your Google AdWords account has been disabled due to one or more serious violations of our advertising policies related to Landing Page and Site Quality. As a result, your ads will no longer run through the Google AdWords system and we are unable to accept advertising from you in the future. Please note that future accounts you open will also be disabled.
As part of our commitment to making the AdWords experience safe and effective for our users and our advertisers, we routinely review the landing pages that our advertisers promote through our search and content networks. If we find that an advertiser has submitted a landing page that egregiously violates our policies, we reserve the right to take immediate account-level action."
Yep, I was banned for life for an unnamed infraction on an unnamed page. It was even more curious because I have had no ads running on Google for several months. I run several sites and did not even know which site was involved in this heinous (egregious) crime against humanity.
Now I must admit, initially this did not seem like much of a gift. Somehow I had angered the Google Gods. I quickly replied to the e-mail only to learn that the Google Gods do not necessarily respond to mere mortals. So, I began to look into the process of advertising on Google and quickly the huge gift became apparent.
Here is the quotation from the Google Support Page titled About Suspended Accounts. These are the infractions on your landing page(s) that can get you banned for life:
"Data collection sites that offer free items, etc., in order to collect private information
Arbitrage sites without relevant and original content that are designed for the purpose of showing ads
Affiliate sites without relevant and original content that are designed to drive traffic to another site with a different domain
"Get-rich quick" sites
Malware sites that install software on a visitor’s computer
Poor comparison shopping or travel sites whose primary purpose is to send users to other shopping/travel comparison sites, rather than to provide useful content or additional search functionality"
Now if you are an internet marketer who has their entire business running on Google AdWords, this list should prompt a panic attack. Why?
• Item number one is also called a squeeze page, something virtually every marketer has running
• Items 2 and 3 require original content, something virtually no marketer has. It may be relevant but it’s mostly all borrowed from e-zine articles floating around the net. Has Google banned duplicate content on landing pages?
• Item 4 – "Get rich quick" sites is completely undefined and according to Google will remain undefined.
• Item 5 does not define "malware". Of course we all despise viruses, Trojans, worms and the like, but what about tracking cookies? Malware? Maybe not now, but Google won’t say.
• Item 6 does not define a "poor" site, what constitutes useful content or additional search functionality.
In other words, Google will decide (based on their undisclosed internal "filtration methods") if you get to remain in business.
So, why this is such a great gift?
Google, you see, has just given me the gift of education and awareness, one of the biggest and best gifts you can ever receive.
I always look for the fundamental business my clients are in. Google has now made clear to me that they are not in the business of search, or even in the advertising business. I feel that Google is in business to shape the Internet to its own internal vision and needs, regardless of their customers needs. They are successful in doing this because they are not motivated by money.
So, now I have a solid case study with which to counsel my clients. If you account for more then 20% of your income through Google AdWords, or AdSense, you are playing with fire. Picture waking up one morning and find yourself banned for life from Google. For some marketers their entire business would be gone. For others a very large part of their income would disappear.
Could you somehow get Google to reverse their decision? I understand that some have done that, but it is a long and difficult process. Most abandon all hope and try to sneak another account in through a back door using another name, computer and IP address.
So, I am sharing this valuable gift with everyone. Diversify your marketing as much as feasible and do not rely on Google for more of your income then you can afford to lose, because, just like gambling, it could be gone in the blink of an eye.
Michael Larsen is a business coach, management consultant and organizational trainer in North Potomac, MD. If you would like more information on business coaching please visit www.Coaching-Institutes.com/ Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/online-marketing-risky-business-1565787.html