Deeply Disappointed with Google Adwords

[davidweb]

Hello All

I have faced some real problem due to Google Adwords. Last month our client reported several clicks from outside the customized targeted region in New Jersey adding to the monthly PPC cost.

I got a call from client that his monthly budget is going overboard, and they are receiving clicks from outside regions.

I immediately went out searching for the culprits with Frying Pan in my hand. However, I couldnt find anything wrong in Adwords Setting. Everything was fine and perfect.

I emailed them :-

This whole issue brings out some serious technical flaws in the Google Adwords Targeting, and surely Adwords Users are being forced to make payments for clicks originating outside their targeted region ( even after specifying their customized targeted city ie New Jersey City, Shape [(xxxx.xxx.xxx.xx), (xxxx.xxx.xxx.xx), ). We would like to know why our ads were displayed to outside region, and how come users from outside regions are able to access our PPC ads ( when we are using specific geo targeting through Google Maps). We would require a proper explanation, or else a complete refund on the clicks which we have received from outside regions over the past few months.

These issues seriously hurt the trust of advertisers who use Google Adwords, and surely Google has let us down by sending a reply without even analysing our targeted region problem in detail. I am really dissapointed by the way this whole issue has been handled by Google Adwords team.

I emailed Google Support about this issue, and on several occasions they made me chase my tail telling me that your campaign settings are not right. However, closely inspecting I.P addresses and several other aspects, it was clear that adwords settings were perfect. Even after using customized targeting our ads were being displayed to outside regions. This went on for 5-6 days.

Finally after 6 days, I received SHOCK OF MY LIFE from Google Support. They sent me this reply :-

Thank you for your reply and continued patience. I understand that you are concerned as you are getting clicks from areas you haven't where you haven't targeted your campaigns. I also understand that you would like to know if we can offer a credit for this. I apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. Below, I have addressed your concerns.

As your campaign targets a location where this search functionality is supported, users may see your ad when they use location-specific search terms on Google, even if they're located outside your targeted area. For example, a user in Florida, Texas, searching for 'new jersey XYZ service' on Google will see ads targeting New Jersey.

I sent them reply

This is quite strange, that even after specifying our customized targeted location, Google is displaying our ads to far-off regions like Florida, and Dallas. It is quite shocking to know that just because our keywords have "new jersey" as a prefix, Google is displaying our ad each time somebody search for a keyword like "new jersey XYZ service".

There might be several hundred SEO Managers, SEO Companies operating within U.S who keep close tabs on their clients PPC ad position from regions like Florida, Dallas. Now each time they check their client site using new jersey keywords, they have the chance to visit/click, and exhaust daily PPC budget of their competitor's websites. Most of the clicks which originated from outside regions showed bounce rate of 100%.

This is a complete failure of customized geographic targeting offered by Adwords PPC, and I am still not able to digest why and how any advertising company can display your ads on the basis of their own business/personal preferences, rather than the settings provided/mentioned by the client.

I sent them another mail

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They emailed

Thank you for your reply. I understand that you are concerned as your ads showed in areas which you did not target but because of location-specific keywords your ads accrued clicks even when you have enabled customized targeting in your campaign. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and the frustration caused to you. Please note that this is our policy and we cannot make any changes to it at the moment, however, we have taken your point as a feedback and will escalate to the concerned team.

Finally they mailed me that they cannot issue a refund on the clicks originated from outside our specified regions, but would escalate the matter to higher authorities.

This whole issue brings out some real disadvantages of relying on Google Adwords. It is quite unfair on the part of Google to simply display our ads to regions located 50 miles away from the targeted location, just because those keywords had New Jersey in them.

Please let me know if anyone has faced a similar issue with Adwords before. I am quite disappointed with Google Adwords.

[danlefree]

You are not alone in your concerns - despite Google's documentation (which would suggest that adding Broad Match terms will further refine the SERP's where Adwords advertising is displayed), I was informed by Google Adwords Support that Broad Match is just that - an inclusive AND/OR match.

As an example, if I were advertising for the term yachting shoes and my ad were Broad Matched, people searching for yachting would see my ad (providing I was paying enough to compete with yachting's advertisers). Likewise, equally poorly-targeted searchers searching up shoes would see the ad.

I wouldn't have any problem with this behavior if the documentation for Broad Match stated that it was AND/OR and not AND matching - of course, Google does not seem to be interested in being transparent with Adwords' behavior.

No small part of Google's success with Adwords has been the misconceptions of its users - yours and mine are not the first stories of finding out how Adwords really works (as opposed to how it is marketed to work) only after paying for the privilege.

[davidweb]

It is a serious breach of trust by Google. They are displaying ads to outside regions just on the basis of their own business preferences.

Having expert level knowledge, I was able to convince my client about this issue. However, I wonder how many millions Google make out of their adwords by following their own rotten rules rather than sticking with settings provided by clients.

If a natural/organic ad is displayed to region located 50 miles away then it is none of my concern. However if my paid ad is being displayed to user 100 miles away, then it is surely a matter of concern for me as a SEO.

[activeco]

Originally Posted by davidweb

It is a serious breach of trust by Google. They are displaying ads to outside regions just on the basis of their own business preferences.

I think they have a valid policy. As they replied:

For example, a user in Florida, Texas, searching for 'new jersey XYZ service' on Google will see ads targeting New Jersey.

It all has a perfect sense. Some locals could be on a business trip, vacation or for any other reason outside their region; there are many other reasons why is someone interested in particular local businesses.
Personaly, I support Google's reasoning here and I can hardly see how can this cause any major problems.

[cw1865]

Originally Posted by activeco

It all has a perfect sense. Some locals could be on a business trip, vacation or for any other reason outside their region; there are many other reasons why is someone interested in particular local businesses.
Personaly, I support Google's reasoning here and I can hardly see how can this cause any major problems.

And I would agree if they were selling say hotel rooms in NJ where the person purchasing the service, by definition, is more likely than not to be purchasing the service from a location outside of the defined region.

The problem here is that google is selling something that the buyer isn't buying.

Not to mention that adwords is set up in such a manner that you could place new jersey, northern new jersey, {county}, NJ or whatever next to a keyword to achieve the same result that they're giving you despite a specific order to constain the ad to searches performed within a geographic location.

[activeco]

Originally Posted by cw1865

The problem here is that google is selling something that the buyer isn't buying.

Many if not the most of the advertisers are not successful with adwords, although it is far the best PPC program on the net.
It requires constant optimizing and losing money until (if ever) achieving the winning edge.

Not to mention that adwords is set up in such a manner that you could place new jersey, northern new jersey, {county}, NJ or whatever next to a keyword to achieve the same result that they're giving you despite a specific order to constain the ad to searches performed within a geographic location.

Not if choosing exact matching without the location name. Or even using the location as a negative keyword, if analytics shows that local searches (or even buyers only) do not contain it on a significant scale.

[davidweb]

Originally Posted by activeco

I think they have a valid policy. As they replied:


It all has a perfect sense.

A legal lawyer who has a license in New Jersey can do nothing for a client who is based in Texas. Similarly a legal lawyer who is based in Dallas can do nothing if client suffered injuries in Washington DC.

Personaly, I support Google's reasoning here and I can hardly see how can this cause any major problems.

You might support the google's unjustifiable reasoning, but then what is the use of using settings provided in Customized geo targeting by Google.

If I do not want a user from Kenya to visit New Jersey website there is a specific reason and trend behind it. 99% of the clicks originating from outside regions show bounce rate of 100%, and these users last for a fraction of few seconds.

If Google uses its own reasoning while delivering natural results, I dont have any issue. However if Google is exhausting my monthly budget by displaying my ads outside the specific customized geo location, then surely it goes against the concept of Advertising.

If Google feels that our ads could be searched by outside region, then we ALSO KNOW THAT VERY WELL.

I do not understand why Google tries to become GOD-FATHER when you have specified settings and do not want clicks from outside regions.

A SEO firm located in Canada might be working for a new Jersey firm. Each time they search for "New Jersey lawyer", they have the chance to exchaust the daily PPC budget of competitor sites by delivering fake and void clicks. This has happened on several occasions, and this is the only reason why I am dissapointed with Google.

Google is surely loosing its popularity as a honest advertiser. Yahoo on the other hand has less popularity, but still they do not interfere in business matters of your website. Moreover clicks from Yahoo show less BOUNCE RATES and most of the queries convert into leads.

This whole situation puts me in a dangerous situation where I as a SEO loose credibility over the PPC marketing. My client comes back telling to me that he doesnt want clicks from outside regions, but there is nothing which I can do from my end. The only option available to me is to switch off region specific keywords.

This is both unprofessional and unjustifiable on the part of Google. I wonder how many MILLIONS Google make by VIOLATING settings provided in the Adwords. If advertiser does not want clicks from outside regions/countries, then Google has no authority to violate settings given by Clients.

I wonder how many poor SEO guys might have suffered consequences due to these unfortunate rules which Google follows while delivering Ads. Some of these SEO guys are newcomers and they are not even able to pin-point the exact PROBLEM. Only after sending several emails, Google openly DECLARED their hidden rule of generating more profits.

[activeco]

Originally Posted by davidweb

A SEO firm located in Canada might be working for a new Jersey firm. Each time they search for "New Jersey lawyer", they have the chance to exchaust the daily PPC budget of competitor sites by delivering fake and void clicks.

Why do you think it's not possible with local searchers only?
After all, anyone in the world can use NJ proxy for such nasty purposes.
If you suspect fraud there is a way to deal with it.

[davidweb]

Originally Posted by activeco

Why do you think it's not possible with local searchers only?
After all, anyone in the world can use NJ proxy for such nasty purposes.
If you suspect fraud there is a way to deal with it.

99% of clicks coming from outside regions show BOUNCE RATE 100%, whereas only 10% of clicks from New Jersey show 100% bounce rate.

Moreover if a client has made settings in the Adwords then what is the use of that ??

If you are targeting UK region with keyword "Software development uk", does it make any sense from Google perspective to display your ad to a user in kenya searching for same keyword ???

If client specifies a certain geo location, then I do not see any plausible reason why Google should ignore client settings. This is PPC where each and every click counts and can exhaust your budget.

If my client asks me question as to why they are receiving clicks from Texas region ( 50-100 miles away), I am only at the mercy of Google for this question.

This is a serious breach of trust from Google to disobey settings given by client. A client has to have right over each and every issue. If my client doesnt want ads to be displayed in Texas, then I have to follow the instructions.

However problem starts when your advertiser ( Google) doesnt pay much attention to your settings, and starts intervening in the business aspect of your website.

Google has no right to display ppc ads outside the specified regions. They are simply poking their nose in the business aspect of your websites telling you that "THEY THINK THAT USER FROM 200 miles away ( from your specified location) IS A POTENTIAL USER".

I wonder how many millions Google generate by flaunting target region settings given by users.

[cw1865]

From your previous posting it seems that you are advertising for an attorney based in NJ and I fully agree with you. Its the complete opposite of the situation with hotels.

I would even suggest that you can the geographic restraint altogether and focus on keywords based on county and municipality which are going to be relatively obscure, ie. the guy in Dallas will never have heard of Bergen County, NJ or Hackensack or Morristown....

Plus, despite the fact that its a small state, NJ is still a large place, you could have people in Atlantic City who would be searching for an attorney in NJ and then start getting results from attorneys up near NYC and that wouldn't be much use to them.

I live in NJ, and every once in a while I will do a 'NJ' search, but once I do that I automatically try to restrain the search to geographic locations even closer. I'd even draw a 15 (maybe 20) mile circle around his office and stick to that obviously excluding NY, PA or DE.

Think you might get more specific, higher quality traffic in this manner.

[davidweb]

Originally Posted by cw1865

I'd even draw a 15 (maybe 20) mile circle around his office and stick to that obviously excluding NY, PA or DE.

Think you might get more specific, higher quality traffic in this manner.

The tragedy of the Adwords is that we are using Custmized MAP targeting in format ( xxx.xxxx.xxx.xxx ). Still Google is intervening in the business aspect of our marketing by deliberately displaying our ads to outside users.

My client doesnt want clicks from outside region, and this is the reason why we are using customized map targeting through Google Adwords.

It looks like PPC Advertisers are at the mercy of Google when it comes to advertising.

I wonder how many similar "HIDDEN" business rules are used by Google to generate more profit.

[activeco]

Originally Posted by davidweb

I wonder how many similar "HIDDEN" business rules are used by Google to generate more profit.

I understand your bitterness and I don't want to play "devil's advocate", however I can't agree with that statement.
IMO, Google is happy if their customer is happy and that is a sound, long term business approach, together with promoting a fair game, something you can't meet often today.
I have been waiting for some time their stock to take some serious shake in order to catch their "do evil" attitude, but up to now they do what they preach.
The only negative thing is their bad customer relationship and it's probably due to their huge customer base.

In most cases such misunderstandings happen because of shallow preparation and fast jump into the program.
E.g. your case is well documented and can be hardly called hidden:

Why am I receiving clicks outside my targeted area?

Here are some possible reasons. Also, we've listed some things you can do (or we already do) to help ensure that you receive the most relevant clicks possible:

* Reason: The searcher's Internet Protocol (IP) address is mapped outside his or her actual location. For example, the searcher might be located in Santiago but his or her IP address is housed on a server in Buenos Aires. If you target Buenos Aires, this user might see your ads (even if the user is physically located in Santiago).

Solution: We expose the name of your targeted region below your ad text to try to reduce the number of irrelevant clicks you receive.


* Reason: Your ad might appear to users searching on Google for your targeted area, even if the user's IP address isn't in your targeted area. This is because we also analyze the searcher's query for location names. If your ad relates to the location included in the search query, users outside your targeted location might see your ad.

Solution: We've developed this system for your benefit so you reach as many people looking for your goods or services as possible. However, if you find that your clicks aren't producing the results you expected, you might try refining your ad text and keywords.

...

Why am I receiving clicks outside my targeted area?
How does AdWords know where to show my keyword-targeted ads?

[davidweb]

Originally Posted by activeco

Solution: We've developed this system for your benefit so you reach as many people looking for your goods or services as possible. However, if you find that your clicks aren't producing the results you expected, you might try refining your ad text and keywords.

I can clearly understand relationship between IP addresses of search users and their effect on your ads. However the problem is that there were certain keywords which repeatedly got registered from Texas I.P addresses and some other region I.P's which were almost 100 miles away from the targeted location. It clearly showed that these keywords were registered repeatedly in order to exhaust daily budget of my client.

This is the reason why we didnt want any clicks from outside regions. If Google thinks that our ad might be useful to their search users ( based on their own obscure business rules), then they should display our ads free of cost to regions 100 miles away ( similar to organic). It is not justifiable how come they display your ads by flaunting targeted region information set by adword users. Google has no right to exhaust daily budget of adwords users on the basis of their own business preferences.

The whole issue brings out some real drawbacks of relying on Google Adword. . I simply wonder how many novice SEO's loose their credibility as a PPC Advertiser just because of these obscure rules and regulations set by Google. It took Adwords support team more than 15 days to perceive the real problem, which I was able to perceive within a day. I simply wonder how many Billions Google generate, and how many Billions are siphoned out of the Adword Users Monthly/Daily Budget by these obscure business rules of Google.

If client has set the targeted location as "New Jersey" using a polygon shape targeting on Google Map ( xxxx.xxx.xxx.xxxx) then Google has no right to exhaust our budget by displaying ads 100 miles away just because our targeted keyword has "new jersey" in it. Otherwise, whats the use of having targeted location feature in Google Adwords ??

[cw1865]

Nevertheless, at this juncture you really have few options at your disposal. In theory you could:

1. sue google for fraud/breach of contract (probably not worth it)
2. continue the ad campaign knowing you will get unqualified clicks (sounds to me like its unprofitable as it stands)
3. modify the ad campaign knowing how google treats your geographic restraints; or
4. cease advertising with adwords

I do however appreciate your post because while I do not do geographic based searches, I now know to pay close attention to it.

[davidweb]

Originally Posted by cw1865

Nevertheless, at this juncture you really have few options at your disposal. In theory you could:

1. sue google for fraud/breach of contract (probably not worth it)
2. continue the ad campaign knowing you will get unqualified clicks (sounds to me like its unprofitable as it stands)
3. modify the ad campaign knowing how google treats your geographic restraints; or
4. cease advertising with adwords

I do however appreciate your post because while I do not do geographic based searches, I now know to pay close attention to it.

It is a real shame that Google uses hidden techniques to siphon money out of Adwords advertisers. I just do not understand how can any advertising company suck your money on the basis of their own business preferences.

As far as the monthly budget is concerned, we have lowered it significantly. We are also concentrating heavily on natural SEO process to completely overshadow this problem.

I am sure Google is waiting for some million dollar lawsuit to make changes in their Advertising Techniques. There might be several other hidden business rules used by Google.

[CompuGeneration]

Originally Posted by davidweb

I can clearly understand relationship between IP addresses of search users and their effect on your ads. However the problem is that there were certain keywords which repeatedly got registered from Texas I.P addresses and some other region I.P's which were almost 100 miles away from the targeted location. It clearly showed that these keywords were registered repeatedly in order to exhaust daily budget of my client.

Any proof that these searches were repeatedly performed with the malicious intent to derail your campaign?
I'm not saying it hasn't happened before or that it isn't possible. However, you shouldn't make claims you can't back up.

Originally Posted by davidweb

This is the reason why we didnt want any clicks from outside regions. If Google thinks that our ad might be useful to their search users ( based on their own obscure business rules), then they should display our ads free of cost to regions 100 miles away ( similar to organic). It is not justifiable how come they display your ads by flaunting targeted region information set by adword users. Google has no right to exhaust daily budget of adwords users on the basis of their own business preferences.

If you don't understand how the advertising medium works why would you run a campaign inside that system? Compared to other mediums PPC is light years ahead of the game...

Originally Posted by davidweb

The whole issue brings out some real drawbacks of relying on Google Adword. . I simply wonder how many novice SEO's loose their credibility as a PPC Advertiser just because of these obscure rules and regulations set by Google. It took Adwords support team more than 15 days to perceive the real problem, which I was able to perceive within a day. I simply wonder how many Billions Google generate, and how many Billions are siphoned out of the Adword Users Monthly/Daily Budget by these obscure business rules of Google.

Which is why you shouldn't put all your eggs into one basket. Adwords is just one way to market your business. Also, don't claim to be an Adwords expert if you don't understand how ads are targeted. Google's support team also doesn't have a magic button that simply fixes or understands your issue(s). Now that you better understand what is happening you need to adjust and move on...

Originally Posted by davidweb

If client has set the targeted location as "New Jersey" using a polygon shape targeting on Google Map ( xxxx.xxx.xxx.xxxx) then Google has no right to exhaust our budget by displaying ads 100 miles away just because our targeted keyword has "new jersey" in it. Otherwise, whats the use of having targeted location feature in Google Adwords ??

Google added this feature for the benefit of users and advertisers alike. If they didn't have this feature would you still be using Adwords as an advertising medium?

Originally Posted by davidweb

It is a real shame that Google uses hidden techniques to siphon money out of Adwords advertisers. I just do not understand how can any advertising company suck your money on the basis of their own business preferences.

This sounds to me like another case of user ignorance. I'm simply amazed how often this happens with Google Adwords.