AdWords with a Re-direct

[scottysbody]

I read an article by Zac Johnson on PPC marketing and something stuck out to me. I can't tell if this is legit or not. Here is the part...

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4.) Link Url: When setting up your Google Adwords campaign, you were asked to give a “Display URL” and a “Destination URL“. If you are going to advertise on the “content network”, here’s a tip that can really improve your CTR. Instead of listing your “Display URL” as [nbjmp.com...] you can purchase a domain through GoDaddy and redirect the url to your offer landing page. You can only imagine how many more people would show interest and click a link that said something like [MyBestWeightLossNow.com...] (fake url), rather than a long string of letters and numbers that aren’t relevant to the ad. Once you have done some testing with your campaign, throw a few bucks into a referral domain name and see how much it may improve your overall campaign numbers.
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From what I can understand, display URL and final landing page have to be the same. So, I can't understand the point in having a page simply to re-direct.

To use his example of, if my redirect page was sitting at [mygenericurl.com...] and it sent the buyer on to [cheapest-hoodia.com...] which would I use for the display URL?

I get a little confused on display URL, destination URL, and final landing page.

Isn't Zac Johnson supposed to be some sort of super affiliate? BTW, this article was only a couple of months old.

Thanks for your replies,

Scott

[Rehan]

What Zac is recommending is against Google's rules. The display URL rules have generally been loosely enforced, which is why some people continue to do it and advocate it. The display URL policy is supposed to become more strictly enforced beginning April 1, so that may be the end of the road for that loophole.

You can read Google's policies regarding display URLs and affiliate links at [adwords.google.com...]

[edited by: Rehan at 1:32 am (utc) on Mar. 1, 2008]

[poster_boy]

Instead of listing your “Display URL” as [nbjmp.com...]

I think the author is confusing "Display URL" with "Destination URL"?

[smallcompany]

I went there and read few posts (including URL one) and found all of them have been written around affiliate links of the owner of that site. The whole idea being promoted there is to have you click onto his affiliate link and buy a domain name or whatever.

The story about having scrambled link vs. your nice looking “fake” domain is total no-sense. Affiliates that link directly to their partners’ sites have always been using “real” display URL (final landing page URL) and their tracking code that simply could be anything. All big 3 offer separate display and destination URL today (Yahoo wasn’t like that some time ago). Again, bad looking URL point is to get you buy domain name through affiliate link.

301 from this example is misused. 301 means “permanently moved” and is used when you change YOUR domain name or folder or page within your existing site. You also use 301 if you have more than one domain name pointing to the same site, including misspellings.
I am not sure how Google looks into 301 that goes from your domain name to someone else’s site. I think that 301ing to some other site could be some sort of spamming.

Trust me, I came across affiliates that were doing bid jamming on Google. I found they used .net or other TLD version of legitimate .com sites and 301ed to them. That way, when you catch URL that is doing bid jamming, and you check WHOIS on it, you start blaming innocent person or company until you figure it, if ever. How sneaky…

Finally, Google’s display URL policy is the same for both search and content. It is just that less people check on content, meaning, less violation reports from other advertisers. Also, Google must be having hard time checking display URLs of all AdSense ads, considering the number of them showing each second.
Not sure how this coming change will affect it.

In short, from my perspective, that guy has not really explained the purpose of 301 from your own domain to the one you are working with. His article has sounded like you’re trying to trick Google with original content before you start using your own.

As Rehan already said, display URL thing from this article is against the policy.

[scottysbody]

Thanks for the replies. I think I understand it a little bit better. I still can't understand why google even has a "destination URL." What is the point of it?

[poster_boy]

I still can't understand why google even has a "destination URL."

The "Destination URL" is the URL within your website that you send users to from your ad - so, this is a necessary component. I think you are confusing "Destination URL" and "Display URL".

[smallcompany]

For tracking or any other (valid) reason, people may use redirects.

Even with no redirects, do you want PPC engine to pick display URL for you, or you want to be the one to decide about it?

Few scenarios:

1. You use affiliate link with GJKJYUTRFBV as domain name (with .com or whatever), but your final landing URL is NICEURL.
2. You use NICEURL.com/product1/page1.html?id1=345&id2=987. How would Google itself decide what to put in display URL, based on such destination URL? One would say "NICEURL.com", but that may not be your choice. You may want Blue.NiceURL.com instead.

Instead of doing it automatically they gave you a choice where you can decide if you want all small caps, first upper and other lower or in fashion like WordWord.com

No matter from which point you look at that, display and destination URL as separate parts of your ad are way to go.