Good Cop Google leans left leaving Right hang out and dry

What is Left?

You do Adwords Marketing, Right way or Wrong Way. Right way is strictly following all the guidelines in letter and spirit. Google adwords was created in such a way as to reward the honesty and punish the wrong no matter how sneaky they are. It was true in the initial phases of adwords marketing. Google has broken the mold it was cast in, long back. Right Wing practitioners of adwords marketing who bought into the idea of radical honesty on internet marketing should be alarmed or be ready to get edged out by ones who are not right but fits into Google's scheme of doing the semblance of legality, hence not wrong either. Prod at Google for quality check falls flat.

Free Voucher Economy Thriving

In fact good number of agencies have made fortune out of free voucher program. A little gaming with the system allows them rake in huge profit by quoting to advertisers at the fraction of Click cost & running adwords at zero cost. Another trick employed is using $100 coupon(meant for US account only) in new account and then request to turn it into Rupee account after which about Rs7000 becomes the free credit value. Some claim Google automatically turns them into rupee account detecting Indian mobile number during SMS verification. This loophole is deliberately created to benefit to whom it is communicated. You should know Indian new accounts are eligible for Rs3000/- max. free credit Only. Google's benefit is, they help push the click cost in auction upward and make some honest advertiser pay higher. Google has altered TOS for applying these vouchers to pander to these bad boys of PPC. When I last checked Terms & Condition, I could find this poorly written document with a conspicuous grammatical mistake, promising credit in your account after "an minimum" spent. It tells on them, how much analysis has been done and how many people actually care about reading it. Clearly, Google didn't even check it back after posting.

Tech Support ads still run

Its an industry created by Google. You know Microsoft Bing pulled itself out of this murky business by categorically declaring Third Party Tech Support won't be allowed on Bing Platform. It is in black & white and talking to Bing support I felt they are in no mood to cut you some slack. In contrast, Google has no cut and dried version on this business. It continues to play fast and loose on this front. Most of its sales partners, SMB, Google authorized, blah blah.... were heavily dependent on this industry and may not like to be saddled with other kind. So, you still find some ads in this category running on Google, terms of which are not above board.

Double Serving is an art

Google in 2008, relaxed double serving rules. It has four points out of which at least two should not be breached. 1) Two websites should not be owned by same person. 2) Brands & Logo should be different. 3) Pricing difference should be more than 25%. 4) It should not lead to same customer support experience. If co. X & Y, points you to same customer support after buying then they are one and same breaching the fair use policy of ad network.

Despite all said about it. It is considered an art by many and Google turns blind eye towards them. In fact some agencies, close to Google, are considered specialist in this area. Talking to some advertisers, it was revealed, Google recommends them or rather they are "Authorized".

Abuse of Invoicing Account

Google extends direct invoicing privilege to some advertisers with good credentials fulfilling both regular account spent and legal norms. However, it has been brought to my notice that several advertisers get this privilege even if they fall short of requirement. In fact these accounts are abused to run Free PPC by many agencies who are in cahoots with some Google India Reps. Higher Threshold is set for payment which are never reached actually and so they are never billed. They also keep on creating New invoicing accounts using fictitious credentials to run Free PPC at regular interval in collaboration with Google! One guy confided some "Mr. V" is so smart and have such great inside track that every detail of click and cost is reset or wiped off after some time, looking like the account had never run in the past. Having myself seen a disapproved ad mysteriously turning into approved, I can't doubt this claim either.

It is the common observation of PPC guys around the globe, if your ads run 24x7 and you are willing to pay a decent amount to Google then Google seems more than willing to cut you some slack. They only pick on small advertisers.

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Google Engage Partners Meet Up in New Delhi

This was the first Google Engage meetup I attended. It was held on November, 8th, 2012 at Hotel Hyatt, New Delhi. I had ignored earlier ones, thinking them to be training usually provided to the beginners.

However, this proved to be a Good one and the depth they went into were above my expectations. The greatest lure for attending it was the training for newly introduced features of Display Advertising. I am glad I attended this training.

Trainer seemed to be well versed in what she was teaching and she walked the talk by demonstrating everything on Adwords interface. Very beneficial for all who attended.

Display advertising is changing everyday and so it was a timely initiative by google to get all its partners on the learning curve who otherwise would depend on their own experience and some guesses work. Important parts of the training were adwords learning module and practical problem solving and brainstorming in group.

Mostly SEO companies and some of their regular Engage partners were attendees. I learnt most of them had attended this kind of meetup before too. Most of the attendees were from the companies who manage in house big budget campaigns. Some of the questions they asked were enough to hint that they are on the early stage of the learning curve. There were some tables filled with corporate engage partners too who actively work with Google, selling adwords packages.

First half of the day was spent discussing adwords display advertising features and best practices. Second half was more interesting with discussion on Youtube Advertising and address by the Google’s Marketing Manager, Swagat Sarangi. Youtube advertising has some newly introduced features. The trainer discussed many facts and figures about it.

Some keynotes were figures regarding traffic generation, rates of the banner and mobile ads on youtube. Whereas Youtube masthead costs 6-7 lacs per day, a similar banner on mobile interface costs only Rs.2 Lacs. It looked like they are eager to sell this product through their adwords sales channel. I wonder here why would any advertiser leave the mobile space when one is paying for its web interface. If you are looking for booking a masthead on Youtube, you must bargain to get it bundled with mobile banner too.

Since they are selling it through a dedicated direct sales team, I assume they must be leaving some space for bargaining. From my experience in direct sales, I can tell you such type of products are last moment throwaways for sealing the deal. So, you must bargain for this one too, maybe it comes at a far more discounted rate or even as a freebie with regular masthead.

Many people wanted the Free vouchers which has been discontinued since October to be launched again through Engage Partners. Swagat replied there were too many cases of fraudulent practices and instances of gaming the system through multiple URL and blogspot URl to circumvent the provisions of new account creation, so it is difficult to start that once again. He also shared Larry Page’s concern regarding free vouchers, quoting him that The sales can be doubled instantly by tweaking the Search results in favor of someone for a single day but harmful in the long run, so sales alone is not the mission. However, he also shared that he is thinking about it because he knows the impact on sales because of this. Given the kind of pressure from Google’s prime sales partners, it looks like some kind of arrangement is underway.

Swagat also wanted some informal chat in the end with Engage partners over a cup of coffee in the end, however, most of them were leaving, so I too left the venue. Perhaps some were left behind, who must have had the opportunity to chat with him, maybe regular problems and their solutions.

After coming back I found that the folder I was given there contains an exam voucher code and a 4GB USB Pen Drive from Moser Baer. Previous Year I had to pay for the exam because I received the voucher a day after I took the Exam despite a long follow up for the same. Thanks for this, but I have already taken the exam this year, using previous year’s voucher and was pleasantly surprised to see that Google has included all the exams in a Single voucher unlike earlier when one could take only one specialization exam with one voucher.

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Google Adwords Certification, Matters !

Right since the inception of the Google adwords program, Google has emphasized the importance of getting qualified. By being qualified means the individual has passed the exams meeting its minimum qualification criteria. Additionally, if the individual meets its min. budget spent requirement, they are given additional credit. So far so good.

Based on Exam one may become Individually qualified in Google Adwords. Google gives you a Page on Google.com announcing that You are qualified and also mentions the areas in which you specialize. If an Individual meets its minimum required budget spent in US Dollar terms, during the last 90 days, then one gets Certified Partner status. Both the designations are based on merit and from my experience I can say, Certified Partners do not enjoy any better support.

Apart from Qualified Individuals & Certified Partners, Google has also floated, many other designations, which are purely discretionary. Google also designates some of its partners, not to be confused with Certified Partners discussed earlier, with some fancy and confusing designations like “Google Authorized” or SME Premier Partners …. etc. On the first look they do look like better qualified & connected with Google. Google’s crafty language sufficiently confuses you too.

However, their qualification is not based on merit! They neither need to take any exam, nor prove any other kind of competence in terms of managing skills. The only merit they have is being tied to a company which Google has chosen to be their sales agent and to help them in selling decided to call them so. Some of them even have google.com email id, and they are disingenuously boastful about it.  Perk does not stop here. These people also get access to your Google Adwords account without any need of password. This is not a rumor but an experienced fact. After knowing this I am ready to accept that people who reported unknown agency managers inside their accounts and mails and calls from people claiming they have seen their account and can manage better, were not a hoax.

But this is dirty!  If you are a serious advertiser,  you should completely skip these people. Google’s Toll-free number is picked by them only. Google should also see to it that any outside access to the account should be reported, even if it was by a Google Staff. I’ve seen one of my successful campaign being completely copied by an insurance company, and so I purposely keep some of my accounts out of MCC.

Nowadays it is possible to display your exam marks online. If you are hiring someone for the managing task, the best thing to look for is their mark sheet, and not some badges and pages hosted on google.com.  Badges & Pages have lost their relevance. If you receive Phishing Warning while visiting the exam record link please retweet the below.

@google @adwords Are you so uncomfortable w/ facts that you mark your own partner site as phishing site. pic.twitter.com/sDIozxbtZO

— Ramesh (@netargument) November 6, 2013

Recommended Reading

1. Google apologizes to Mocality for Poaching Customers, lying about Relatonship
2. Shoemoney sues Google for Adwords violation.
3. Good Cop Google leans left leaving Right hang out and dry

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Google Adwords Voucher and Top Placement Scams

In the past 3-4 years, Google has sent me 20 vouchers worth Rs5000/- each every quarter, every year. I have allowed  them go down the drain, and have no regrets at all. I am not the only person receiving them, Google is kind enough to send them to every X, Y, Z in this industry, some of whom it dubiously calls Authorized!

Whenever, I have advertised, I have vouchers to dispose of, I have got calls from scammers form different parts of the world. Some have even confided they are only using vouchers to run campaign on regular basis. I myself have observed, campaigns running on vouchers seldom goes beyond it. They make all the righteous claim that they are a new advertiser, but hey where you disappear after that?? I am strongly advocating completely doing away with vouchers. I doubt the percentage of genuine advertisers running campaign on free voucher is more than 10. Google Adwords is a reasonably old program, I have little reason to believe, most advertisers haven’t used this once.

There are multiple ways in which this scam is done. Some are making packages where you get unlimited clicks in limited time period. Here, the person promising has no cost involved at all, and can extract anything from advertisers. Some are promising highest placement and clicks, because they only need to insert voucher code into account. This has distorted the complete dynamics of this market. I was shocked, when a very reputed company asked me to explain these packages, and why that is not a better deal than what I offer. Surely, they are offering a better deal, with a very strong chance of you getting banned for advertising on Google forever. If you can afford getting banned in the long run, then you may try them. I offer no such scheme. Anybody who doesn’t offer you access to your adwords account and is not transparent with what goes to google and what goes to him, is not a good person to deal with.

Also See:

Google Engage Partner Meet Up & Google Adwords Display ...

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Adwords Authorized Resellers - Beware of Them!

You recieve a phone call, or you yourself call a company finding them on google, thinking them to be Authorized Adwords Reseller for Google. They too tell you they are the Authorized Reseller for Google Adwords. Some of them even fake a Google Adwords Authorized Reseller Logo on their website. After listening to their sales pitch many people make them their first choice for launching their campaign.

 

However, far from this, the reality is that most of them don't even have a single qualified person to handle your campaign. They are as confused about adwords as you yourself are. Some are so notorious that they will tell you they are directly from Google or "On behalf of google".

 

Before trusting anybody about the kind of affiliation they have with Google, one must check the Logo (Program Badge), by clicking on it. If it is not clickable, it means they are not what they claim to be. Also, they must have a Page on Google.com like this one, which is hosted on adwords.google.com.

 

India presently has no Authorized Google Adwords Reseller. So, when you hear about so many agencies claiming to be so, they are not having the status what they boast of. In case of any doubt, you should always ask them to show their Professional Status Page.

 

I recieve, many phone calls from people, asking me whether I am authorized Reseller or not. Well, I am a Qualified Individual and so authorized to sell Google adwords package and so I may call myself a reseller (I take care not to use this term). However, I am not a Reseller under Reseller Program, nor are the people claiming to be so. Hence, using this as a Sales pitch is Dishonesty.

 

Most sad part of this is that some of them are backed by Google staff too. Many of you might have attended, the so called adwords seminar of these companies, where, Google Guys too were present asking you to give your money to them directly. Well, Google want customers and they are their Sales Channel. However, to get better quality service, you should always prefer an individual rather than these companies who are just interested in burning your money.

 

Michael Wall has presented a near parallel scenario in Ireland in his post: Google Adwords Rip-off, you should go through it, and also so many people bringing their own experiences with this fraud in comment section.

Recommended Reading:

1. Rumor: Google AdWords Reseller Program Ending?
2. Adwords Reseller India - Google seeking Partners!
3. Google Certified Partner - The new face of GAP
4. Google Adwords Certification - Choose the right person to work

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Adwords Reseller India - Google seeking Partners!

Google had three Resellers in India, who closed their operations one after another. Adwords Reseller Program was launched in India, in Nov'2006. CGS Infotech, Next Gen Publishing Ltd. & Infomedia were their three chosen partners to spread the program. CGS opted out of it in 2007, followed by Next Gen Publishing Ltd, and lastly Infomedia too opted out in Dec'2008. Now, India has no authorized adwords resellers, but Google is seeking fresh new partners.

Google generally chooses its partners from Yellow Pages Industry. From this point of view, Next gen and Infomedia were the best fit. Indian Yellow Pages industry is led by Infomedia, followed by many minor players. Adwords Authorized Reseller is the highest kind of affiliation which google offers for the Adwords Program. Benefits they get, include:

• Assistance in Training. They receive direct training from Google Employees.

• Assistance in Sales. They receive Sales Leads & Sales Assistance from Google.

• Assistance in Account Management. Google provides assistance in managing account.

• Revenue Share in Budget Consumption. Google also pays back, the part of consumed budget of the managed accounts.

However, there are some conditions attached to the above privileges:

Above benefits are valid only for New Account Generation. They are not allowed to manage pre existing accounts.

• They have to strictly not approach the Businesses listed in negative list, supposedly on which Google itself is working.
• They have to generate sales within the area for which they have received right to sell.
• They have to charge a minimum of 20% of budgeted amount as management fees.
• All the employees of the reseller associated with the program need to be qualified Google advertising professionals, meeting all the requirements of GAP.
• From some of the sources, it has been learnt, they have relaxed the last condition, and sales people may not be the GAP qualified.

All the above privileges seem too good, if you don't drill down deeper into the conditions imposed. The first condition of new account generation means the person should never have created an adwords account. Many times during sales demonstration and follow ups, people themeselves might create accounts, which won't be treated as a new account. Too harsh on sales people who educates the prospect about adwords and then learns the account cannot be treated as new!

The second condition of negative list by google which consists of premium business establishments is rather ironical. They are not the existing customers of Google, but they may be Resellers customers. Most of the resellers have very long history of customer services and it is easier for them to approach these people than what it is for Google. It becomes too harsh on them when they learn some of the business partners with whom they are having so many business transactions cannot avail their adwords services even if they want to.
Third condition though not as harsh is a bit restrictive, if you have area of operations larger than what you have been assigned. Not a big problem though.

The next condition of imposing mandatory 20% of budgeted amount as minimum management fees, creates panic among resellers. They are very vulnerable to losing these accounts to some agencies which charges less, and even Google which charges nothing. It raises the question, what google wants? Do they want resellers should generate sale and then pass it on to others!

The last condition, though sounds good, means high training cost to be borne by Resellers. It becomes unjustifiable when you learn that the possibility of retaining the customers acquired through so much toil is so bleak, given other conditions.

Google too does not shy away from prompting the big advertisers to skip the management fees by directly availing Google Support services. A too harsh reality, which, also includes the risk of exporting your entire clientele to Google 

Recommended:

• Google Adwords Certification - Choose the right person to work
• Adwords Authorized Resellers - Beware of Them!

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