The amount of scams this year has been growing so fast that Google has taken serious action. In an attempt to thwart the worsening emails, websites and advertisements that claim you can make big money from home with little effort using Google products and services, Google began banning advertisers this month. The messaging that the scams use read like they are written by a regular person who stumbled across an amazing monetary opportunity and referencing Google services as the tools they used.
Google is not affiliated with any of these scams and are now actively detecting the violators. They are also offering ways for you to keep an eye out as well. If you have been ripped off or suspect a scam, report it here. If you have been contacted by someone to place a suspicious link on your site for money, report it to Google using this paid link report form.
It is also important within the SEM and SEO communities to keep an eye for websites or other companies running blackhat tactics and strategies. If someone leaps up through the rankings within a matter of a week, but lacks any substantial SEO/SEM campaign to justify it, there most likely is a blackhat behind it. Keep yourself and your business safe online from the growing amount of scams and blackhat techniques.
