GOOGLE

Google Policy Ad Disapprovals: A Story of False Flags

Published

5 years ago

November 19, 2019

google policy ad disapprovals a story of false flags

Having your ads disapproved for whatever reason can be a big roadblock for account success. These disapprovals lead to a loss of time when you have to research the policy that was violated, retool your ad to either meet the requirements or avoid the policy altogether, then submit the ads for review again. In this loss of time, these ads cannot serve to your audiences which leads to dips in performance. Now, think about this same scenario except your ads do not infringe upon any policy and still get disapproved anyway. This was the bane of my existence for months on one of my larger accounts. Having to check policy reviews daily and follow the allotted processes took time away from developing strategy and moving more important initiatives forward.

The Approval Process

First, we need to understand how and why our ads are being disapproved for policy infringement. The most important thing an account manager can do from the beginning is to understand any policy related to their business. Review any Google advertising policy that could be related to the scope of your work and make sure that your ads follow the policy. A list of Google’s advertising policies can be found here.

Google Ads Policy Disapproval

Next, we need to understand the system that flags our ads. All enabled ads within an account go through a complex review process via Google’s algorithms and a program called Swiffer. This process is supposedly 99% accurate, but when there are roughly 160 billion searches per month in Google alone (Statista) then the number of ads that fall through the cracks is still pretty astronomical. If your ads receive 200 disapprovals in 30 days, then that account is moved onto a Swiffer list for manual review and MAYBE gains the mythical policy exclusion. This exclusion is only for the lucky, so for the rest of us what do we do next?

Email Notifications

The first step is recognizing that your ads are being disapproved for whatever reason. You can edit your email notifications in each account to trigger when a number of events happen within an account. Specifically, for this case, you can set up your notifications to trigger when your ads are disapproved. So rather than needing to check in the account daily, your email can be the first line of defense in managing this issue. To edit your notification settings:

Navigate to the wrench icon in the upper right corner of the interface
Select setup
Select preferences
Navigate to notifications (1 of 2 options within the preferences page)
Turn on “Disapproved ads and policy alerts

Email Notifications Google Ads Settings

Submit a Ticket

This is my go-to move if the disapprovals do not seem like a regular occurrence. The ticket submittal process is actually quite easy and does not take too much time when in a one-off scenario. The kicker is that Google will look into the ad within a 24-hour period after receiving the ticket. Perfectly reasonable from their end in my opinion, but this means our ads could be off for roughly 36 hours or more if I received my email notification overnight and submitted my ticket first thing in the morning. To submit a ticket, navigate to this link.

Then, you will have to fill out a decently quick form explaining the issue. Fields include:

Contact information
Google Ads Customer ID (and Child Account ID if applicable)
Language
Topic or Policy
Summary of the issue
Phone Number (new)
Submit a supporting attachment (new)

Calling In

Using the same info as above, you can always call the Google support number and give them the above info. The review process takes the same amount of time but there are a few benefits to calling in. First, if you have multiple campaigns and ads affected, then by calling in you can have the support take down more of the information upfront for a 1 stop process. In this same scenario, this would require a few ticket submissions. Second, if you are speaking with a Google support member, they may be able to inform you or connect you with someone who can describe how you are infringing upon the policy and how to avoid it.

Google Support Phone Number: 1-866-2-GOOGLE (866-246-6453)

Submitting a Bug

This is a more elusive process that few know about and is only accessible if you have a dedicated account rep. with Google or can get through to Google’s policy team. In my case, accounts dedicated agency rep. helped uncover this process. I never received too much information on where and how this bug was submitted into the Google system, but it did permanently stop my ads from being flagged for a policy that they were not infringing upon. Basically, you submit the below info to your contact:

Issue Type (Policy in Question/Reason for Disapproval)
Issue Description (must include formats affected, URL of the site affected, screenshots, and dates)
Customer ID
Campaign/Ad Group IDs (Cannot say “All” or “Multiple” – please be specific)
Creative IDs (At Least one example of a creative impacted by this disapproval)

Once they have this information and have the policy team submit the bug, then it will take 24-72 hours to push through the system, review all of the affected ads, and reverse their designation pending any other policies that you were unaware of. It is also important to note that any new ads created after the bug can still be disapproved, but once they are the ads will be review again and likely reversed with no action needed from yourself.

Conclusion

Ad disapprovals are not the most complicated thing to deal with in our search accounts but they are a nuisance and can waste time if not dealt with properly. By taking the steps provided above, we advertisers can mitigate how much time, effort, and headspace we use when dealing with policy disapprovals. Thanks for reading and please check out this awesome PPC Hero Google Shopping disapproved ads post from last week.

PPChero.com

GOOGLE

Google Warns About Misuse of Its Indexing API

Published

1 month ago

September 12, 2024

Max

Google Warns About Misuse of Its Indexing API

Google has updated its Indexing API documentation with a clear warning about spam detection and the possible consequences of misuse.

Warning Against API Misuse The new message in the guide says:

“All submissions through the Indexing API are checked for spam. Any misuse, like using multiple accounts or going over the usage limits, could lead to access being taken away.”

This warning is aimed at people trying to abuse the system by exceeding the API’s limits or breaking Google’s rules.

What Is the Indexing API? The Indexing API allows websites to tell Google when job posting or livestream video pages are added or removed. It helps websites with fast-changing content get their pages crawled and indexed quickly.

But it seems some users have been trying to abuse this by using multiple accounts to get more access.

Impact of the Update Google is now closely watching how people use the Indexing API. If someone breaks the rules, they might lose access to the tool, which could make it harder for them to keep their search results updated for time-sensitive content.

How To Stay Compliant To use the Indexing API properly, follow these rules:

Don’t go over the usage limits, and if you need more, ask Google instead of using multiple accounts.
Use the API only for job postings or livestream videos, and make sure your data is correct.
Follow all of Google’s API guidelines and spam policies.
Use sitemaps along with the API, not as a replacement.

Remember, the Indexing API isn’t a shortcut to faster indexing. Follow the rules to keep your access.

GOOGLE

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Published

3 months ago

June 30, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Here’s what happened in the world of Google and search engines this week:

1. Google’s June 2024 Spam Update

Google finished rolling out its June 2024 spam update over a period of seven days. This update aims to reduce spammy content in search results.

2. Changes to Google Search Interface

Google has removed the continuous scroll feature for search results. Instead, it’s back to the old system of pages.

3. New Features and Tests

Link Cards: Google is testing link cards at the top of AI-generated overviews.
Health Overviews: There are more AI-generated health overviews showing up in search results.
Local Panels: Google is testing AI overviews in local information panels.

4. Search Rankings and Quality

Improving Rankings: Google said it can improve its search ranking system but will only do so on a large scale.
Measuring Quality: Google’s Elizabeth Tucker shared how they measure search quality.

5. Advice for Content Creators

Brand Names in Reviews: Google advises not to avoid mentioning brand names in review content.
Fixing 404 Pages: Google explained when it’s important to fix 404 error pages.

6. New Search Features in Google Chrome

Google Chrome for mobile devices has added several new search features to enhance user experience.

7. New Tests and Features in Google Search

Credit Card Widget: Google is testing a new widget for credit card information in search results.
Sliding Search Results: When making a new search query, the results might slide to the right.

8. Bing’s New Feature

Bing is now using AI to write “People Also Ask” questions in search results.

9. Local Search Ranking Factors

Menu items and popular times might be factors that influence local search rankings on Google.

10. Google Ads Updates

Query Matching and Brand Controls: Google Ads updated its query matching and brand controls, and advertisers are happy with these changes.
Lead Credits: Google will automate lead credits for Local Service Ads. Google says this is a good change, but some advertisers are worried.
tROAS Insights Box: Google Ads is testing a new insights box for tROAS (Target Return on Ad Spend) in Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns.
WordPress Tag Code: There is a new conversion code for Google Ads on WordPress sites.

These updates highlight how Google and other search engines are continuously evolving to improve user experience and provide better advertising tools.

AI

Exploring the Evolution of Language Translation: A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

Published

8 months ago

February 26, 2024

Max

A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

According to an article on PCMag, while Google Translate makes translating sentences into over 100 languages easy, regular users acknowledge that there’s still room for improvement.

In theory, large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are expected to bring about a new era in language translation. These models consume vast amounts of text-based training data and real-time feedback from users worldwide, enabling them to quickly learn to generate coherent, human-like sentences in a wide range of languages.

However, despite the anticipation that ChatGPT would revolutionize translation, previous experiences have shown that such expectations are often inaccurate, posing challenges for translation accuracy. To put these claims to the test, PCMag conducted a blind test, asking fluent speakers of eight non-English languages to evaluate the translation results from various AI services.

The test compared ChatGPT (both the free and paid versions) to Google Translate, as well as to other competing chatbots such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. The evaluation involved comparing the translation quality for two test paragraphs across different languages, including Polish, French, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, and Amharic.

In the first test conducted in June 2023, participants consistently favored AI chatbots over Google Translate. ChatGPT, Google Bard (now Gemini), and Microsoft Bing outperformed Google Translate, with ChatGPT receiving the highest praise. ChatGPT demonstrated superior performance in converting colloquialisms, while Google Translate often provided literal translations that lacked cultural nuance.

For instance, ChatGPT accurately translated colloquial expressions like “blow off steam,” whereas Google Translate produced more literal translations that failed to resonate across cultures. Participants appreciated ChatGPT’s ability to maintain consistent levels of formality and its consideration of gender options in translations.

The success of AI chatbots like ChatGPT can be attributed to reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF), which allows these models to learn from human preferences and produce culturally appropriate translations, particularly for non-native speakers. However, it’s essential to note that while AI chatbots outperformed Google Translate, they still had limitations and occasional inaccuracies.

In a subsequent test, PCMag evaluated different versions of ChatGPT, including the free and paid versions, as well as language-specific AI agents from OpenAI’s GPTStore. The paid version of ChatGPT, known as ChatGPT Plus, consistently delivered the best translations across various languages. However, Google Translate also showed improvement, performing surprisingly well compared to previous tests.

Overall, while ChatGPT Plus emerged as the preferred choice for translation, Google Translate demonstrated notable improvement, challenging the notion that AI chatbots are always superior to traditional translation tools.

Source: https://www.pcmag.com/articles/google-translate-vs-chatgpt-which-is-the-best-language-translator