Google has announced that with immediate effect it will permanently ban any AdWords advertisers that place scam or malware ads.
The search engine started disabling AdWords accounts of perpetrators earlier this fall, and is now stepping up those efforts to try to eliminate the mini-economy of fraudsters that continue to plague text advertising. In such a scenario, a Google user might search for the phrase “anti-virus software.” A paid search ad might show up that links not to a page that offers solutions but to one that downloads malware on the user’s machine. Or a user might see a similar ad on a publisher site that accepts Google’s text ads; a scam ad on that site damages that publisher’s connection with its readers.
For Google this marks a big step away from its traditional algorithm-based fraud prevention, and it’s being done at client level rather than web site level, which means they will make every effort to shut down any accounts and campaigns that they believe are associated with an offender, not just the offending campaign itself.
As an advertiser, you will need to take much greater care moving forward. If you run one campaign that direct-links to a malware site, you could be booted off AdWords forever. Google’s new policy is a drastic step and it’s a sign that they’re feeling heat from competitors, customers and just maybe the Feds as well.
