Why Does Google AdWords Allow This?

Google users being scammed

[mortgagemax]

Why does AdWords allow their own advertisers to scam the users of Google? I have encountered numerous incidents of advertisers that will claim to be promoting one item but trick people into downloading their own software. The advertisers will have a website about Product A and the link will say "Download Product A Here" but when you download it you are actually downloading Product B (their own product).

So in theory you can build a website about Internet Explorer and say Download IE here but then have Firefox downloaded to the unknowing comsumer.

This practice is completely deceptive, unethical and perhaps even illegal. It helps improve the Quality Score for the cheating advertiser which will result in costing the honest advertisers a higher CPC and likely get a lower CTR which results in less sales. This hurts the honest Google advertiser, the Google search engine user and only helps the cheater and Google's revenue numbers.

When I questioned Google as to why they continue to allow this, they claim it doesn't violate any of their advertising policies. How can not have a policy against scams and possible illegal activity?

I would appreciate someone to explain why this is being allowed by Google.

[bwnbwn]

First of all your nuts to download anything from a PPC ad. Jeeze that is the quickest and fastest way to get a keylogger install that you'll never detect or get rid of.

I myself will never install sofware from anyone other than the maker and certianly never from a ppc ad.

But I agree with you this is certianly deceptive and most likely the same way the stuff is spreading so fast across the web.

[justshelley]

Google would greatly appreciate it if you contacted them to report any deceptive practices. They will act swiftly and remove not only the ads but they will disable the account as well.

[mortgagemax]

I have contacted them numerous times and with several people about this.

Here is the basic reply:
I agree that the website is misleading Google users. The policy team doesn't want to get into judging how misleading a site is.

Is this for real? How can Google who claims to care so much about "the end-users experience" continue to allow these same "end-users" to be defrauded by their own advertisers?

[LucidSW]

bwnbwn, I use PPC to advertise my own software. I know lots of other companies, big and small, many of them well-known and reputable who do as well. So if you are in need of say, anti-virus software, you would not buy or download an evaluation copy from Symantec because they use PPC? If everybody thinks that way, it doesn't bode well for those companies selling software on the internet.

I've never run across practices mortgagemax refers to. I guess I don't buy and download that much software. But those who do advertise in any form that you can download ABC but you actually get XYZ are being unethical. I don't know why they would do that but somehow those people should be weeded out.

[mortgagemax]

LucidSW,
The reason they advertise ABC software (and have a link labeled ABC software) but have the download link actually download XYZ software onto unsuspecting Google users computers is because they are either own or are affiliates of XYZ software and get paid when people buy XYZ software. This is absurd that Google allows this (and has so for quite some time) and yes they should be weeded out.