Listen up, penny auction owners! Google has just changed its policies for advertising penny auctions via Google AdWords. I heard from one site owner that penny auctions are no longer able to advertise via keywords such as clearance, liquidation, closeouts, iPads, HDTV, and so on. I will be contacting Google to see if I can get more info on this, I’ll let you know what I find out.
That’s not all. Due to the Federal Trade Commission’s long overdue consumer advisory issued for penny auctions, Google now has ad serving rules in place for penny auction advertising which affects how penny auction ads are served.
From Google’s How will consumer advisories affect how my ad is served? page:
| Advertised product | Ad serving rules |
| Penny auctions | Because a consumer advisory has been issued about penny auctions, AdWords will only serve penny auction ads if the phrase “penny auction” (or similar terms) are included in the user’s query. |
From Google Adwords support on Site Quality Guidelines:
“The three important aspects of abiding by this policy are: Quality content, Relevant and original content, Transparency. If these are kept in mind then all is well. We take site quality seriously in view of the user experience provided and urge all advertisers to follow it at all times.”-Google Support
Have thoughts? Please comment on this & discuss it in our forum, click for the thread!
Photo Credits: tobanblack from an Ad Standards ad.
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Daniel September 14, 2011, 4:44 pm
I posted these thoughts in the forum as well so please excuse the repetition:
Thought I would chime in here. As a owner of a penny auction site that tries to excel in the area’s of costumer service and transparency, we find this to be good in some ways but terrible in others.
Here at Label Doll, we wholeheartedly agree that there needs to be some sort of check on shill sites out there. Moreover that some sort of regulations has been long over due.
But the problem that penny auction sites will now face – is visibility. With the new Adwords restrictions, a potential customer has to essentially know about penny auctions before they search within Google. As penny auction sites are solely internet based, the restriction in visibility can be crippling. Take our site, Label Doll, for example:
We specialize in auctioning off designer accessories for women. Research has shown that a large portion of those that search for/use penny auctions are men interested in electronics. Many of our would be customers, women who would like the opportunity to win these luxury goods, will never find our site through the most effective keywords that they always use (eg. discount designer shoes, cheap bags, etc.) as these generic terms will no longer rank any sites that are penny auctions. I have reviewed our keyword list and I have seen which keywords send us the most visits: generics vs. penny auction keywords – let’s just say the numbers are grim.
We’re certainly going to do our best to get the message out there in other ways. Unfortunately, Adwords was one of the most effective methods available. I expect you’ll see a lot of niche penny auctions – ones that may cater to selling products outside of the traditional penny auction market – closing their doors, unless they can come up with some pretty clever responses to these restrictions.
Thanks for listening to my rant. Love to here the communities thoughts on this.
Very Best,
Daniel
Rick Willis September 20, 2011, 3:58 pm
Daniel,
I think you’re right about the impact on PA sites. Was wondering if the Entertainment Auction Association (EAA) would take up the fight with the FTC & Google – arguing that their members were honest and shouldn’t be penalized….then I remembered that Swoopo was an EAA member and that BigDeal, another member, was acquired by the last EAA member -BidCactus.
Something tells me BidCactus isn’t going to take on the FTC & Google for the good of the industry.
Not sure if Bing and\or Yahoo have the same punitive policy.
Rick