Google to toughen up on paid search URLs

14 February 2008

Google is to "strictly enforce" the rules on how URLs are displayed via AdWords, in an effort to clamp down on misleading links.

The rules state that the URL displayed in an AdWords sponsored link should be the same as the URL arrived at by someone clicking on that link.

However, some advertisers attempt to dominate the listings by posting multiple ads using different display URLs, a practice known as double-serving.

Google frowns on this, stating that: "We believe that pages with multiple ads from the same company provide less relevant results and a lower quality experience for our users. Over time, multiple ads from the same source also reduce advertiser performance and lower their return on investment."

According to Search Engine Land, Google began to warn advertisers about the enforcement last Saturday. The new regime is due take effect from 1 April.

Google has confirmed to iCrossing that the action will not affect display URLs that use sub-folder suffixes for Quality Score purposes.

Category: Google, Paid search, Search engines