Someone is using my domain in their ADWORDS description??

i didn't know that an ADWORDS advertiser could do that??

i saw an adwords ad tonight that is using a domain that i own (letter for letter, and same extension).

the URL is clear and VISIBLE. there's no mistaken it.

SO... i'm assuming that adwords advertisers are ALLOWED to do this??

is that true?

THANKS
mike

[Seventh_Kingdom]

Haha that's kinda funny and pretty brazen. Which domain is it?

-SK

the domain (I OWN) is not developed. it's parked.

it's www.sackvillerealestate.com (Sackville Real Estate)

the thing is: i didn't want to cl*ck the ad and cost him/her any money - but i am curious who is using my domain in their ad.

they even used upper/lower case like this > www.SackvilleRealEstate.com

So, this is allowed? <<<<<<<

thanks,
mike

[fakestar]

lol, where is the screenshot?

[humanedited]

Originally Posted by DomainLoot

the thing is: i didn't want to cl*ck the ad and cost him/her any money - but i am curious who is using my domain in their ad.

I wouldn't worry about being a nice guy in this situation. If they're using your domain for their benefit, you have every right to find out who they are so you can put a stop to it.

i did take a screenshot.

i'm wondering, if in a "odd way" they are actually promoting my domain for me?

i mean, i guess some people WRITE URLs down and check them later.

i don't use ADWORDS, and i don't want to make a federal case out of it i'm just curious if google allows this?

THANKS ALL,
mike

[Johu]

You won't be able to use fake URLs (e.g. one that isn't actually sent to) come 4/1. Anyway, click the ad and see where it goes...

[sultanofseo]

google probably would not know that the advertiser doesn;t own that domain. if you have a screenshot, then you can send it to adwords support team. whatever the advertiser is doing, rest assured that he/she is not promoting your domain.

[jyoung]

Originally Posted by Johu

You won't be able to use fake URLs (e.g. one that isn't actually sent to) come 4/1. Anyway, click the ad and see where it goes...

I was going to say the same thing. If his url doesn't match come 4/1, he will not be running that ad until he fixes it.

[GuyFromChicago]

It's always been a policy violation, I would report it to the AdWords team.

[Forumhorizon]

You should report this and possibly even demand from the guy all revenue he has made exploiting your name.

[Cut]

Not that big of a deal. Like someone else said come april first it won't matter. I bet he/she didn't or does make any money using your parked domain. They probably didn't even care if the domain exsisted or not. Adwords advertisers aren't suppose to use other people's domains but google isn't going to take the time to check.

[LevaCygnet]

I used to have quite an issue with this for one of my domains. I was constantly playing whack-a-mole with a scammer who kept using my domain as the display URL for his site, which was an identity theft scheme.

Google will ban the adwords advertiser for this sort of thing, but in my case, well, the guy was engaging in identity theft. Somehow, I don't think he had much difficulty opening new Adwords accounts. I haven't seen him in awhile, I should go poking around to see if he's still around.

-- Leva

[xboxundone]

It won't be allowed come april display url and the site the person lands on will have to match come april 1.

thanks for all the info / FEEDBACK. :-)

i am going to keep the screenshot, just in case. i'll make note of the date as well.

it's just kinda weird, and it's clearly not a mistake...

i may still contact the ADWORDS people, i'll "stew on it" for a bit more.

THANK YOU.

[bigbert81]

Here's my question, I mean, does it really matter?

Are you being affected negatively by this? If so, I can see why you would be upset, but if not, what's the big deal?

This is a tactic I use also, although I've only a couple of campaigns right now doing it, and no, they're not yours.

But seriously, if it's not causing you any problems, why feel the need to police it?

[visualjava1216]

its a first time i heard of that,,, your domain is advertised on adwords without you knowing,,,, you should be getting a lot of traffic!!

[msubmission]

wow amazing.
Lots of free traffic isn't it?
Is the status still like that?

[tenro1]

My guess is that the guy is probably using the display URL of your domain - but has his keyword level URL's pointing to other domains all together. If your domain has any kind of link juice at all - or high page rank or anything (I know you said it was parked) then he could be using your domain name to get better cost per click, because Google does not always associate the display URL with the keyword level URL redirects. He gets the benefit of a lowered cost - you get none of the benefit by free traffic he pays for. Best way to confirm that part of it is to check your site stats - and see how much traffic is being sent to you by Google.