Is Google a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?

Is Google a wolf in sheep's clothing? That might seem like an absurd question, particularly coming from a Google Advertising Professional and GOOG shareholder. I am, in essence, an advocate for Google but at times find them an adversary when looking out for the interests of my clients. This recent issue of Google claiming to be fighting domain tasting while making tidy profits from the practice is what prompted me to ask this question. This is an important issue for PPC advertisers and it is unclear, at this point, if Google is a friend or foe in the matter. First, some domain definitions:

Domain tasting should not be confused with domain kiting, which is the process of deleting a domain name during the five-day grace period and immediately re-registering it for another five-day period. This process is repeated any number of times with the end result of having the domain registered without ever actually paying for it.

Next, some conflicting reports from reliable sources:

• Google Duped Us
• Google And ICANN Did Not Kill Domain Tasting; Domain Kiting and NSI Front Running DOA
• Confirmed: Google Domain Park To Cease Ads On Domain Kiting Sites
• New Policy Aims to Curb Web Site Name Abuse

It all comes back to this issue of distribution fraud. It doesn't reflect well on Google. If this talk about getting ahead of domain kiting and/or domain tasting is simply a PR move by Google, prompted by a recent ICANN meeting outcome, that's pathetic. If they really want to do the right thing, they should add some transparency to their advertising system. Better yet, they should simply isolate this traffic so advertisers can effectively manage the clicks they're buying:



I think parked domain advertising can be very effective. However, I don't want it commingled with search and contextual ads. Just as I like to keep search advertising separate from contextual advertising, I'd like to be able to manage domain advertising in discrete campaigns in AdWords. Doesn't that just make sense?

Tags (byo w/ TagBuildr): google, domain tasting, domain kiting, adwords, adsense for domains, goog, distribution fraud