Another Quality Score Policies Update...?

[Universal Soldier]

I just noticed all my old/current campaigns displaying QS as "Poor" or "Ok".
Few days back all had QS "Great", some are linking to review pages & some
are cloaked linked.

Anyone else facing similar issue?

Also noticed few changes in the Adwords QS policies, below are few excerpts
of Quality Score Policies from the Adwords Help Center
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Relevance:

Link to the page on your site that provides the most useful information about
the product or service in your ad. For instance, direct users to the page
where they can buy the advertised product, rather than to a page with a
description of several products. - does this mean that we can't use
review pages now...as few of my campaigns which are linked to review
pages are also impacted

Originality:

Feature unique content that can't be found on another site. This guideline is
particularly applicable to affiliates that use the following types of pages:

Bridge pages: Pages that act as an intermediary, whose sole purpose is to
link or redirect traffic to the parent company - can't use landing
pages/cloaked redirection?
--------------------------------------------------------------------

[joepipe]

I'm having the same problem right now and waiting for adwords response to the issue and what I need to change. I've had no problems for over a year and CTR's are doing ok, suddenly a few keyword phrases that in my opinion completely match my website/landing page have stopped showing due to poor quality score. As well they want me to increase the bid by 300% just to get my keywords showing again which I think is way too high of an increase. More importantly, I've reviewed some competitors sites and they are in no way presented better than mine in terms of landing pages , etc. I understand adwords concern of keeping ads relevant to a site, but I believe my website is very relevant to keyword phrases my ads are clicked from.

[robertpriolo]

Originally Posted by Universal Soldier

I just noticed all my old/current campaigns displaying QS as "Poor" or "Ok".
Few days back all had QS "Great", some are linking to review pages & some
are cloaked linked.

Anyone else facing similar issue?

Also noticed few changes in the Adwords QS policies, below are few excerpts
of Quality Score Policies from the Adwords Help Center
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Relevance:

Link to the page on your site that provides the most useful information about
the product or service in your ad. For instance, direct users to the page
where they can buy the advertised product, rather than to a page with a
description of several products. - does this mean that we can't use
review pages now...as few of my campaigns which are linked to review
pages are also impacted

Originality:

Feature unique content that can't be found on another site. This guideline is
particularly applicable to affiliates that use the following types of pages:

Bridge pages: Pages that act as an intermediary, whose sole purpose is to
link or redirect traffic to the parent company - can't use landing
pages/cloaked redirection?
--------------------------------------------------------------------

QS is updated and changed all the time. Not in timely intervals.

Review pages have been out of style for a while

cloaked pages and redirection are a sure fire way to get slapped these days

[Universal Soldier]

Originally Posted by robertpriolo

QS is updated and changed all the time. Not in timely intervals.

Review pages have been out of style for a while

cloaked pages and redirection are a sure fire way to get slapped these days

So how are we supposed to promote a product as an affiliate
on Adwords?

Review pages & cloaked linked worked for me for long time, its
just the last update tht affected it first time

Also testing different vendors/products will be more expensive
with direct linking now.

[phreak79]

It does seem difficult as they also seem to bar things like price comparison sites. If they don't allow review sites either then it would seem as though they're cracking down on affiliates in general, even if they do add value to the buying process.

[Universal Soldier]

Originally Posted by phreak79

It does seem difficult as they also seem to bar things like price comparison sites. If they don't allow review sites either then it would seem as though they're cracking down on affiliates in general, even if they do add value to the buying process.

True indeed!!

[robertpriolo]

Originally Posted by Universal Soldier

So how are we supposed to promote a product as an affiliate
on Adwords?

Review pages & cloaked linked worked for me for long time, its
just the last update tht affected it first time

Also testing different vendors/products will be more expensive
with direct linking now.

1. You need a create a more business modeled approach these days

2. Yes they worked just fine in the past, see response below to see why it was changed and why its good.

3. Yes, but the purpose of direct linking is not for a long term strategy its basically to test the market at a loss to see if people will buy. If they buy, then you can invest your time and create a real website or dedicated landing page for it.

Originally Posted by phreak79

It does seem difficult as they also seem to bar things like price comparison sites. If they don't allow review sites either then it would seem as though they're cracking down on affiliates in general, even if they do add value to the buying process.

That may be true, but I think what google has realized is that any shmuck can put up a review landing page of products that were never reviewed and just listed according to income. So google is now making affiliate step up their game and removing and obviously flawed sales tactic. As a consumer myself, I do not want to be tricked into buy product X because the advertiser makes more money. I want the honest answer and thats why google is picking on affiliates. Its their fault for adding no true value, now they need to find a new way to play the game. Those who are smart, logical and creative will succeed. Survival of the fittest really, and I like it because it keeps competition lower and weeds out a lot of nonsense.

[Universal Soldier]

Yeah even I like these logical changes...it forces us to use our creativity
& out of box thinking but Google should atleast inform/notify advertisers
early enough...so tht we get the time to adapt to the new changes.

I haven't got any notification & I believe no-one else as well.

[info]

now need to change my 100+ landing pages. but google is now crossing it's limit and bringing me less traffic then 6 months ago.

[RichUser]

Good news for me. Tired of all those review landing pages for hosting keywords.

[Michael T.]

So how can I as an affiliate promote some product if they don't want a review page.Think logicaly,you have to review any product to sell it.How can I sell my products or services if i don't have a review page?

[RichUser]

Originally Posted by Michael T.

So how can I as an affiliate promote some product if they don't want a review page.Think logicaly,you have to review any product to sell it.How can I sell my products or services if i don't have a review page?

They mean those comparison pages. Where people compare multiple products to each other.

Like these people:

http://www.top-10-web-hosting.com/

[Universal Soldier]

Originally Posted by RichUser

They mean those comparison pages. Where people compare multiple products to each other.

Like these people:

http://www.top-10-web-hosting.com/

Even my single product review pages are impacted by this!

[Michael T.]

Originally Posted by RichUser

They mean those comparison pages. Where people compare multiple products to each other.

Like these people:

http://www.top-10-web-hosting.com/

Ok I now understand this update.

[Michael T.]

Originally Posted by Universal Soldier

Even my single product review pages are impacted by this!

Google said clearly that they want you to redirect traffic to a website,not to a single landing page which purpose is only to advertise one product

[Michael T.]

I have one more question,as i have understood they also don't like cloacked links that are redirectimg to a merchant page,so how can I redirect a customer to a merchant without a cloacked link?

[Universal Soldier]

Originally Posted by Michael T.

I have one more question,as i have understood they also don't like cloacked links that are redirectimg to a merchant page,so how can I redirect a customer to a merchant without a cloacked link?

Okay after a bit of testing I've found a workaround for direct linking...
instead of using normal frame redirects/cloaks, use the php redirects
(name it index.php & put it inside a folder, then use domain name + folder
name in destination URL) which are invisible to search engine.

The .htaccess redirects should also work fine but I haven't tested it yet.

My QS is back to "Great" now

[Michael T.]

Originally Posted by Universal Soldier

Okay after a bit of testing I've found a workaround for direct linking...
instead of using normal frame redirects/cloaks, use the php redirects
(name it index.php & put it inside a folder, then use domain name + folder
name in destination URL) which are invisible to search engine.

The .htaccess redirects should also work fine but I haven't tested it yet.

My QS is back to "Great" now

So you are saying to use a php redirect,sounds ok.Thanks for the answer.