Affiliate marketers who use Google AdWords have to overcome many obstacles when creating ads for the service. One such issue is that of the double serving violation. What exactly is double serving and why is it so important to Google? The basic idea behind this violation is that it presents duplicate content on the advertisements for competing keywords. Google is always concerned with the user experience and this, in their opinion, hurts the user experience.
When Google sees the same ads pointing to the same URLs coming from different accounts, this is a violation of double serving. In Google’s eyes, this is essentially the same person creating multiple accounts with Google AdWords to show the same advertisements.
To avoid this problem, affiliates have to get creative in the types of content that they point visitors to. For example, you may have to create a website with articles, videos or other content to show your visitors. Then within the content, you can promote an affiliate product. This is permissible by Google because it provides a positive user experience. Content is king on the Internet and Google wants to make sure that you are taking visitors to a destination that is unlike everything else on the Web.
When trying to promote an affiliate product, you have to be careful not to violate the double serving policy. If you are signing up as an affiliate for a very popular affiliate products, you cannot simply open an AdWords account and send visitors to the main product page. Since so many other affiliates will also be sending people to the main page competing for the same keywords, this is a negative user experience for the visitor. You will have to figure out a way to differentiate yourself from the masses of other affiliates in the market.
Another way to separate yourself from the rest of the herd of affiliates is to give a unique offer. This means that even though you’re selling the same product, you offer something that no one else is offering. For example, you could offer a discount or a bonus product along with the main affiliate product. This makes it possible to offer a different approach to selling the same product that everyone else is selling.
The double serving violation ultimately boils down to Google wanting to eliminate any negative connotations surrounding its advertising program. Since Google holds the Keys to the AdWords program, you have to play by the rules if you want to take part. If you create an ad campaign and you are unsure of whether it violates any Google policies, you may want to rework it until you are sure that it fits the rules.
(Thank you David B. for your nice contribution)
