Need Ideas On How To Hide Ads From The Advertiser (14)
Hello guys,
I'm interested is there any possibility to hide Google Search ads from the advertiser?
I want to use branded keywords, which are not allowed by the advertiser.
Use a cloaker and and send VPN traffic to a safe page? Any other ways?
Thank you 
The best advice I could give you is .... don't. You could run the risk of non payment, whether or not you want to take that risk is entirely up to you though
This is just asking for a trouble.
Hide from the one that feeds you?
Make no sense at all.
Branded keywords are probably the hardest to hide, since it's very easy for the advertisers to simply go to google and do a search for related keywords. And then you're fucked. So another vote against doing that.
I think no need even for advertiser to go and search.
They probably have tools in place that monitor their keywords and you will be instantly rejected from offer once they find you.
Just move on to next and better idea
Another vote against the idea.
Even if you cloak to send vpn traffic to a safe page, how do you know some of their employees don't work in the target geo?
Amy
Sent from my SM-G930W8 using STM Forums mobile app
What everyone already said. I mean you can get a cloaker and let’s assume you can cloak the offer owner, they would still be able to see your domain.
If you are going to do it at least block exact matches 😂
Ask yourself, is it worth the risk of losing that income and more plus the trust.
If the advertiser finds out as they sometimes have systems in place to watch for these kinds of activities, then the query comes up. How long were they scamming us for and for how much?
Some companies are hardcore, they can come after you legally and back date what they paid plus interest for the hassle.
Some of these companies have unforgiving legal teams that will bury you for pulling moves like that.
Think carefully about this action, however if you get caught and they bury you then accept the consequences.
Enjoy
Was going to ask about this. Seems like the overwhelming opinion is not to do it. I know it's breaking TOS but can anyone point to an example where the affiliate was sued? Is it fraud?
I have been tempted by the idea since I noticed so many people doing this. Especially on a certain network I found a bunch of brands that are having it done to them. I know it is trademark poaching because they run the click through god knows what kind of redirect before hitting the homepage of the brand site.
It's tempting because it's easy money. Some of these guys have been running these ads for over a year that I've been following them. Must be $xxx,xxx+
The company I worked for had an affiliate do this to them and he walked away with over $50k. They didn't pursue legally. Just didn't pay the latest commissions.
Originally Posted by obviousadam
And whether or not a person will get caught, will depend on a lot of factors.
I haven't heard of that many affiliates actually getting sued (not over this particular issue perhaps), but it DOES happen. The more common issue/concern is non-payment. There are no doubt (as you've described) affiliates that would try to make as much profit as possible before getting caught, then leaving that burnt bridge and moving onto the next advertiser.
But I also don't doubt that there must be a lot of mental anxiety and anguish involved.
In the end it's a very personal choice. It's illegal to rob, but people still do it. Is there risk of getting caught? Definitely. But many people do get away with it, and the skilled ones even multiple times.
May not be a good analogy, but should illustrate my point.
Amy
The legality would probably come down to whether the "brand keywords" are protected by copyright or not, in many cases they aren't so I doubt there is much ground for suing. But it's still breaking the TOS, so you expose yourself to the consequences of TOS breach ... usually it would be just the payout forfeiture, but in case you create some damages with the ads (false claims for example) you might end up sued.
The main reason for advertisers to disallow this is pretty simple ... if they allow people to bid for their brand keywords, two things will happen :
1. the price for such KW will go up, so even themselves would have to pay higher prices to get those clicks, which is something they don't want of course.
2. if they let people bid on branded KWs, they will have to pay commissions on sales that are actually results of their own branding efforts.
We could argue about point 2, because unless they are really buying the branded KWs themselves and also occupy the top organic listings for such KWs, they are probably missing a few sales that the affiliates could bring in ... but there is solid logic behind this anyways.
On top of that, brands like to control the image of their companies, so it's kinda understandable they want to control this flow of traffic.
Did the advertiser provide you with a list of negative keywords?
Because if not... it will be difficult for them to prove anything. Google Ads might show your ad for example for the term "Ferrari" while you were bidding for the keyword "luxury sports car".
But:
My understanding is that advertisers prohibit branded keywords because they bid for those keywords as well and they don't want you to drive up their CPC prices. Another reason could be that they don't want you to take a free ride on their branding efforts by generating customers with brand searches that they would have gotten without you as well. For me, both reasons are completely legitimate. So I'd just stick to their rules and enjoy a long-term partnership.
At the end of the day some get away with doing it, some don't, that choice is yours depends on you.
Companies who may sue may not advertise their dirty laundry about their legal issues, unless it's maybe a super high amout or high profile company.
Some companies have spy tools watching, listening on their brand/s and utilise as evidence over time, so when they come to get you legally there is no doubt, especially if the partner has been notified previously.
Each company's legal team will act differently depending on the issues/ size of payments defrauding them as they can consider this kind of activities as fraud. No company I have come in contact with takes that lightly.
Long term it hardly works out especially if a partner is aiming to build a strong partnership.
You may want to watch the video where they discuss topics of the nature you are asking about. This seems to be a perspective from an ad network, an affiliate network and affiliate/s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG-C...&index=14&t=0s
Happy hunting
Originally Posted by cosmik
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