Not OK, Google! Or, how to talk with Google AdWords support
Everyone thinks that if a million visitors come to his site per month, and he spends six-digit sums for advertising in AdWords, then this is a stable and reliable sales channel. We thought so too, until we were blocked by AdWords without explaining the reasons for the launch of new services and promotions. We share our experience, we hope it will help others to minimize the risks and losses.
On December 13, 2016, our website www.zadarma.com was blocked in the Google AdWords contextual advertising system marked “malicious or unwanted software”. I would like to clarify that the blocking did not affect the organic issue. After 34 days , 13 messages in the ticket system, 10 online chats and 8 phone conversations, the site was again allowed to contextual advertising on Google. A little story about how persistence and work will help circumvent Google’s unexpected sanctions.
Coverage
To understand the scope and possibilities - in our service more than 700 thousand users are registered, this is more than half a million visits to the site every month, and the audience is not only from the CIS countries, but also Europe, the USA, South America. We spend on contextual advertising several million rubles a year and get enough returns. Every month we receive several thousand new registrations from the Google context, every fifth user makes an average regular payment during the monthly renewal period (essentially a second purchase), in general, we do not disclose all analytics and accounting, but let's say that the monthly ban from Google has come to us several thousand dollars.
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Note that contextual advertising is not in the top 3 of our promotion channels, but the news about blocking the site in AdWords did not make us happy. “Yandex would be better,” we thought with a hint of the geography of users. Plus an image issue - advertising of competitors is set up by our brand request. Read and immediately began to solve the problem. Although we only call this issue a problem, Google support responds like this: “the moderator handles your case”. So here's your case.
Chronology of events
So, on December 14, the Internet agency Realweb, which conducts our contextual campaigns with a link to the Google AdWords message, talks about blocking the site and, accordingly, violating advertising rules.
On the same day, via Realweb, we send a clarifying question, which specific software is in question (in the Instructions section for setting up more than 20 links to various calling software), why the site is blocked (although the Google console doesn’t report it at all), what conditions Specifically, do we need to make the site unblocked?
December 14, 2016 The zadarma.com website has been blocked because there are no some moments that you need to have when advertising software, widgets and other types of installed content. So that your site can be unlocked, make sure that it is present. the following information: 1. The site must have a User Agreement or * Terms of use in a place accessible to the user. 2. The site should contain information about the procedure for uninstalling the software / widget in a visible place for the user. |
December 14, 2016 If we disable advertising campaigns for widgets, whether the site will be unlocked and other campaigns allowed to show. Or do you need to fulfill the requirements for widgets? |
December 15, 2016 Since you have blocked the site, the site will also be checked, regardless of the advertising campaigns associated with it. Unfortunately, in this case it is necessary that the site meets the requirements set out in the previous letter regardless of the subject of advertising campaigns. |
December 15, 2016 Colleagues, good afternoon, 1. Incomprehensible claims regarding the blocking of the resource (googlewebmasters did not report anything and there were no security problems on the site) 2. Any services on the Zadarma website (including through software) can be obtained only after registration in the service, and during registration in the service user immediately goes to the user page agreements https://zadarma.com/rules/ . Unable to register, not agreeing to the rules. 3.All software presented on the site is certified and with it for 10 years of work did not raise any questions. 4. I would like to understand specifically what software comments are made? There are both programs and widgets. If the comments are correct, we will promptly correct them. It should be noted that for the whole time of the site and for all the time the site was present in google contextual advertising was not like locks Thank. |
December 16, 2016 We have studied your appeal in detail and decided to pre-direct the site. for re-moderation with the information provided. I will notify you as soon as I get a response from the moderators. |
December 26, 2016 Hello! First of all, we apologize for such a long consideration. Software problems always require comprehensive verification. The problem is that when installing software on a computer, the user should not accept any user agreement: the program is just is installed. This is a problem because the user must accept the terms of use at the installation stage. Just making conditions on the site during registration is not enough to advertise this kind in AdWords. As soon as the software is changed, please reply to this email so that we can unlock request If possible, please accompany the letter. screenshot of the corresponding installer window with conditions use. |
Note that we have never advertised software in adwords.
December 28, we added the necessary agreement to the program, sent a screen, the site was sent for re-moderation. Which program was ranked as malicious or unwanted software for 3 weeks of communication and did not say, so we installed the necessary certificate for the latest program, which appeared on the website on October 26, 2016.
Tadaam holidays!
AdWords support is only available during business hours. Accordingly, from January 1 to January 8, they could not be reached and reached (it is interesting that Google Play worked all holidays)
January 9, 2017 Your site almost meets our requirements. The problem is that There is a possibility to download software without accepting the conditions on the site and registration (for example, here < https://zadarma.com/ru/support/instructions/windows/zadarma/ >). It is necessary to remove these links so that the user accepts the conditions before downloading the program. As soon as the changes are made, please reply to this email. |
Chat from January 11, 2017:
Margarita12: 14PP Initially, the lock was due to the lack of conditions of use when installing the software, but I see that it is when you register an account, and you cannot use the software without an account. One moment, now I will recheck all the correspondence with the engineers Margarita12: 24P 1) Add a clause to accept the terms of use of the software when installing the program or 2) Exclude the possibility of downloading the program on the site without accepting the terms of use. Zadarma12: 25 PP Margarita, https://www.dropbox.com/s/slzjs7wp2tbs246/Screenshot .. Zadarma12: 25 PP here at installation the agreement is Margarita12: 28 PP Thanks for the screenshot! I'll check something else now Margarita12: 34PP I also found one thing about the button, give me a couple more minutes. Sorry for the confusion, just in the past circulation there is a lot of data and there are several points in the rule that were relevant Margarita12: 40 PP I explain the moment about the button: In our free software advertising policy ( https://www.google.com/about/company/unwanted-softwar .. ) there is such a phrase - “Software downloading starts only after the user has pressed the corresponding button. The label on it should state clearly what it is for. " |
And now, 29 days after the blocking, we understand that Google has one more condition - “Software download begins only after the user clicks the appropriate button”, while on our website the program was swung when you click on the inscription “download here ".
We make a button for an hour (of course in all 5 languages, because our site is multilingual) and send the site for re-moderation. After this, the case is exclusively for the Google moderators, we call or write every day in support at least 2 times a day - in the morning and in the evening. During the week we get the following answers:
Margaret 1: 11 PP Unfortunately, I’m not a moderator and I can’t check the site, but I can pass the information to a colleague with whom you initially communicated so that he sent a request. And he will answer you by the results of the check. Dmitry at 4:30 PM I will pass on your appeal and ask you to contact you promptly. As far as I can see, you have already contacted us many times in the history of appeals, but I am afraid that we may not always speed up the process. I will convey to Andrei everything you said, but apparently your question is already in his high priority Margaret11: 11 DP I look at the appeal, I see that my colleague wrote back 9 hours ago to adwords-ru@realweb.ru (with whom he initially communicated) that they sent another request to moderation, because the last time they refused to unblock the site and now we are already confused and write another request to clarify the cause. Margarita10: 21 DP I see that on Friday you were sent a letter with information that a request was sent to the moderators. Unfortunately, we, like the moderation department, do not work on weekends, so the site can only be checked today. The request is open, and my colleague will contact you as soon as there is an answer. |
Finally, on January 16, 6 days after the start of the last moderation, Google finally sends us a letter.
Knock and close them
While chatting in one of the chats on January 10 and giving many examples of the largest sites that work without complying with such “weird” requirements, such as displaying an agreement before downloading the file ... we are answered:
Regarding other vendors: as I wrote earlier, this is the reason for blocking always requires separate consideration, which gives a unique solution in every case. If you see an advertiser who violates this As a rule, be sure to fill out a complaint form ... We will definitely consider every appeal. |
What to do?
To the question “What to do?” We found the only correct answer - not to look for the guilty, but to minimize the risks of a business. Personally, we have expanded the channels of contextual advertising and have focused on other platforms. Launched context in Yahoo and Bing, plus doubled the budgets for Yandex.Direct.
What upset us is that AdWords makes more than 80% of Google’s profit, but the company cannot build a loyal support service. And ok, support doesn't pay attention to any small sites with millions of budgets, but Google doesn't even have separate account managers attached to the largest agencies that run advertising campaigns.
PS: This article is not an expression of discontent, and by no means a complaint, this is a common story (as Google itself says - case study) about how clients and money are lost through complex communications in large companies.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/319726/
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