Presentation given at Pubcon Las Vegas 2010 as part of the affiliate track.

1. Affiliate Based Ad & Search
Issues
Presented by:
Jim Banks

2. Why Google Think My Ads Suck,
Kicked Me Out and Hate Me
Presented by:
Jim “Paranoid” Banks

3. Am I Qualified To Be Here?
• Started “online” in 1999
• Over $100 million spend on Google
• Beta tester for many Google Adwords tools
• Founder of leading PPC agency
• Founder of UK CPA affiliate network
• Hate hate relationship with Google
• Creator of many leading “Black Hat” PPC techniques

4. Top Urban Myths
• Google hates affiliates
• Quality Score is all that matters
• You need to have lots of content
• Google is the only game in town
• You can’t get good Quality Score as an
affiliate

5. Can You Still Game The System ?

8. Google Hates Affiliates
• Why did Google shut down 15,000
“affiliate” accounts?
• What could you do if you were
affected?

9. What Sort Of Sites Did They
Shut Down?
• “Flogs”
• Arbitrage sites
• Thin affiliate sites
• “Fictures”
• “Splogs”
• “Spings”
• “Farticles”
• “Festimonials”

10. Flogs
http://www.jayweintraub.com/2009/03/the-rise-of-the-flog.html

11. Arbitrage

12. Arbitrage History Lesson
• Kelkoo – ultimate “click pimps”
• Yahoo bought Kelkoo in 2004 for €475
million in cash
• Google IPO’d August 2004
• Espotting bought by FindWhat in 2004

13. Thin Affiliate Sites
• Squeeze page
• Splash page
• Landing page
• Iframed site

14. Fictures

15. Splogs / Spings

16. Farticles / Festimonials
• Too many complaints where Google
and others were negatively impacted
• Google never knows for sure if they are
real articles or spun
• Social media has driven UGC in the
form of testimonial/comments

17. In Short
• To increase their advertising revenue
Google passed the burden of
enforcement back to the regulators
and closed the back doors it had left
open – some deliberately, some from
learning experience

18. Burning Issues
• Quality score issues
• Bid prices from $0.10 to $10.00
overnight
• Alternatives to Google
• Budget too low for “account manager”

19. Quality Score
• As much of a myth as Page Rank in the
SEO world
• Should be common sense Score
– Don’t try to hide who you are
– One page of content is perfectly
acceptable
– Relevant & prominent disclaimers,
contact, privacy policy

20. If you use Wordpress
• Plugin for contact Form
• Plugin for Google compliant Privacy
Policy
• Keyword rich About Us page
• Plagiarism for Earnings Disclaimer
• Keyword rich Alt tags for images

21. Ringtone Example
• Big-ringtone.com
– $300,000 a month in commissions (6 months)
• Then an early recipient of a Google Slap
– Hand-written content /etc. etc.
• Big-Ring-Tone.com
– $300,000 a month in commissions (5 months)
• Quigo/Adsonar – Bought By AOL
• Then the Florida AG became the grim reaper

24. High Bid Pricing
• Search and Search Partners
• Display Network (Content Network)
• Placement Ads

25. Category
% Recent Ad
Impressions
Cosmetic Procedures & Body Modification - Includes lifts, suctions, lasers, hair removal and restoration,
tattoos, and body modification. 0.90%
Dating - Includes dating services and online dating communities. 0.50%
Drugs & Supplements - Includes pharmaceuticals, vitamins, supplements, and related retailers; does not
include resources providing information about drugs. 2.10%
Get Rich Quick - Schemes promising fast earning. 2.00%
Politics - Includes politics or controversial social issues; does not include ads for news organizations that are
not generally associated with a partisan viewpoint on issues. 0.50%
References to Sex & Sexuality - Includes ads that are sexually suggestive, relate to sexual and reproductive
health, or refer to sex and sexuality. 1.20%
Religion - Includes religious ads and ads advocating for or against religious views; does not include astrology
or non-denominational spirituality. 0.40%
Ringtones & Downloadables - Mobile add-ons including ringtones, and other downloadable goodies such as
screensavers and wallpapers for desktop PCs and profile layouts and graphics for social networks. 4.10%
Sexual & Reproductive Health - Includes sexual function and fertility ads; does not include normal pregnancy
resources. 0.30%
Video Games (Casual & Online) - Includes video games, online games and downloadable games; does not
include video game consoles. 0.80%
Weight Loss 4.70%

26. AccountNow, Inc.
Acxiom Corporation
Ad Pepper
Ad Perium NL
Adchemy
Adconion Media Group
Adconion S.L.
AdConion UK
AdJug UK
AdKnife
AdKu (Novastark)
Adlantic
Adnetik Spain
Adnetik US
Adpepper Germany
AdReady
Adtegrity.com
Advertise.com
Alcance Media Group
Announce Media
AOL Advertising
AOL Inc
AppNexus
Atrinsic
AudienceScience Inc.
Bid Alpha
Bizo
BlueKai Inc.
Brand.net
BrandScreen
BrightRoll
Burst Media
Chitika
ClickDistrict NL
Collective Media
Cossette Communications
CPM Advisors, Inc
Crimson Tangerine Ltd
Criteo Europe
Criteo UK
Criteo US
Cyberplex, Inc
Dapper Inc.
DataXu
Dedicated Media
Didit
DKK Agency
Dotomi
DQ&A
DSNR
EchoSearch
Efficient Frontier, Inc.
Epic Advertising
eViral
Exponential
FetchBack
Forbes.com
Goodway Group
Google Bidder Testing
Google Display Network: Reserve
HTTPool
Hurra Germany
ID Media
IDG Tech
Imagini Europe Ltd.
Infectious Media
Innovation Interactive
Interactive Media Sales
InterCLICK
Internet Brands
Invite Media
iPonWeb
Jumpstart Digital Marketing Inc
LeadClick
Legolas Media Inc
LinkedIn
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
LucidMedia
MaxPoint Interactive
Media Innovation Group
Media6Degrees
MediaMath
Mediaplex
Mexad
Mixpo
Mpire
My Media Buyer
MyThingsMedia UK
NetSeer Inc.
Next Performance
Next Premium
Next Step Media Online Inc
NextAction
Omnicom Media Group NL
Omnicom Trading Desk
OpenX Technologies
OpinMind
OwnerIQ, Inc.
Pennyweb, Inc. (DBA Ybrant Digital)
People Media, Inc
Performance Advertising
Permuto, Inc.
Pinnacle Dream Media
PriceGrabber
Pulpo Media
Pulse 360
Quantcast Corporation
QuinStreet, Inc.
Radius Marketing Inc.
Red Aril, Inc.
Red McCombs Media
Redux Media Inc.
Reply! Inc.
ReTargeter
Return Media BV
RichRelevance, Inc.
Rocket Fuel Inc.
Sales Spider
Schnaeppchenjagd GmbH
Semantic Sugar, Inc.
ShareThis, Inc.
Simplifi Holdings Inc.
SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH
SoMR Networks
Sooth Software Corporation (dba AdBuyer.com)
Specific Media
Specific Media France SAS
Specific Media Germany GmbH
Specific Media UK Limited
Spongecell
Struq Limited
Techconnect B.V.
TellApart
Teracent Corporation
The Exchange Lab
The Trade Desk, Inc
Traffic Marketplace
TravelClick
Tribal Fusion UK
Triggit
TubeMogul
Turn
Underdog Media
UpValue GmbH
ValueClick International Ltd
ValueClick, Inc.
VCCP Digital Ltd
Veremedia
Veruta
VivaKi
WinBuyer Ltd
WPromote
Xtend Global Media LTD
Zillow

27. Google Alternatives
• Yahoo / Bing
• Display ads – Ad Exchanges, Right
Media, niche providers (Adblade)
• CPV/PPV (Trafficvance, Bidvertiser)
• Niche (Federated Media)
• Local (Business.com)
• Get a new identity (Witness Protection
Program)

28. Account Manager
• Elephant in the room
• Show you how they want you to act
• Don’t have all round market knowledge

29. Top Tips
• Always use separate Adwords accounts
• Get yourself a MCC account
• Use Display Network / Placements
• Display and Placement are thematic –
search is keyword based
• If you find a winner – approach directly
– cheaper – no QS/slap issues – But….
you are breaching the terms of service

30. Thanks
@jimbanks
jbanks@moneytip.com
http://www.facebook.com/jimbanks
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimbanks