Google bans essay writing ads

[Generalissimo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6680457.stm

[Chris]

Hmm... that could hurt my revenue. We'll see. OR it could help... maybe they'll start using TF & Burst again instead of Google. Always paid more that way anyways.

I wonder if its UK only. The article doesn't say.

[rpanella]

Interesting. If your Adsense revenue is affected by this, you could try running some of the offers on a CPA basis.
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[Mike]

That's surprising, I didn't think Google would go that far.

As for CPA offers, I'm not sure if they'll work. Students aren't flush with money and won't be prepared to spend a lot on essay sites etc.

[Chris]

Nevertheless, CPA offers can and do work, the issue is moreso finding a reliable program. Most essay sites are small time and untrustworthy. Its hard to find a reliable program. With ones I use currently I'm doing around $1000 a month, purely from way-below-the-scroll text links.

[Generalissimo]

Chris could be badly hit by this - Although he could also see an opportunity:

Now they can't advertise on google, essay sites may be looking for a new way to advertise. A website for bringing them together with students could work very well.

[MaxS]

I honestly think they're overstepping their boundaries. They're not the police of the Internet.

[KLB]

MaxS, Google is a business and they have every right to make ethical decisions about how they conduct their business and the types of services they will be willing to accept ads for. If they think essay sites are unethical because they help facilitate cheating and thus decide they don't want to accept paid ads for these types of sites, that is their business.

[Mike]

I don't think he's saying that Google shouldn't do this and don't have the right KLB. I think he's saying that they don't have to do it and it's up to other organisations on how to police it. That's how I interpreted it, anyways :)

[KLB]

IMHO, Google is the best spot to police it if they want to do so voluntarily. The primary purpose students use these sites is to cheat. So by accepting money to promote said sites, Google is condoning cheating. By refusing said ads Google is saying they will no longer profit from students desire to commit academic fraud.

[BGray]

I honestly think they're overstepping their boundaries. They're not the police of the Internet.

I agree to a point. Although they have the right to do whatever the want basically, where does this stop?
I understand TM issues but this is totally different.

[Cutter]

The problem is Google may be opening themselves up to more liability by selectively removing certain advertisers beyond basic legal issues. Certainly there are lots of very questionable companies advertising through Adwords.

As Generalissimo says, these existing sites will still need to buy advertising. I would make a list of the top 10 or so essay site domains and contact them directly (if you still can.) You may actually see an increase of revenue since Google's big 40-60% cut will be gone. I believe there is something in the Adsense TOS about going directly to the advertisers but considering that they have been kicked out of Adsense that doesn't matter anymore.

[paul]

It seems terribly simplistic to think such a change will do anything to stop the problem. I imagine it will be about as effective as prohibition :)

[MaxS]

It seems terribly simplistic to think such a change will do anything to stop the problem. I imagine it will be about as effective as prohibition :)
That's true. Regardless, I highly doubt that's Google's motive. They want to make sure they're not contributing to the problem. It's that simple.

[KLB]

MaxS, I think you are spot on with your analysis that Google simply doesn't want to be contributing to the problem of cheating.