Avoid the Google Slap

Giving Google what they want is not always an easy task. With constant updates to algorithms and terms and conditions, it is not unusual for a pay-per-click campaign
that was perfectly acceptable one day to be “Google Slapped” the next. The best thing you can do is to stick within the most current guidelines and update your site or ads if they change.

A “Google Slap” is when Google increases the cost of your PPC campaign to $5 or $10 from its original cost of a few cents or or a dollar or two. Google does this to campaigns that they regard as not being of sufficiently high quality. Each and every AdWords campaign has a quality score, and as Google changes their rules or algorithms, these scores can also change. Later, we’ll look at what you can do to avoid a slap or to recover from one. But first let’s try to work out exactly what Google wants.

Following the Google Rules: Ad Content

As you can probably imagine, Google wants you to adhere to lots of rules. To make it easier for advertisers, Google breaks these into three distinct areas: Editorial/Format, Content, and Links. All these policies share one overriding principle: to make a user’s experience a positive and safe one. Let’s look a little closer at these three main areas.

Editorial and Format Rules

The editorial and format rules cover everything from spelling, grammar, and punctuation, to trademarks, and to pretty much everything in between. Google is very particular about what you can and can’t say in an ad. The use of superlatives is out, as are trademarks and unacceptable phrases. However, most of the breaches of the editorial and format rules will be highlighted before your PPC ads go live.

Some of the areas that don’t get picked up immediately are claims that may be made in the ads and applied affiliations. Once again, it is important to make sure that your ads are honest and that you give Google no cause to halt your campaigns.

Content Rules

Google’s content policies for AdWords ads are quite comprehensive, with a long list of products or items that you can’t advertise. Like the editorial and format guidelines, most of these will get picked up before the ads go live; if not then, shortly afterwards when a manual check is done. Generally the rule is, if it’s illegal or offensive, then you can’t advertise it.

Links Rules

The final area of guidelines laid down by Google deal with links. Google is particular about what passes as an acceptable link from a PPC ad. Google requires two links in each ad, the destination URL and the display URL. The display URL is shorter and must accurately reflect where the destination URL, which the customer doesn’t see, leads to.

The following example is what Google likes to see:

Destination URL: http://www.bigbluewidgets.net/bluewidgets.html

Display URL: www.BigBlueWidgets.net

It may seem to you that the links guidelines are the shortest; but in fact, they are the most important. The links guidelines also cover what Google regards as acceptable sites to which the PPC ads can send visitors.

Following the Google Rules: Landing Pages

Earlier, I talked about Google Slaps, and it is the final part of the links guidelines that deals with the all-important “Landing Page and Site Quality Guidelines.”

In fact, the entire area of Google Slaps is summed up in one small paragraph tucked away in the “Landing Page and Site Quality Guidelines”:

Furthermore, following our site guidelines will help improve your landing page quality score. As a component of your keywords’ overall Quality Scores, a high landing page quality score can affect your AdWords account in three ways:

Decrease your keywords’ cost-per-clicks (CPCs) Increase the position of your keyword-targeted ads on the content network Improve the chances that your placement-targeted ads will win a position on your targeted placements

I’ve bolded the 14 words that are most important. The amount of consternation, lost income, and sleepless nights that these 14 words have caused is immeasurable. To sum up what Google is saying: if you don’t have a good-quality landing page, you aren’t going to be able to run a profitable AdWords campaign.

When all is said and done, it all boils down to Google wanting good-quality ads and good-quality landing pages. Give them that, and you should be able to run your campaigns as long as you want without fear of the dreaded Google Slap.

We’ve seen above that good quality ads are dependent on sticking to Google’s rules, which are clearly laid out in the guidelines. Providing good-quality landing pages is also dependent on Google’s rules, but the rules in this case are
open to wider interpretation so let’s look at exactly what Google wants.

Google wants landing pages to be three things. They want the pages to be relevant and have original content. They want the pages to be transparent so that the visitor knows who they are dealing with.

Finally, they want the pages to be navigable. By providing all three, you can ensure that your site meets Google’s quality guidelines.

Relevant and Original Content

Google wants your site to be relevant to the ad that is being displayed. If your ad promises details on one type of product, make sure it provides that information and not information on another product. If you have several pages on your site and your ad mentions one particular product, link to that page; don’t link to a general page that list several products. Users should be able to find what your ad promises quickly.

Your site should have original content not available anywhere else. Interestingly Google says that if your ad links to a catalog page or a page with general search results, you should add additional “substantial” unique content. The originality aspect also means that affiliates should not copy content from the advertiser’s site, and that the page should not mirror the look and feel of the original.

Transparency

Google is very keen on advertisers building trust with their customers. This means that they expect you to be open with the customers. You should inform your visitors of the nature of your business, you should ensure that you deliver what you promised in your ad, and your site should not mess with their computer settings.

The easiest way to stick to these guidelines is to have a number of additional pages that list your business details, your privacy policy, and your terms and conditions. Of course you must also ensure the customer has a smooth transaction and gets what they paid for. Additionally, any ads on the page should be readily identifiable.

Google’s guidelines also suggest that you should not request information from your visitor if it’s not necessary; therefore, they expect the user to have access without registering. This obviously also covers squeeze pages, so pay particular attention to your quality score if you use a short squeeze page.

Navigability

Google expects the page to be easily navigable. This is actually as much for your benefit as for that of the visitors. As Google says, turning visitors into customers is much easier if they can find what they are looking for! The key to complying with Google guidelines here is to make sure that the customers can find what they are looking for with no distractions. This is really a matter of common sense. Ensure your page loads quickly and provide as short a path as possible to the offers. Finally, avoid distractions, popups, and flash elements.

Rules Are Good for Everyone

Keeping with the guidelines Google has laid down is to benefit not only your potential customers, but your business, as well. You’ll find if you keep within Google’s guidelines, your campaigns will cost less, the ads will be listed higher in the rankings, and you’ll get more customers. Overall, that’s not a bad trade-off. Affiliate

About the Author

Mark Thompson spent many years working in an IT consultancy in London. Following a re-evaluation of his goals and lifestyle in 2004, he sold everything he couldn’t fit into the family car and moved to rural Spain, where he now pursues a
variety of online ventures. Visit his website http://www.incomeacademy. com to learn more about the benefits of his low-cost
online business coaching.