Google bans text link brokers (i.e. competitors) from advertising through AdWords
Type in “text links”, “buy text links” or “text link ads” in Google and you will notice that there are no longer any ads for companies that offer these services. That’s right, you can no longer bid on these or other related terms through AdWords.
While this move is being praised by some:
This is the first time that Google has actually taken a stand that makes them lose money in their war against text links and I think it is a good move. There is nothing more hypocritical than Google starting a war against a certain industry on one hand and accepting money from them on the other.
I see this argument as fundamentally flawed. This move by Google will actually help them make more money, as people interested in buying text links to drive traffic will have fewer choices, and a large number of them will end up biting the bullet and buying ads through AdWords.
These kinds of anti-competitive business practices show that while Google claims not to be evil, what they really mean is that they’ll spin the motives behind their actions so well that their “evilness” will be praised by the very targets of their ploy.
Update:
Looks like Matt Cutts has confirmed that Google is banning these advertisers in the comments on his blog.
