Google AdWords Hick up this Weekend?

by

As my friend Christian Rudolf notices in his blog post Google PPC-Scams (read through Google Translate as the post is in Swedish) there seems to be a hick up in Google AdWords since a couple of days ago. Google usually doesn’t allow you to buy PPC for gambling related ads. During the holiday break it seems some fortunate PPC producer has had his hands full in exploiting some hole in the AdWords system. I wonder if this works for several markets.

I don’t think Google is in its right mind banning gambling from AdWords even on markets where gambling is a privilege of the government. I look forward to see what has happened as there is some serious htaccess/user agent stuff going on here.

When I click the ads, I get directed to another website than if my friend clicks the ads. The landing page where I end up seems to be auto generated in some way or another. I haven’t seen stuff like this since … I don’t know… a long time 😀

Google and Gambling PPC

For several markets, Google has been very restrictive in allowing you to add gambling related terms such as “poker” or “casino online” or “texas holdem” to your Adwords campaign. Basically you have to have a operator license to be able to work with these types of keywords in your campaigns for selected markets.

Sometimes you can get away with it for a day or two, but you generally get caught quite fast. On the Swedish market, basically Svenska Spel has been the only one allowed to produce AdWords ads for gambling related terms.

The bug now present enables other websites such as affiliates and independent poker operators to advertise through Google.

Now, my main question. Is this a bug or is this a permanent change? Will Google allow this type of advertising from now on?

SBPZX44HHSBA

Possibly related posts:

1 thought on “Google AdWords Hick up this Weekend?”

  1. Pingback: Tweets that mention Google AdWords Hick up this Weekend? -- Topsy.com

Leave a Comment