I wanted to share a terrifying ordeal i had with Google related to my adwords account. I have been a long term high spending advertiser for about 10 years with Google.
This month i was traveling and i check my emails in the morning, only to see my adwords account suspended and none of my ads are running. My site assist clients with document preparation and filing, legal advice etc. I examined in detail to see why, it looks like the reason was “Sale of free items and free services”.
https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/189033?hl=en
I sent a quick email to Google and they told me to fix my site to get resinstated. Atleast i am happy that they are willing to reinstate 🙂 They didnt tell me what to do. So i then got in chat with Google support and they told to make these changes to the site:
Google allows the promotion of sites that charge for services associated with products or services that may otherwise be available for free or available from an official form or service, as long as the following disclosures are presented together, prominently above the fold on all landing pages:
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The site clearly states whether the advertiser is affiliated or not affiliated with the government, official source, or free source.
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The site discloses that the products, services, or forms are available from the government, official source, or free source either for free (where applicable) or at lower cost than the advertiser charges.
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The site must describe the additional services offered that are unavailable from the government, official source, or free source. Advertisers should not misrepresent the value they add by highlighting features or services available from the official source for free.
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Your ads and landing pages cannot promote services that provide little or no additional value to the user beyond the original or official online or automated application process.
It took weeks to get all things done, and finally got the account reinstated. It was clear to me that Google is taking sites on with their policies.
