Google Ads has indefinitely blocked my ad campaigns. I have a theory why
3 by unexaminedlife | 2 comments on Hacker News.
I've created an ad campaign that is intended to direct viewers to a blog I started about a technology consultancy I am considering starting in the Cincinnati area. https://ift.tt/3hnFfxN My mistake may have been to start writing about some goals I have with the company. Namely standing up for progressive movements such as LGBTQ and BLM. The ad was running fine, with a click rate of a little less than 1%. Then the other day I saw a banner across the top of the Google Ads campaign page that said the campaign was being blocked due to a "Subverting Systems policy". I clicked the "Contact Us" link, which required me to provide contact details (including address). After I provided that information I received an email that stated that they're currently overwhelmed and that due to the COVID pandemic there's no guarantee they'll be able to respond in a timely manner. I've been involved in technology for about 20 years professionally, so I can absolutely guarantee there is nothing fishy going on from the technical side of the equation. Unless I'm not allowed to direct an ad to my blog, but who needs personally identifiable information to rectify something like that? In the meantime it dawned on me that I really don't know the "checks and balances" that Google has in place to ensure customer privacy and/or safety. I don't know how "freely available" information within their systems is to the Google Ads team, and since they definitely appear they're going to be taking their time to actually address the issue my fear really at this point is that one day they'll just drop the case once my contact info has been distributed to whoever is trying to obtain it. CONTINUED IN COMMENTS...