Google Adwords Linking Policy

A question arose on Google Adwords’ policy toward the URL you use in your paid ads. Does it have to link to your site or can you use an affiliate link? It used to be that you could use your link and have the visitor end up at an affiliate’s web site.

I tracked down the policy statement on Google’s blog.

Essentially, the link you use in your Adwords ad HAS to end up at that domain.

yourdomain.com/page.html
subdomain.yourdomain.com/page.html
yourdomain.com/directory/page.html

You can use a tracking link in between, but the visitor has to end up on the top level domain that’s used in your ad.

So, your ad can say keyword.yourdomain.com and end up at yourdomain.com/landingpage.html, as long as it’s the same top level domain.

But, in another example, if you are using a redirect for misspellings from say, mydomane.com to mydomain.com, mydomane.com in the ad is not allowed.

I recommend “preselling” the product with your own landing page rather than linking directly to the affiliate web site. A little work can make a big difference in conversions.

Plus, Google only allows one Adwords ad per search query to the same domain, so if the company you’re promoting is running ads or other affiliates are running ads, you may be out of luck with your directly linked affiliate ads.

Paul

Further Reading:

Google Adwords Linking Policy.
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New Phishing Scam

I’ve been receiving a ton of phishing scams in my email inbox lately from banks, insurance companies and now, Microsoft.

The subject line says something about an “Update for Microsoft Outlook” (I’ve received 3 or 4 with different subject lines) but don’t buy into it – it’s another phishing attempt. Look at the picture below and notice where the link leads in the status bar on the bottom left…

If you can’t read it, it says http://update.microsoft.com.illlhi1.com/

This is a normal ploy for phishers, using subdomains to create a legitimate looking URL, but the actual domain is illlhi1.com, not Microsoft.

A word to the wise – DON’T click on links in emails from banks, insurance companies or even Microsoft.

Paul.
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