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Competitor nearly cloning their site and running the same Google Ad for all 3-4 of them. Against the rules?
Posted by on April 7, 2021 at 9:52 pmIt’s not like I can prove it, anyways. Each site uses slightly different branding, different phone number and contact details. But I’m sure it’s all run under the same people residing in the Middle East.
Look at my screenshot. They run ads simultaneously for all their sites to take over the top of Google. Advertising $200 to $300 websites. All sites are arranged the same way, same content order, very similar content, and all with a chat operator that greet you the same and ask you the same questions in the same order, using fake Western names.
[https://imgur.com/a/Z5rrLeT](https://imgur.com/a/Z5rrLeT)
Is this against the rules? It seems to be doing well for them, since they’re taking over the 4 ad spots for cities all over Canada and I’m sure in the US as well. And all their portfolio work that they advertise as their own is not their own. If you chat with them in the ZenChat they’ll send you work examples that are not their own, and they advertise on their website that they work with brands like Ford. Very scummy practices.
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1 Reply
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If each business is registered separately (i.e. unique LLC or corps) it’s not against Google’s rules. And there is nothing to say somebody can’t own 5 businesses doing the same thing.
Otherwise, if it’s the same company, it is called double serving and isn’t allowed. Google calls it unfair advantage. You can see the rule here and submit a complaint:
[https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6020954?hl=en](https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6020954?hl=en)
Sometimes Google will take action to suspend the offending ad accounts but often they turn a blind eye.
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