Changes to Google AdWords policy?

May15

Changes to Google AdWords policy?

I had one of my long running Google AdWords campaigns suspended yesterday, the email alerting me to the fact went something like this….

Ad Issue(s): Violation of Affiliate guidelines - Bridge page

POLICY DEFINITIONS:
Violation of Affiliate Guidelines: The domains of your Display URL and Destination URL must agree, you may not simply frame content from another site and your landing page may not be a bridge page with the sole purpose of driving traffic to another site..

The key part of the message is this:

“your landing page may not be a bridge page with the sole purpose of driving traffic to another site“.

What I tend to do for some merchants is create a page dedicated to them on my main site, UKOffer or sometimes I even create a stand alone page on a new domain. If I’m honest these pages tend to just contain the key facts about the product/offer and very little else. After all the very point of being an affiliate is to get your visitors to click out of your site and go elsewhere.

Anyway, I have rebuilt the offending page in question and added a lot of genuine content. It’s all relevant to the product/market in question and is quite interesting even if I say so myself! I have emailed the revisions to my Google account manager and will wait to see what she says.

So does this signify Google yet again clamping down on affiliates? I think so.
This is the first time I have had a campaign suspended for this reason and looking around on the web I can see it has obviously affected other affiliates too.

Still, what fun would life be if things just stayed the same? Adapt and move on I say.

What I’m listening to right now: Ashanti - “Concrete Rose”