Affiliate marketing Affiliate Scams – Google Ad Hijacking
There is a misconception among some people that affiliate marketing is illegal. Honest affiliate activities, however, are fully legal. At the same time, it is important to remember that no industry is free from fraudsters. This also applies to affiliation. Unpleasant situations can befall both affiliates and advertisers. So it’s a good idea to educate yourself about the most popular scams and how to protect yourself from them. If you want to run effective affiliate campaigns, you can use the services of Onaffiliate – it is a recommended affiliate agency. One of the most common scams is Google Ad Hijacking.
Ads & Affiliation
The Google Ads tool can help you increase your affiliate program profits, for example, if you use it to create ads that appear on Google websites and search engines. Targeting a specific audience allows you to reach people who are most interested in the products or services offered by your affiliate program. In addition, thanks to Google Ads, you can monitor the effectiveness of your ads and adapt them to the needs of your audience. This, in turn, translates into increased chances of acquiring new partners of the affiliate program and generating more profits. In order to optimize Google Ads campaigns with the use of affiliate links, you need to carry out several activities, m.in. define the goal of the campaign and set the budget, choose the right keywords and target groups, create attractive advertising and visual text. Google Ads Affiliate Links are an effective way to increase website traffic and make money. This is why scammers are also interested in it. Modification of Google ads involves launching a campaign for identical key phrases used by a famous brand for promotion. Then the traffic goes to the cloned website. However, those who choose to conduct marketing activities honestly will be helped by the Onaffiliate agency.
Google Ad Hijacking, or…
Cybercriminals and fraudsters have taken a liking to the Google search engine because it is used by the largest number of users. An ad hijacking attack involves buying an ad on a search engine, such as Google, about the search for a given word. As a result, a fake page is displayed in the first place of the search results. Websites with domain names confusingly similar to the original ones often do not arouse suspicion and give a good chance of clicking on a fake advertisement. In the case of cybercriminals, the goal of such attacks is to trick users into downloading malicious programs or unwanted applications. The fake homepage often contains a link to download a malware file in .exe or .zip format. Scams like Google Ad Hijacking also take place in affiliation. In this case, the goal is slightly different than in the case of cybercriminal attacks. When doing affiliate marketing , you need to be vigilant and enlist the help of trusted professionals like those at Onaffiliate Agency.
Google Ad Hijacking in Affiliation
When a campaign is launched for key phrases identical to those used by a well-known brand, traffic is directed to the cloned website. Once a customer goes through the entire process, from clicking on an ad to choosing a product, there is a good chance that they will want to buy it. Then they will be redirected to a website with an affiliate link, for which the affiliate will get an illegally obtained commission. Such a scam can be difficult to spot. Affiliates will do everything they can to make your domain look as authentic as possible, so changes will be virtually invisible in the Google Ads interface. This action is very unethical, as it simply involves stealing money from the advertiser. It is also important for indicators, e.g. ROI. Additionally, the affiliate is acting against the brand in this situation, instead of staying on the same side. The message of their advertisement may not be the same as the one actually used by the brand, which deprives them of some control. Attacks increase costs associated mainly with Cost-Per-Click, making campaigns simply more costly for brands. Finally, these types of scams reflect negatively on the reputation of affiliate marketing as a whole. Just when they hear about such activities, people who are not associated with this industry may see it as illegal. Therefore, it is worth focusing on operating in a legal way, e.g. by creating affiliate campaigns, with the help of the Onaffiliate agency.
Fighting Google and affiliates
Of course, the most important thing in any case is to remain vigilant. Advertisers should take their own time to monitor for suspicious activity and check the URL for typos or strange characters. Often, a fake domain can be distinguished from a real one only by, for example, an additional dot above the letter (or vice versa – by its absence). You should also choose to work only with trusted affiliate programs and create a clear policy against affiliate fraud. There are professional ad hijacking monitoring tools that check URLs and affiliate links in detail. Therefore, it is best to combine keeping your finger on the pulse with solutions offered by modern technologies. Google strives to combat ad hijacking fraud by updating and educating its ad policies. In addition, new security measures are to be introduced in Google Chrome, the purpose of which will be to thwart attempts to take control of a computer or check the origin of connections from a website before allowing it to access devices on the network. Affiliates and advertisers taking their first steps in marketing will be helped by a good affiliate agency.
All affiliate scams should be stamped out. These are unfair practices that can lead to consequences for both affiliates and advertisers. Not only is it important to know the most common types of fraud, but also how to detect and protect against them.
