It appears that that trying to advertise your Google+ profile on Facebook may not be the best idea if you wish to continue to run ads on Facebook. Michael Lee Johnson tried to do just that, and says Facebook suspended all of his campaigns. Johnson sums it up in a message to WebProNews:
I’ve been over in Greece for the last couple of years, taking some time out due to back problems i endured in September 09, relaxing, reading, coding, debugging – the usual. – When I came back I didn’t really know anyone that wasn’t a personal friend. – Because Google has lots of tech folks and people that i wanted to network with, I’ve been trying to think of how I can maximize my follower-count… so basically I posted an ad on Facebook to people who speak English who like Google products… 20 minutes later my ad was approved… an hour after that… my ad was disabled along with my other campaigns and I’m no longer allowed to run ads? – it’s all pretty bizarre. Facebook must be running scared or something? – Facebook obviously understand that competition is irrelevant given the right strategy. – I’d be scared.
On Google+, Johnson said he received the following mesage from Facebook:
Your account has been disabled. All of your adverts have been stopped and should not be run again on the site under any circumstances. Generally, we disable an account if too many of its adverts violate our Terms of Use or Advertising guidelines. Unfortunately we cannot provide you with the specific violations that have been deemed abusive. Please review our Terms of Use and Advertising guidelines if you have any further questions.
The ad simply said:
Add Michael to Google+
If you’re lucky enough to have a Google+ account, add Michael Lee Johnson. Internet geek, app developer, technological virtuoso.
You can see it in his post.
“It’s ridiculous,” Johnson said, later adding, “I’m only banned from the advertising platform – fortunately.”
This is a very interesting move from the world’s dominant social network. That’s for sure. It also follows the company’s blocking of a friend import feature on Google+ (though people have been finding work arounds). It’s clear that Facebook really doesn’t like the idea of Facebook users using Google+, and it does look like they’re a little worried.
Google+ is still in invitation-only status, and Google CEO Larry Page announced in the company’s earnings call on Thursday that it had already surpassed 10 million users. I doubt that growth has slowed much since then.