Just the otherday I awoke to an email from Google informing me that I had been permenantly banned from advertising with Adwords. The curious thing about this is that I have never used Adwords to advertise any sites that I am currently working with. The night before last, I had received a $100 Coupon for free Google Adwords advertising. I began setting up a campaign last night and held off on the final commitment when I was informed dinner was ready. Admittedly, I had also not completed a keyword research to locate the best possible keywords to use in this coupon for to get the most bang for my buck.
Anyhow, the following is a copy of the automated email I recieved:
Dear AdWords Advertiser,
It has come to our attention that your Google AdWords account does not comply with our Terms of Service and Advertising Policies. As a result, your account and any related accounts have been suspended, and your ads will no longer run on Google. Please be aware that you are prohibited from possessing or creating any other AdWords accounts, both now and in the future. For more information on AdWords suspension policies visit this link: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/static.py?topic=28449&guide=28446&page=guide.cs&hl=en_US
If you have a prepaid balance remaining in your account, you can request a refund at any time, by following the instructions at http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?answer=8440&hl=en_US.
If you believe your account was suspended in error, please contact us through the AdWords Help Center.
Sincerely, The Google AdWords Team
Anyhow, since I was banned from Adwords having not actually used the service, I was a bit peaved to say the least. However, when I made the call I was quite diplomatic and cordial. In my opinion I had not done anything overtly wrong and I anticipate a positive outcome. I will keep you guys informed.
In conclusion, I goes to show that paying attention to details is a very important part of web design, and a verification that Google has no problems banning your account for vitrually anything it feels may not be in good standing with what they want for their business plan.
The questions I leave for you my friends are as follows: Has Google become the Big Brother of the Internet? Are they controling what is said and not said on the net?