Smart and funny use of Google Adwords
May 23, 2008
Text ads can be smart, funny, and sometimes unintentionally hilarious when they show up in the wrong context.
David, our web designer and marketing maestro here at Pingdom was surfing the web last night and put together a list of really funny and original text ads from Google Adwords. We liked them so much that we made this blog entry for your perusal. Let yourself be inspired, or if you’re not into search engine marketing, at least amused. 
Not quite as intended
Contextual text ads showing up in the wrong context can be highly amusing. Travel plans to Hell, anyone?
More examples over at ROI Revolution.
Clashing interests
This one started as a joke but got the attention of Apple’s lawyers. They are very protective of their brand and forced the person behind it to remove this.
ASCII art
Great idea, and very suitable for a digital design agency. (It would have looked better in a mono-space font, though.)
And here is an example of completely changing a rental car company’s approach to text ads. The pay-off? A 47% increase in click-through.
The potentially bad part about using ASCII art in your text ads is that Google seems to be actively filtering and removing ads with ASCII art.
Extremely well targeted
When Google shares plummeted early in 2006, the following, very well-targeted ad showed up. Talk about grabbing an opportunity.
Trading words
When Jeff Gerstmann was fired from his job as editorial director at GameSpot, the event got a lot of media attention. PC Gamer capitalized on this, and gaming blog GameBump retaliated. Via Adwords.
We’re sure there are plenty of other excellent examples of text ads out there. If you have links to good ones, please do share them in comments.
ralphg
May 23, 2008 9:36 am
“Hell” is also German for “light,” and I think in some Scandanavian countries, as well. There is at least one town named “Hell” in Scandanavia.
Jeff McCord
May 23, 2008 9:50 am
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who has had a few questionable adsense ads on the blogsite!
Whew! Great post!
Jeff McCord
http://www.jeffmccord.org
Matt
May 23, 2008 12:07 pm
There is a town called Hell in Michigan, as well.
Ara
May 23, 2008 12:15 pm
I know for sure there is a Hell, Michigan, which (I might add) gets plenty cold every winter.
yoda47
May 23, 2008 1:50 pm
My favorite is the Google adds for Spam recipes that I get when I check my gmail spam folder.
rakudave
May 23, 2008 1:53 pm
Hell exists indeed, in Norway: 63°26′40.26°N 10°54′14.87°O
Kashif
May 23, 2008 2:13 pm
Well, that clears where the Hell is ..
Matt
May 23, 2008 3:07 pm
Great find; very funny! Ebay always has the worst Google ads. They’ll buy anything…
Keep up the good work,
-Matt
Tender-Thoughts.com
Ryan Paul
May 23, 2008 3:40 pm
For a long time, searching for “linux” on Google would display adwords ads for Solaris and Microsoft’s Get the Facts campaign. I still have a screenshot of that.
e.e.
May 23, 2008 3:42 pm
I’ve seen some amusing AdSenses, too bad I didn’t think to record them, I am glad someone did
I love the recipes for spam, I wonder if Spam counted on such great advertising.
Also, I looked up Hell on Google maps, it does indeed exist. Now I want to go and get a bumper sticker.
Rita
May 24, 2008 10:24 am
These are great. I’m going to change my adwords ad because only one person has clicked on the ad in three days. Something’s obviously wrong with mine.
Aaron Schurg
May 26, 2008 1:18 pm
Hell is in Michigan, very close to Climax.
Mohavewolfpup
May 26, 2008 2:51 pm
here’s one I found while searching for golden retriever information one day…
http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/2262/wtfid5.jpg
W. Buckley
May 26, 2008 3:56 pm
It wasn’t Google AdWords, but somewhere on my other computer I have a screenshot of a Juniper Networks ad over information related to Cisco Systems equipment. Juniper is a primary competitor of Cisco…
Thanks for the laughs!
Fishbowler
May 27, 2008 4:16 am
Cash for questions, anyone?
http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=libdemadvert2wc2.jpg
Nikhil Kardale
May 27, 2008 7:14 am
Great post! Amusing.. well some are absolutely hilarious!
Elizabeth
May 27, 2008 11:11 am
I love dynamic insertion sometimes. If you want more PPC laughs, check out http://www.ppcvillain.com
It’s a spoof site dedicated entirely to making fun of PPC.
Jeremy Nicoll
May 27, 2008 2:11 pm
That’s awesome.
R. Campbell
May 27, 2008 10:20 pm
While looking on imdb.com at the trailer for a documentary called “F*ck” (ok, the “*” is from me - you know what the title really was) about the origin and use of the word, I saw next to it an add for “Doogie Howser MD - Season 1″ . . . polar opposites, perhaps?!
moglor
May 28, 2008 9:41 am
I rode my bike to hell once. There wasn’t much to do there, so I bought an ice cream and left.
IhateDesign
May 28, 2008 9:43 am
amazing content, and article cheers!!!
Dick
May 28, 2008 10:05 am
In defense of my home state, Michigan has both Hell and Paradise. Appropriately, Hell is in lower Michigan and Paradise is in upper Michigan.
scott
May 29, 2008 1:00 pm
Don’t forget about I-75 exit 69 - Big Beaver
MJC
June 1, 2008 8:21 am
last year i tired one without words at all. It got banned by Google as a volition:
http://greyisgood.eu/text/adwords/
cooper
July 5, 2008 4:15 am
that’s a pretty funny one. the hillary clinton ad doesn’t really fit…