New Rules About Display/Destination URLs

On page 148 of AdWords For Dummies, I recommend testing other domain names by buying them and redirecting them to your main site. This no longer works.

Google has changed its rules about display URLs. Now, the display URL domain (the bit just before the .com or .net or whatever) must be the same as the actual landing page.

The following examples are all OK:

Display URL: iPodTouchAccessories.com
Destination URL: http://iPodTouchAccessories.com/noseplugs

Display URL: iPodTouchAccessories.com/noseplugs
Destination URL: http://iPodTouchAccessories.com/noseplugs-for-hairy-nostrils

Display URL: NosePlugs.iPodTouchAccessories.com
Destination URL: http://iPodTouchAccessories.com/noseplugs

Display URL: iPodTouchAccessories.com
Destination URL: http://someadtracker/go12345_google_kw=ipod-nose-plugs (that redirects to iPodTouchAccessories.com/noseplugs)

Here’s what’s not OK:

Display URL: iPodTouchTools.com
Destination URL: iPodTouchAccessories.com

For more information and some suggested workarounds, check out my blog post on the topic.