4 ms·

It wouldn't be unheard of a small business being virtually sentenced to death because the opaque byzantine maze of unwritten rules got triggered by some keyword

by m-p-3 5y ago

It wouldn't be unheard of a small business being virtually sentenced to death because the opaque byzantine maze of unwritten rules got triggered by some keywords or automated systems. I prefer to give the benefit of the doubt here.

thanhhaimai 5y ago
> do not use the “get out of debt” header, because you look like a “get rich quick” scheme. It reminded me of the times when Apple nagged me about the translations in my app that was never supposed to target an english-speaking audience. Opinions are my own. Tbh, any ads with the phrase "get out of debt" sounds very shady to me. I wouldn't give it the benefits of doubt personally. > Microsoft never answered at all. After two weeks of silence I reached out to them myself, and the agent tried to be nice, but the phrase “I understand your feelings, but, I’m afraid you’re banned for life and this cannot be changed” just broke me. If two companies with 100% different spam & abuse systems detected something wrong with this ads, I have the feeling we're not hearing the full story here. Microsoft even went to the extreme of "ban-for-life".
- fighterpilot 5y ago
  They didn't use the phrase "get out of debt".
- robertlagrant 5y ago
  Or they exchange info. The article even says that MS banned them before they even knew what the business was.
  - dkzlv 5y ago
    Author's here. Yes, that is true and was the big red flag for me. I believe it would be in their best interest to exchange the data on potential fraudsters, because it would make their life simpler.
- Bjartr 5y ago
  > If two companies with 100% different spam & abuse systems detected something wrong with this ads Do we know this for sure, or are we assuming they only use in-house resources to determine "suspiciousness"? Could they both be contracting out to the same third-party for some additional trustworthiness signal?
asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago
Isn't the benefit of the doubt usually something we extend to the accused, not the accuser? :) But for what it's worth I went to Google's financial services advertising page and quickly identified at least a few items that might be the cause of an issue. It seems likely that some of these items, like providing a physical address, would also be required by Microsoft. It's also worth noting that the service seems to be offered from Russia and I know that many countries are currently sanctioning parts of the Russian economy to some degree or another, which seems possibly relevant.
- dkzlv 5y ago
  Thanks for the support. It's hard to defend against all the people that keep screaming to my face that I'm the scam here. > Google's financial services advertising page Can you give me the link? > It's also worth noting that the service seems to be offered from Russia That is true. But Google is available in Russia and allows businesses to buy ads without any limits. I know a Russian service called raindrop.io (bookmark sync app) that buys ads in Google and runs a worldwide service, and they get no bans.
  - dogma1138 5y ago
    Here you go https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/2464998?hl=en-GB https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/2464998?hl=en-GB Also if you intend to advertise in countries with stricter requirements e.g. the UK or the EU there are additional obligations you need to meet such as business verification: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9703665#901 https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9703665#901
    - dkzlv 5y ago
      Oh, yeah, thanks, but those should not be applied to us. Probably. > For the purposes of this policy, we consider financial products and services to be those related to the management or investment of money and cryptocurrencies, including personalised advice We don't do anything of this kind. We're basically an excel spreadsheet with your expenses, no "money" actually involved here.

by m-p-3 5y ago

thanhhaimai 5y ago

> do not use the “get out of debt” header, because you look like a “get rich quick” scheme. It reminded me of the times when Apple nagged me about the translations in my app that was never supposed to target an english-speaking audience. Opinions are my own. Tbh, any ads with the phrase "get out of debt" sounds very shady to me. I wouldn't give it the benefits of doubt personally. > Microsoft never answered at all. After two weeks of silence I reached out to them myself, and the agent tried to be nice, but the phrase “I understand your feelings, but, I’m afraid you’re banned for life and this cannot be changed” just broke me. If two companies with 100% different spam & abuse systems detected something wrong with this ads, I have the feeling we're not hearing the full story here. Microsoft even went to the extreme of "ban-for-life".

fighterpilot 5y ago
They didn't use the phrase "get out of debt".
robertlagrant 5y ago
Or they exchange info. The article even says that MS banned them before they even knew what the business was.
- dkzlv 5y ago
  Author's here. Yes, that is true and was the big red flag for me. I believe it would be in their best interest to exchange the data on potential fraudsters, because it would make their life simpler.
Bjartr 5y ago
> If two companies with 100% different spam & abuse systems detected something wrong with this ads Do we know this for sure, or are we assuming they only use in-house resources to determine "suspiciousness"? Could they both be contracting out to the same third-party for some additional trustworthiness signal?

asdfasgasdgasdg 5y ago

Isn't the benefit of the doubt usually something we extend to the accused, not the accuser? :) But for what it's worth I went to Google's financial services advertising page and quickly identified at least a few items that might be the cause of an issue. It seems likely that some of these items, like providing a physical address, would also be required by Microsoft. It's also worth noting that the service seems to be offered from Russia and I know that many countries are currently sanctioning parts of the Russian economy to some degree or another, which seems possibly relevant.

dkzlv 5y ago
Thanks for the support. It's hard to defend against all the people that keep screaming to my face that I'm the scam here. > Google's financial services advertising page Can you give me the link? > It's also worth noting that the service seems to be offered from Russia That is true. But Google is available in Russia and allows businesses to buy ads without any limits. I know a Russian service called raindrop.io (bookmark sync app) that buys ads in Google and runs a worldwide service, and they get no bans.
- dogma1138 5y ago
  Here you go https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/2464998?hl=en-GB https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/2464998?hl=en-GB Also if you intend to advertise in countries with stricter requirements e.g. the UK or the EU there are additional obligations you need to meet such as business verification: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9703665#901 https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9703665#901
  - dkzlv 5y ago
    Oh, yeah, thanks, but those should not be applied to us. Probably. > For the purposes of this policy, we consider financial products and services to be those related to the management or investment of money and cryptocurrencies, including personalised advice We don't do anything of this kind. We're basically an excel spreadsheet with your expenses, no "money" actually involved here.