Competitor Has Two Top Spots On PPC

[tomsk]

I am running a PPC campaign, I know that a competitor is using two sites for the same PPC keyword occupying positions 1 and 2.

I understand this is against google guidelines - am I correct?

 

[Viron Media]

Yes. I believe it is against the TOS.

Are you sure it is the same company? Make sure your information is 100% correct before informing/alerting Google.

 

[crossdaz]

If he is using two independent sites then there isn't much you can do unless one is a subdomain of the other? Two ads on the same site just wouldn't show.

 

[Viron Media]

Hmm. I don't know.

I'd look into the whois information.

 

[MASSEY]

Why would it be against the rules for two different sites owned by the same person to bid for ppc positions?

It used to be against the rules for the same web site to appear more than once when you scroll past the first page the same ad should not appear again, but the rules seem to have gone really lax because it happens all the time now.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

I understand this is against google guidelines - am I correct?

Yes. Grass him up.

Google may or may not do anything about it.

Steve

 

[redtreeland]

it's called double serving. Details: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=14179

 

[Dave Thomas]

from the OP 2 sites whats the issue??? Unfortunately if the guy wants to create 10 sites and ppc them all and take up the entire page 1 he can with individual urls etc its a drag but hey cover all bases .....if he has 1 site and has multiple accounts this comes under the whole double serving that monkeyclappost link to earlier..

 

[Colin Parker]

from the OP 2 sites whats the issue??? Unfortunately if the guy wants to create 10 sites and ppc them all and take up the entire page 1 he can with individual urls etc its a drag but hey cover all bases .....if he has 1 site and has multiple accounts this comes under the whole double serving that monkeyclappost link to earlier..

If Google catches you double serving they will take down all but one site.

The reason is simple - because in theory you could take all 11 PPC positions on a page and block out competitive bidding which would affect Google's income + reduce the 'user experience' by limiting choice.

I have reported double serving by competitors before and Google have stopped it. So my advice to the OP is report it - everytime - and keep reporting until Google takes action.

Colin Parker

 

[webgeek]

Nod to Colin. Although they may be slow to react to violation reports, eventually you'll get through.

However, a savvy competitor can own the entire top 10 organic and all page 1 paid by simply constructing a set of shells that make use of different layouts, hosting, and product descriptions (not to mention company details).

I've seen this in a few industries and it's just about impossible to stop.

 

[headshotlondon]

If he has it on two different Google accounts, then there is not much you could do. He is just working for two right now. Optimise your pages, make sure your website is relevant and double the effort for one = your website. By working hard on your website you should not have much difficulty in overjumping him. Good luck

 

[Colin Parker]

If he has it on two different Google accounts, then there is not much you could do. He is just working for two right now. Optimise your pages, make sure your website is relevant and double the effort for one = your website. By working hard on your website you should not have much difficulty in overjumping him. Good luck

If you have two Google accounts with campaigns in the same market - or more than two as another poster advised - you had better be prepared to accept seeing your Google business be wiped out overnight.

Google are not thick - they know all of the likely ways that advertisers can scam their system and double serving is scamming the system - period. Get caught, which you will eventually, and the greater the crime the greater the punishment, with the ultimate punishment being a total advertising ban.

Google are becoming increasingly dictatorial and intolerant of any PPC advertiser who does not play the game EXACTLY the way they want and 1,000's of advertisers have already had their accounts shut down.

What you must remember is that Google are still a very young company and they are developing and changing their business model constantly.

The biggest driving factor to change is their totally dominant position which they know gives advertisers access to a massive market at a competitive advertising cost that is generally unattainable offline. Google will retain their dominant position by giving searchers the best possible search experience and GOOGLE not YOU will decide what is a good experience and what is not.

That is why Google are constantly reviewing and identifying advertisers that they do and do not want. And with a maximum of only 11 PPC advertisers on the first page for any search term and 100's of advertisers wanting to be there - they can afford to be VERY choosy. Forget or ignore that at your peril.

Colin Parker

 

[Dave Thomas]

Ultimately this will be found but this must take some huge amount of time and effort on their part and do they always bother? It does seem to happen...what if 10 members of staff for a company all own a seperate URL and seperate site and PPC against them but the outlying result is business to 1 company....I can see why the punishment would be so harsh they would have to recoup some of the admin costs for time spent discovering this in the first place....hence why reporting these is required.......yes?

 

[Colin Parker]

Ultimately this will be found but this must take some huge amount of time and effort on their part and do they always bother? It does seem to happen...what if 10 members of staff for a company all own a seperate URL and seperate site and PPC against them but the outlying result is business to 1 company....I can see why the punishment would be so harsh they would have to recoup some of the admin costs for time spent discovering this in the first place....hence why reporting these is required.......yes?

Dave - in the example you give I would guess that someone would break rank and report it to Google eventually ie., when they leave, decide to compete with each other etc.

There are always complicated ways to hide and deceive in any activity but my point is that the risks are high and you are almost certainly living on borrowed time if you double serve.

Colin Parker

 

[Dave Thomas]

Colin completely agree its really just tough to decipher...I guess most will take it for granted that Google will sort it but eventually....in this time it may take months who knows other smaller businesses will ultimately suffer...its hard..

 

[tomsk]

Thanks for all your help