User:1av8r/Google slap

Definition
A Google Slap is the slang term used by website publishers whose pay per click (PPC) ads have been forced out of the Google Adwordssystem.

How It Works
Ads are forced out when the landing page that the ad points to is reviewed for quality. The quality score is lowered by the system and the minimum bid price per click for a given search term is increased. The resulting return on investment (ROI) is no longer worth the ad spend and so the publisher is forced to turn off the advertisement. Affiliate Marketers and other small businesses are generally the most vulnerable to google slaps. Affiliates have reported minimum bid price increases from $0.05 to $5.00 and even $10.00 when being hit by a google slap.

Effect On Small Business
When a small business publishing online using AdWords as a primary acquisition vehicle for revenue and is faced with a Google slap, his enterprise is suddenly at significant risk. Many quit or simply close often due to significant loss of income and simultaneous and often unrecoverable committed expense severely affecting cashflow to continue operation. Some attempt to retool by reconfiguring their AdWords accounts, starting new accounts and/or abandoning entire domains to start over. It is also widely documented that appeals to Google generally do not seem to change the outcome of a Google slap.

In The Press
Here is the first widely followed lawsuit filed on this subject in which TradeComet.com is claiming that Google artificially raised advertising rates to protect itself from competitors (read: NYT Article

Chronology

 * August 2005: Quality Score Induced Minimum Bids


 * It was as early as August of 2005 when website publishers first learned about quality score being introduced to rate web page quality and factor into bid prices.


 * January 2006: Double Serving No Longer Permitted


 * Google changed its policy to allow only one advertisement to any given destination URL to appear per result page. This change neutralized merchants with strong affiliate programs who were squeezing out competitors. The key objective with this change was to provide a better experience for the user.


 * May 2007: Google Slaps AdSense/AdWords Arbitrage


 * Large numbers of website publishers had earned substantial revenue by purchasing PPC traffic at low prices and sending it to their website pages with embedded AdSense advertisements that yielded higher revenue. The difference between what was paid for AdWords clicks and what was earned through AdSense clicks formed the arbitrage play. The play was extended further with affiliate ads on the pages, often in a comparison shopping presentation to the visitor, designed to improve overall page ROI.  Google sent notice to all website owners involved in arbitrage starting June 1, 2007 and returning only monies spent on such AdWords ads. (See: Jensense.com post)


 * July 2009: Google Slaps Review Sites


 * Building websites with pages containing product reviews was another popular tactic used by affiliate publishers. The objective was to create high quality scores in order to benefit by lower PPC costs on relevant terms. PPC traffic was directed to pages comparing 2 to 3 similar products or services embedded with affiliate links.  Affiliate forums and blogs buzzed about quality scores on these types of pages going from excellent to poor and PPC bids increasing substantially (see: Perry Marshall article).


 * September 2009: Google Slaps Affiliates


 * It became apparent to the affiliate industry that any pages containing affiliate links were at risk of having quality scores lowered at any time, irregardless of the consumer experience. Documentation found at Google, reads:

Website Types to Advertise with Caution

The following website types will sometimes merit low landing page quality scores and may be difficult to advertise affordably. If you choose to advertise one of these website types, be particularly careful to adhere to our landing page quality guidelines - especially the rule about offering unique content.


 * eBook sites
 * 'Get rich quick' sites
 * Comparison shopping sites
 * Travel aggregators
 * Affiliates


 * Here is a thread that discusses the effect on website publishers.