The words “AdWords policy changes” generally cause any marketers’ anxiety to increase. More often than not, the source of said anxiety comes from the AdWords team’s employment of the adage, “Experience is the hardest teacher. It gives the tests first and the lessons after.” More often than not, it seems they flip the switch on some big change only to share later that, yes, they did indeed make a change. Rarely do we see what we saw in the beginning of May, when a post lead off with “Upcoming.” Not only did the team use the word “upcoming,” but they gave all involved (who don’t have the luxury of any account manager) almost two weeks of lead time before the change went into effect.
Many of the experience-based changes do seem like attempts from AdWords to quietly combat behavior of which they don’t approve. And, while almost all arbitrage behavior will be impacted by this change, one aspect that makes this change a little different from most is that it doesn’t seem derived as a reaction to bad arbitrage behavior. Rather than arbitrage, this is a quasi-hedge / preemptive measure against an even bigger issue, the looming battle over marketer’s collection and use of data. Unlike other changes, too. This one is straightforward without too much fluff language. It reads:
AdWords should be a safe, fair, and trusted marketplace for both you and the users who click on your ads. That’s why many AdWords policies focus on transparency, user safety, and security.
On May 17th, we’ll be adding three requirements to our existing AdWords policies that cover disclosure and usage of personal information. These requirements will apply everywhere AdWords is available.
If your site requests payment, financial, or personal information from visitors, please review the new requirements and make any needed changes to avoid having your ads suspended.
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Clear, accessible disclosure before visitors submit personal information
Our existing policy requires you to clearly describe how any personal information you solicit will be used. Soon, we’ll require that your description must also be easily accessible before site visitors submit their details. -
Option to discontinue direct communications
In the same description of how personal information will be used, you’ll also be required to describe how people can opt out of future emails, phone calls, or other direct communications. -
SSL when collecting payment and certain financial and personal information
Many websites use what are known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connections to encrypt sensitive information that travels between the user’s browser and the website’s servers. To help ensure user safety, AdWords policy will require all advertisers to use SSL when collecting payments and certain financial and personal information (like bank account and social security numbers).
For those who recall ringtones, aka, the glory days of AdWords arbitrage, the first of the requirements sounds very similar to a change made by Google that ultimately resulted in a huge reduction in new subscribers. The last thing a site that says get your “free” ringtones needs is a checkbox that asks people to confirm they are signing up for a $9.99/month or more service. It’s unclear what such a requirement would be for lead generation type sites and just how specific they would have to be. Right now, sites get away with quite a bit by burying how data is used in the privacy policy.
Would sites, for example, have to say, “your data will be going to many different email marketing companies and call centers?” Judging by one of the larger spenders we have heard of, the answer is yes, but with a twist. Here is the language on the sign-up form, “I certify that I am a US resident over the age of 18. I agree to the Privacy Policy, and understand that I may receive email and SMS offers from Site and its marketing partners:” After which, there is a Yes / No drop down selection. We say sort of because, if you select “No” from the drop down, you see this error message, “Invalid information entered. – You must be a US citizen over the age of 18 and agree to our terms in order to continue. Please correct these fields.” Interesting. You are made aware of what happens, but you aren’t given the opportunity to continue without getting hammered.
Letting people know how their information will be used ahead of time is arguably an issue but a surmountable one. We’ve seen several placements that would qualify as conspicuous yet aren’t easy to notice from a users perspective. Need help? Ask the ringtone guys. They got really good at that. The second change, alerting people of how they can opt-out of future communications has challenges too. The questionable word is “direct.” If you aren’t the one sending the emails or placing the calls, does that mean you do not have to provide a method for ceasing communications? That is certainly what the language implies.
Overall, like many Google policies, this latest one is a good one, just a potential pain in the butt. Those with nothing to hide, will do fine. Those who rely on conversion rates could see a slight dip, depending on how much they rely on deception. The underlying story, though, seems to be about barriers. Whether intentional or not, doing business online is starting to require greater infrastructure. There are still more and more inexpensive and approachable web services to help businesses, but to start and run something, means making a greater investment. Again, not a bad thing, but not ideal for most test and run marketers.
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