Running Dropbox Referral ads got me banned from Adwords

NOTE: My blog has now moved.  Please visit my new blog where I write about audio apps, diy synthesizers, and CNCs.

This is a short tale of warning for those who are considering running their Dropbox affiliate link in Adwords ads to get the full 10 gigs of free space.

I did this and it cost me my Adwords account.

I had never used Adwords before so I opened a new account and used a $100 free credit coupon.  I ran ads similar to those provided by the guides on how to do this.  Nothing extremely spamming, just connecting with phrases like "free storage" and "free cloud backup" and ads with copy like "Download and get 2GB space free!".

As an aside, if you decide to ignore my warning: Put the words "download app" in your ad.  Before I did that I had more clicks but less referrals since Dropbox requires the app installed to count the referral.  Telling the user they'd have to download the app reduced my click's but increased signups, saving me money.

Anyways, all was well.  I ended up with 10 gigs of space, and still had $10 left of Adwords credit.

Until I received this email:

"Dear AdWords Advertiser,

Google maintains a high standard for the quality of our advertisements and our user experience. We have recently determined that your business maintains multiple AdWords accounts simultaneously serving ads for similar or related keywords and/or businesses.

In addition, our records indicate that some or all of these accounts were opened using promotional coupons limited to one redemption per individual or business. As a result, we have suspended your AdWords accounts and would ask that you refrain from creating additional accounts using other AdWords promotional coupons that you may already possess or obtain in the future.

Sincerely,
The Google AdWords Team"

Ouch.

Reading the letter, it makes sense: From their perspective a bunch of new Adwords accounts are being created, using coupons, and all advertising the same website.  Fraud!  Ban them!

And they did.




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