All year, I’ve been doing battle with a never-ending series of aggressive fraudsters who use AdSense ads across many dot-tk (.tk) domains which each generate small numbers of cheap fraudulent clicks, siphoning money from any campaign which has Automatic Placements enabled.
Why does it work? It works because Google AdWords refuses to enable exclusion of placements (web sites) based on Top Level Domain (TLD). Read more »
This just seems creepy and wrong: Google (AdWords) allows advertisers to create Search ads which pre-fill forms with Google Account data. In this example, my email was pre-filled next to a “subscribe” button which doesn’t say what I’d be subscribing to — alongside a completely meaningless “Privacy” link which doesn’t disclose how the email address would be used. Read more »
I’ve long wondered how Google evaluates a person’s “interests” in order to display advertising that’s not displayed “in context.”
I think Google’s algorithms need tweaking, because Google has an unreasonably long memory regarding my “interests.” Read more »
I don’t write much about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), despite its importance to the success of every web business. That’s because I view SEO as an integral part of every aspect of online marketing — it just isn’t a discrete function that can be managed separately. SEO is holistic.
I’ve intentionally written only in very simplistic terms about SEO: “Be Relevant and Useful” and “Common-Sense SEO.” Today, I want to emphasize the importance of audience and purpose in SEO and web marketing.
Read more »
For the past 15 years, I’ve earned most of my income from my work as an individual internet marketing consultant. This year, I must finally acknowledge that I can’t continue as a “solo” consultant.
Read more »
I found two marketing articles quite thought-provoking this week:
The common factor, of course, is “which metrics should marketers use to evaluate performance?”
Read more »
OK, experts: what hit my other blog? Was it one of Google’s Panda updates, or the Penguin update?
Read more »
Beware: Google will automatically change AdWords accounts to “Optimize for Conversions” instead of “Optimize for Clicks,” which could create huge problems for clients who have not properly implemented conversion tracking within AdWords.
Google announced the plan on its “Inside Adwords” blog in December, and has recently begun displaying an alert within the AdWords account interface, noting that the change will happen this month (February). To avoid the automatic switch, complete this form before February 14.
Read more »
There’s been a flurry of SEO-related commentary over the past week, discussing Google’s most recent algorithm adjustments, which changed the results for about 12% of all search queries. Internally, Google calls this the “Panda” update, but most observers call it the “Farmer update” for its impact on “content farms.”
Read more »
I’ve optimized Google AdWords PPC-search campaigns for dozens of clients. I’ve been doing online marketing since 1997, paid search since 1999, and Google AdWords since the service launched. Read more »
Comments Off on AdWords’ Dot-TK Plague & the End of Automatic Placements 
