Comments on: Google Slap or Salvation? http://netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/ Author of the best-selling affiliate marketing training book shares free money-making affiliate tips. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:41:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Annie http://netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/comment-page-1/#comment-51767 Annie Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:41:21 +0000 http://www.netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/#comment-51767 Google is a behemoth with more content publishers in its network than I can guess at, so it will take a while to see the effects of their efforts, especially considering these things have to be hand checked. But I hang out at several webmaster forums, and I've seen a lot of whining by people who have had their accounts terminated by Google (for arbitrage/MFA sites). So, Google is definitely doing something. :) In the meantime, advertisers have the option to turn off the displaying on their ads on content networks. Google is a behemoth with more content publishers in its network than I can guess at, so it will take a while to see the effects of their efforts, especially considering these things have to be hand checked.

But I hang out at several webmaster forums, and I’ve seen a lot of whining by people who have had their accounts terminated by Google (for arbitrage/MFA sites). So, Google is definitely doing something. :)

In the meantime, advertisers have the option to turn off the displaying on their ads on content networks.

]]> By: Rosalind Gardner http://netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/comment-page-1/#comment-51374 Rosalind Gardner Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:36:03 +0000 http://www.netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/#comment-51374 <strong>Hello Keith</strong>, The new examples are more indicative of the type of arbitrage site that should be dropped as Adwords advertisers. I dropped the direction portion of the URL in my initial example http://www.gottchaonline.com whereas it should have gone to http://www.gottchaonline.com/gottcha.php?keyword=furniture_teak. The link listed ended up going to a page that had a tiny - very tiny - amount of 'content'... if a collection of words constitutes 'content'. However, those who looked closely at the 'content' on the homepage beside Finance saw the line 'In this day and age there is more than one financial service right for you'. In the next paragraph, beside Insurance is 'In this day and age there is more than one insurance company right for you.' The remainder of both paragraphs is <em>exactly</em> the same. I don't consider that content. The people at Google don't consider that content. It's not instructive or helpful. It's a waste of time for searchers, and a big waste of money for advertisers that put their ads out on the content network. The sites that show up on the arbitragers sites are usually also listed in the Sponsored Listings and would be found more easily without the arbitrage sites being allowed to display on Adwords. Moreover, it would eliminate those second and third time and money-wasting clicks. The primary reason that I ask that my visitors not click the links on the arbitrage sites is because doing so costs the advertisers money. So, unless you were looking for those products specifically, that's a completely unnecessary expense to that advertiser... and completely unwarranted benefit to the arbitrager. Cheers, <strong>Rosalind</strong> Hello Keith,

The new examples are more indicative of the type of arbitrage site that should be dropped as Adwords advertisers.

I dropped the direction portion of the URL in my initial example http://www.gottchaonline.com whereas it should have gone to http://www.gottchaonline.com/gottcha.php?keyword=furniture_teak.

The link listed ended up going to a page that had a tiny – very tiny – amount of ‘content’… if a collection of words constitutes ‘content’.

However, those who looked closely at the ‘content’ on the homepage beside Finance saw the line ‘In this day and age there is more than one financial service right for you’. In the next paragraph, beside Insurance is ‘In this day and age there is more than one insurance company right for you.’ The remainder of both paragraphs is exactly the same.

I don’t consider that content. The people at Google don’t consider that content. It’s not instructive or helpful. It’s a waste of time for searchers, and a big waste of money for advertisers that put their ads out on the content network.

The sites that show up on the arbitragers sites are usually also listed in the Sponsored Listings and would be found more easily without the arbitrage sites being allowed to display on Adwords. Moreover, it would eliminate those second and third time and money-wasting clicks.

The primary reason that I ask that my visitors not click the links on the arbitrage sites is because doing so costs the advertisers money. So, unless you were looking for those products specifically, that’s a completely unnecessary expense to that advertiser… and completely unwarranted benefit to the arbitrager.

Cheers,
Rosalind

]]> By: Keith http://netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/comment-page-1/#comment-51364 Keith Sat, 29 Sep 2007 12:50:19 +0000 http://www.netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/#comment-51364 (I‘m not an affiliate marketer therefore I had to look up “Arbitrage” to check my understanding of it in this context). A good arbitrage site could be like a directory and yes there are bad ones out there but the site in question I personally find OK. By design, Adwords advertisements are scant on detail, so a consumer would be very lucky to find what they wanted (precisely) on their very first search. Maybe it because I’m not an Internet marketer, I’m just a consumer who’s happy surfing the web - if it can be purchased online - I’ll do it, anything to save wasting time in town. Without wishing to get on the wrong side of you, it seems to me that you’re off on yet another rant Why as a surfer and potential customer shouldn't I be using a site like this? I thought you marketers were supposed to get inside my head and figure out what it is that will make my life easier. If that’s the case, then I’m sorry but you’re failing. I genuinely don't understand your problem and advising people not to click on it is just plain wrong. I'm not prepared to police the web on a whim of anyone's. (I‘m not an affiliate marketer therefore I had to look up “Arbitrage” to check my understanding of it in this context).
A good arbitrage site could be like a directory and yes there are bad ones out there but the site in question I personally find OK.
By design, Adwords advertisements are scant on detail, so a consumer would be very lucky to find what they wanted (precisely) on their very first search.
Maybe it because I’m not an Internet marketer, I’m just a consumer who’s happy surfing the web – if it can be purchased online – I’ll do it, anything to save wasting time in town.
Without wishing to get on the wrong side of you, it seems to me that you’re off on yet another rant
Why as a surfer and potential customer shouldn’t I be using a site like this?
I thought you marketers were supposed to get inside my head and figure out what it is that will make my life easier. If that’s the case, then I’m sorry but you’re failing.
I genuinely don’t understand your problem and advising people not to click on it is just plain wrong. I’m not prepared to police the web on a whim of anyone’s.

]]> By: Jake http://netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/comment-page-1/#comment-51299 Jake Sat, 29 Sep 2007 04:28:54 +0000 http://www.netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/#comment-51299 Ros, can I prevail upon you to post a link to where on Google it would be easiest for us to report such arbitragers? Also, regarding the example arbitrager site in post #3 above, would we be able to automatically notify Google by clicking on the ads A LOT?! I heard somewhere (hmmm, I think a Joel Comm email from way back when) that if a visitor over-clicks AdSense ads, it can send up a red flag to Google and they'll have a closer look at the website. Thanks. ~Jake Ros, can I prevail upon you to post a link to where on Google it would be easiest for us to report such arbitragers?

Also, regarding the example arbitrager site in post #3 above, would we be able to automatically notify Google by clicking on the ads A LOT?! I heard somewhere (hmmm, I think a Joel Comm email from way back when) that if a visitor over-clicks AdSense ads, it can send up a red flag to Google and they’ll have a closer look at the website.

Thanks.

~Jake

]]> By: Rosalind Gardner http://netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/comment-page-1/#comment-51259 Rosalind Gardner Sat, 29 Sep 2007 00:14:22 +0000 http://www.netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/#comment-51259 <b>Hello Jayen</b>, I'm referring to those sites that advertise on Adwords or Yahoo! and when you visit them you see nothing but ads ... delivered by either Google, Yahoo or other ppc engine. http://furnitureteak.biz/ and http://ga.eteakoutdoorfurniture.com are examples of arbitrage site that came up as the 2nd and 4th Sponsored Listing on Google Adwords on a search for 'teak furniture', and which show nothing but ads. If you visit the sites, please DON'T click the ads... we don't want him or her to profit from a site that just wastes people's time. Cheers, Ros Hello Jayen,

I’m referring to those sites that advertise on Adwords or Yahoo! and when you visit them you see nothing but ads … delivered by either Google, Yahoo or other ppc engine.

http://furnitureteak.biz/ and http://ga.eteakoutdoorfurniture.com are examples of arbitrage site that came up as the 2nd and 4th Sponsored Listing on Google Adwords on a search for ‘teak furniture’, and which show nothing but ads.

If you visit the sites, please DON’T click the ads… we don’t want him or her to profit from a site that just wastes people’s time.

Cheers,
Ros

]]> By: Jayen http://netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/comment-page-1/#comment-51231 Jayen Fri, 28 Sep 2007 19:18:28 +0000 http://www.netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/#comment-51231 interesting ;-) Am I right to assume you're not referring to adsense sites in general, just those that use adwords as a way of getting their traffic? interesting ;-) Am I right to assume you’re not referring to adsense sites in general, just those that use adwords as a way of getting their traffic?

]]> By: Linda http://netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/comment-page-1/#comment-51219 Linda Fri, 28 Sep 2007 17:31:53 +0000 http://www.netprofitstoday.com/blog/google-slap-or-salvation/#comment-51219 Ros, I agree that most arbitrage sites are basically junk. But something I don't agree with (or maybe just don't understand your reasoning) is that they "cause ad prices to be ridiculously and unecessarily high." I don't think an arbitrager is going to make any money unless they are buying their keywords at rock bottom prices. They then profit by getting enough adsense clicks to make up for what they pay on PPC. If they are paying too much for PPC, then they lose money. So I don't see anyone buying 5 cent clicks as driving up prices for anyone else. Arbitrage is about buying low and selling a little bit higher. But there has to be quite a range to make up for the fact that not everyone who goes to an arbitrage site is going to click on any ads. The people I think it hurts are people displaying adsense on their sites who get these low-paying ads rather than ads paying a decent amount for the space they take up. But even then, low-cost ads will be at the bottom of the ad block. It's not too hard to use a smaller ad block to weed out those ads. Or add the URL's to the ones you block. But perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point, and you could explain it a little more fully. Ros, I agree that most arbitrage sites are basically junk. But something I don’t agree with (or maybe just don’t understand your reasoning) is that they “cause ad prices to be ridiculously and unecessarily high.” I don’t think an arbitrager is going to make any money unless they are buying their keywords at rock bottom prices. They then profit by getting enough adsense clicks to make up for what they pay on PPC. If they are paying too much for PPC, then they lose money. So I don’t see anyone buying 5 cent clicks as driving up prices for anyone else. Arbitrage is about buying low and selling a little bit higher. But there has to be quite a range to make up for the fact that not everyone who goes to an arbitrage site is going to click on any ads.

The people I think it hurts are people displaying adsense on their sites who get these low-paying ads rather than ads paying a decent amount for the space they take up. But even then, low-cost ads will be at the bottom of the ad block. It’s not too hard to use a smaller ad block to weed out those ads. Or add the URL’s to the ones you block.

But perhaps I’m misunderstanding your point, and you could explain it a little more fully.

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