I've heard from several people that if you ask nicely you can get them to "block" this site for your account.
Well, I asked nicely and they said no.
I'm sure they have this capability so I'm a little miffed. We spend 3-4k a day with AdWords, and a good part of that is from our Search network campaign.
If we can't get them to block some specific sites we'll have to pause the entire campaign because it's really dragging everything else down too far.
Anyone know if I should push the issue, or was I misinformed? Also, I've heard of people have specific "account reps" at AdWords that they can call when they have problems, etc. How do I get one? lol
[edited by: engine at 4:34 pm (utc) on Mar. 15, 2007]
[edit reason] Specifics, see TOS [/edit]
Right now there is not a way to block certain search partner sites.
I sent an email today to all my clients and recommended that they turn off the search partner option until:
1) Google removes the offensive search partner sites out of the system
and/or
2) I have a tool that allows me to exclude those sites from showing my ads.
It used to be that a search partner was a reputable search engine like netscape or AOL. Not so anymore. From my logs, it appears as if any website that adds a search box to their site is now accepted into Google's system as a "search partner". The ones that seem to be causing the most problems are sites that show only sponsored links and a search box. There is no valuable content on the site...their only purpose is to make money off clicks. The new search partner sites have found a loophole in the system that keeps them from being excluded and gets them top dollar for their clicks. Since I have no other way to fight them, I am turning off the search partner option for my accounts and all my client accounts until Google comes up with a reasonable solution to this problem.
Regarding agency reps...I have agency reps and I have discussed this issue with them but they do not have a resolution for this problem. I'm not sure how you get an agency rep. I have an MCC and I manage around 45 separate AdWords accounts...I'm sure how many accounts you manage and/or how much money you manage through an MCC has something to do with being assigned an agency rep.
The first time I talked with Google (earlier this week), there wasn't anything they could do or that I could do to fix this problem. This time, they have asked for lists of the offensive websites to look into possibly doing something about those specific websites. We are in the process of creating those lists...I'll update in a few days when we get Google our lists and hear back from them.
We actually do decently well with the Content network - only because we can monitor clicks and block sites that send traffic that doesn't convert.
It just doesn't make any sense to me. I am going to go and turn off my Search network campaign right now and Google is going to LOSE MONEY. If they would just give us the option to block specific sites (that they know are garbage!) they wouldn't force me to turn off the entire campaign.
I just don't get it. If they let us turn off specific sites they would make more money. They'd still make a fortune off the "ignorant" AdWords advertisers who don't know better, so they wouldn't be losing anything.
And surely it's not a technical issue because, well, they can do anything like that easily. So what am I missing? Grr.
I don't know one single person who jumps up and down when they click on one of the search partner websites that consists of nothing more than sponsored links and a search box. How could Google possibly think that those websites are "relevant" or "high quality"...when the rest of us see them as a waste of our time (as a searcher) and money (as an advertiser)?
Any news from google on your request yet? I have just emailed them regarding a search network partner I would like to exclude. If I can't get them removed, I also have to delete the entire search network from my campaigns.
;)
