Controversial new program for AdWords

Lately, I’m sure many of you have been hearing a lot about Google’s new “Automatic Matching” program.

This is a new program being tested by Google, where they help advertisers utilize more of their budget, by automatically bid on keywords that the advertiser may not have been targeting.

Some claim that this service will help novice advertisers get more value from their ad budget by getting more exposure. But I can also understand why some people would be upset, and see this as an unethical cash-grab on the part of Google.

According to Search Engine Land, this is what Google had to say:

As part of our ongoing commitment to provide advertisers with innovative ways to reach users online, Google is currently testing a feature known as ‘Automatic Matching.’ This feature is currently in a limited beta with a small number of advertisers. We have no news to announce at this time regarding developments in our AdWords product offering.

As you can imagine, I don’t quite agree with this new program. If I’ve spent a lot of time and effort in creating and optimizing my program, I don’t want anyone else coming in and overriding my decisions.