How to Make Sure You Never Trick to Click!
Google does NOT like misleading adverts!
In fact, in 2014, it disabled around 524 million ads which used ‘trick to click’ methods to draw naive customers into conversion funnels.
And it’s not always a case of sites trying to mislead users. They’re simply being creative and employing some humor.
Google’s complex algorithms, though, don’t appear to be admiring these efforts.
It’s easier in the Googlesphere we live in, then, to respect Google.
Because who wants their ads disabled and their revenue streams disrupted?
Let’s look at how you can satisfy Google and preserve your customer’s trust.
Do You Really Believe Google Will Let You Advertise Fake Goods?!
This may sound obvious, but DO NOT try and advertise fake goods!
Say you’ve ordered 50 iPhones from China for $200. That’s a great bargain when you consider they sell for several hundred dollars each.
Problem is they’re obviously fake and will barely function.
However, you could craft a great ad which promises all singing and all dancing iPhones with all the latest features.
Once Google crawl your site they’ll see the truth behind your ad and disable it.
Which is a waste of everyone’s time.
I’ve Got a System Error?! Thank God You’re Here!
You’ve just bought a shiny new laptop and it’s made life so much easier, but what’s that?!
A virus has been detected and it’s going to wipe your hard drive!
The only way to prevent this is to ‘CLICK HERE’
It looks like an official Windows error, so I better click it double sharp.
And then…
You get flung to a site trying where the really ‘helpful’ guys are trying to sell you software you don’t need!
Way back in the early 00s I thought that these ads were pretty clever. Irritating, but clever.
Unfortunately, there’s a whole range of people out there who fall into the paranoia trap and frantically click them.
Thankfully, Google are eliminating these ads, so no matter how clever and arch your ad is, don’t bother!
No One Likes an Intrusive Ad, so I’ll Just Disguise It, Okay?
Short answer: NO!
Google has strict rules about the appearance of your ad, so make sure you adhere to the following:
- The product on offer in your ad needs to be clearly identifiable with your brand e.g. if you’re selling iPhones (genuine one’s of course!), you need to include your brand logo in the ad. You can’t try and trick people into thinking it’s the Apple Store they’re clicking on!
- Don’t try and disguise your ad seamlessly into a site’s page. Google will see what you’re trying to do and they’ll know it’s an ad. Instead, try to make it look like an ad and capture people’s attention.
- Borders! Don’t forget the borders! If your ad has a plain black, white or transparent background then you need to make sure it’s got a border of a contrasting color around it. Remember: it has to look like an ad or Google will hit the disable button.
People know what an ad looks like, so don’t try and sneak it into their consciousness.
If you do it’s likely you’ll regret it and just one violation means a whole campaign is cancelled.
Surely a Little Bit of Malware Is Fine between Friends?
There’s nothing more frustrating than getting infected with malware!
We’ve all spent hours punching our desk as we try to clear the infection and get our computer back up and running.
Please, don’t get involved in this as, although you may gain some money short term, in the long term your ads will get disabled and you’ll lose all respect in your niche.
Animated Ads Are a Great Way to Engage People
Humans are fun beings at heart and just love moving pictures!
However, Google has its keen eye on this area of advertising and won’t stand for any nonsense.
Make sure you take a note of these tips:
- Make your ad short! People don’t have enough hours in the day as it is without your epic 3 minute advert eating into their time. Make it 30 seconds or less otherwise Google will see you as a time waster and shut you down.
- A recent trend in ads has been to allow users to play a game e.g. shoot the enemy spaceship down and win $500. They’re fun, but are people really going to win $500? No, they’re going to get shipped to a dodgy landing page instead. This is deceptive and spells the end for your ad.
- A clever little quirk of animated ads is that you can mimic the behavior a of a user’s mouse in the ad space. You could, for example, have the cursor turn into the ‘click symbol’ for clicking on the link. Although this is slightly deceptive, Google allow you a 5 second window to perform this. Any more and you’re out!
Treat Your Customers with Respect by Showing Amazing Ads
Google gets exponentially cleverer with each latest update, so trying to stay one step ahead of them is a fool’s game.
They will crack down on you sooner or later.
Black hat marketing techniques are the scourge of any reputable marketer, but sometimes you may mistakenly break Google’s policies quite innocently.
However, follow our tips above and you should find your ads being prominently displayed and bringing in awesome levels of traffic.
