Controversy Surrounds Google Testing Targeted Ad Placements, Dubbed 'Notifications'

Google began testing targeted ad placement in AdWords accounts to those spending more than $500,000 or $6 million annually for products other than AdWords tools.

The first ads began to appear for one marketer in late December, after spending $1 million in paid-search ads on behalf of a client. Calling it a notification, rather than product ad, a Google spokesperson said the company communicates with its AdWords clients through in-product notices. "We have recently informed them, via an in-AdWords notice, of the newly rebuilt DoubleClick Search, which is helping many clients run their search campaigns on Google and elsewhere, even more effectively." Some marketers don't see it that way. The text -- whether ad or notification -- running at the top of the page provides information about a 90-day free trial for DoubleClick Search V3, aimed at advertisers that meet the minimum ad-spend requirement. Marketers, calling it an "unfair playing ground," said the DoubleClick ad only showed up in accounts with "sizable spending." It appears that Google uses what it knows about a company to promote the product with targeted ads, which is not an unusual practice for any company. It's the first time that marketers have begun to see cross-promotional notifications or ads for other Google tools in the AdWords user interface. Some marketers that are familiar with the text ads seem a bit uneasy about being served the notices because it appears that account information and spend levels trigger the ads.