Google Adwords

By Elidrissi.Ilyas (Own work) CC BY-SA 4.0, 
via Wikimedia Commons

Google Adwords is an advertising service developed by Google for businesses who want to display advertising copies, product listings and video content to web users within the Google ad network. Advertising within the listings of search engines is called Paid search.

• Google AdWords allows advertisers to place results for their websites on a search engine results page (SERP) by paying for them. 
• Business owners do not have to wait for their site to rank in SERPs through organic search results. 
• AdWords program enables businesses to set a maximum budget and pay for ads when people click them.

Advantages of placing ads through Google Adwords

• Reach out to customers locally (within proximity of your business) or show your ads to the entire region, country or beyond. You decide. 
• Know to whom your ads are shown, who visit our website or call your business. This allows you to make the necessary tweaks and test your changes until you are happy with the results. 
• Adjust your budget anytime or end your contract without lock-in fees. 
• Only pay when people interact with your ad clicking on text ads or watch your promotional videos.

Types of Ads

There are several ways to reach target customers through AdWords such as text-based, graphic display, in-app mobile ads, universal app ads and YouTube video ads.

Search Ads are ads that appear above the search results on Google. You only pay for this ad when people click your ad to visit your website or contact you.

Display Ads  allows you to reach your customers wherever they are in over two million websites or 650,000 apps. Display ads can be placed in several formats.

1. Text ads with a headline, two lines of text and a URL 
2. A banner with images or rich media with custom layouts, interactive elements, creative animations, etc. 
3. Gmail ad which can be expanded, saved or forwarded from their inbox. 
4. Ads targeting particular mobile app categories

Image cropped from google-admob by Sam Churchill licensed under (CC BY 2.0)

Video Ads are targeted to people who have interest on your business. You only pay for these ads when people watch your ad.

                   

App ads Google can help you find the best users to whom you can promote your iOS or Android app across Google’s network and make the most of your budget.

Image from adwords.google.com

How it works

1. Advertisers identify keywords that they want to bid on and the maximum budget they want to spend. Then, pair these with ads they have created. There are many advertisers who bid for particular keywords.
2. Google determines which keyword is most relevant and enters it into the auction.
3. When a user enters a search query, Google looks at the pool of AdWords advertisers.
4. If there are several advertisers bidding on keywords that are relevant to the search query, it triggers an auction.
5. To determine how your ad ranks, Google considers these factors: maximum bid and quality score.
6. Ad rank is determined by multiplying CPC Bid (Cost Per Click) and Quality Score. (Quality score is measured by the relevance and usefulness of your ad to users)
7. The best combination of CPC Bid and Quality score gets the top position.

“Search Network is a group of search-related websites where your ads can appear (ex. near the search results if your keyword is relevant to the search query).”

It is a part of the Google Network, a term which collectively refers to all the webpages and apps where AdWords can appear.

Where AdWords Will Appear

A. Google Search Sites

Ads can appear above, below or beside search results in Google Search and search results in Google Play, Google Shopping, Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail.

B. Google Search Partners - These are websites that partnered with Google to show ads and in return and receive a share in advertising profits. These sites usually use Google to power their in-site search functionality

• Ads may appear in search results of Google partner websites such as non-Google websites, Google video sites and other Google sites.
• Product Ads may appear in partner shopping sites that link to products for sale.

Type of Ads That Appear Within the Search Network

1. Text Ads, Dynamic Search  Ads, and call-only ads are the most common ads. These ads are labelled with "Ad" or "Ads" and "Ads by Google" with them on the search results page.

2. Shopping Ads or Sponsored Ads links to products for sale

3. Image and Video Ads

Search Partners are already added by default when you create your campaigns.  You can remove or change the partners added by following these steps:

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR ADS

Setting up your campaign in AdWords is your first step - quick and easy! Next, you need to make sure that your ads conform to AdWords advertising policies for them to get approved.

The ad that you create should be safe and appropriate for everyone. Avoid the following types of content:

• Prohibited Content such as counterfeit goods.
• Dangerous products or services that cause physical harm or injury such as recreational drugs, explosives, ammunition, tobacco products
• Products that enable dishonest behaviour such as software hacking (instructions); information on how to artificially inflate web traffic; fake documents; academic cheating, etc.
• Inappropriate and offensive content that promote hatred, intolerance or discrimination and displays shocking content. Here are some comprehensive examples taken from Adwords Support:

2.  While you want to make the most out of your ad placement in the best way possible, you also need to be aware of the practices that are prohibited while advertising with Google AdWords.

The following practices are considered abusive to the ad network:

• promoting content that contains malware
• "cloaking" or trying to hide the true destination of users
• "arbitrage" or promoting destinations that are created purposely for showing ads
• promoting "gateway" that are created to send users to another destination
• gaining public endorsement in social media from users through advertising
• manipulating settings to circumvent policies

Anyone who advertises using our platform is expected to respect users information. According to Google, this information include: “full name; email address; mailing address; phone number; national identity, pension, social security, tax ID, health care, or driver's license number; birth date or mother's maiden name in addition to any of the above information; financial status; political affiliation; sexual orientation; race or ethnicity; religion.”

Anyone who uses the platform to advertise is expected to handle and collect user data responsibly. Collecting credit card information over a non-secure server is not acceptable. Other examples of irresponsible data collection include promotions that claim to know users’ sexual orientation or financial profile and violations of policies on interest-based advertising and remarketing.

Google does not allow ads or destinations that are created to mislead users into making decisions without giving relevant information about products and services or company background. Examples include:

• Unclear or lack of information (on billing) as to when charging happens
• Obscuring charges such as penalties and interest rates
• Failure to display tax or license numbers, contact details and physical address
• Making offers that aren’t actually available 
• Making unrealistic claims such as that of weight loss or financial gain
• “Phishing” or falsely representing one’s company as reputable to obtain valuable personal or financial information
• Soliciting donations under pretenses.

In our attempt to avoid showing content that may be considered legally or culturally sensitive, there may be some restrictions as to when or where ads may be inappropriate. The ads below may be allowed on a limited basis. This means that the ad may not be shown in all locations and that advertisers may need to present additional requirements for the ads to run. Examples of restricted content are as follows:

Adult Content

Since user preferences vary when it comes to adult content, certain types of this content aren’t allowed in ads. Some forms of adult-oriented ads that comply with policies may be shown in limited scenarios and based on search query, age and local laws. Also, these ads should not be directed or targeted to minors. Examples include erotic cinemas, sex toys, sexual enhancement products, adult magazines, etc.

Alcohol

To abide by local alcohol laws, certain alcohol and alcohol-resembling drink advertisements are allowed only if they meet specific policies, do not target minors, and target only countries that allow such advertisements.

Copyrights

To abide by local copyright laws and copyright holders, unauthorised use of copyrighted content on ads is strictly prohibited.

Gambling and Games

The following gambling ads are allowed:

• Ads that exercise responsible gambling and have landing pages that display responsible gambling information
• Advertiser received proper AdWords certification
• Ads that target approved countries
• Ads that do not target minors

Healthcare and Medicines

• Ads and destinations follow appropriate laws and industry standards
• Not all health-related content can be advertised
• Others ads require that the advertiser is certified by Google and targets only approved countries.

Political Content

All political ads and destinations must comply with the local campaign and election laws for the targeted areas including legally mandated election “silence periods.”

Promotion of political parties or candidates and political advocacies are examples of political content.

Financial Services

• Ads that provide adequate information for making an informed decision are favoured
• Financial products and services refer to those that relate to management and investment of money and providing personalised advice.
• Financial service ads must comply or conform with state and local regulations of the targeted region. An example of this regulation is the inclusion of specific disclosures required by the law.

Trademarks

• Google requires that AdWords ads don’t infringe third-party trademarks.
• Third parties may properly use trademarks in certain situations. For example, resellers may use trademarks for the purpose of describing products that they sell.
• Policies apply to trademarks used in text ads on the Search Network.
• For detailed policies on trademarks, please see this link.

Legal Requirements

It is the advertiser’s responsibility to ensure that they comply with all laws and local policies and regulation,  in addition to Google’s policies, in locations that their ads are targeting.

Other Restricted Businesses

• Google reserves the right to restrict certain kinds of advertisements that it deems promoting exploitation (even if they appear to be compliant with its policies)
• Based on continuous reviews, consumer reviews and consumer protection authorities, Google identifies products that have a tendency to be abused.
• If it is deemed that a certain business poses unreasonable risks to users or consumer or user safety, they may limit or stop certain ads from running.