The Featured Homepage Discussion today on WebmasterWorld is about Google notifying advertisers that it will no longer run ads for Ephedra or Ephedrine products.
Google sent me an e-mail today addressing me as an AdWords Advertiser, though they sent it to the e-mail account that I use for managing AdSense, for whatever that’s worth.
The note informed me that “in the coming weeks” Google will no longer accept AdWords ads promoting the sale of ephedra or “ephedrine-based” products. I was notified because Google’s system identified my account as being one that will potentially be affected by the change.
It actually surprises me that it took this long for Google to make the move. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
Barry Schwartz posts on SERoundtable that Google will be banning Ephedra & Ephedrine related keywords, which leads to a bit of confusion that hopefully Google can clear up. Will the ban be on keywords or products?
For example, if you search on Google for Ephedra, you’ll see that not all of the ads are for Ephedra products, some are for Ephedra alternatives and other appetite suppresants, such as Hoodia or diet plans, which are still relevant to the popular keyword (although Ephedra was banned in the US by the FDA in 2004).
