Since mid-February we have been reporting that Google to Lay Down the Law on AdWords Display URL Policy. We have issued reminder after reminder, heck, even Google posted reminders all over the place – sometimes in big red backgrounds:

But it appears, from what I am hearing in the forums and from back channels, that Google has not yet enforced this rule. Advertisers are reportedly still getting away with having their display URLs not match their destination URLs. What happened to the strict enforcement of this rule?

Here are some reports from Sphinn and WebmasterWorld. What seriously shows a sign that nothing is happening are the few complaints in the forums. Actually, I haven’t seen anyone impacted or complaining about being hit by this rule. I have seen people complain that this rule is not being enforced.

From the Sphinn thread, Bill Hartzer said:

ReachLocal has a huge client base, so if true – and I believe it is true – then what is going on?

From the WebmasterWorld thread:

Ouch!

Google, are you going to enforce the display URL rule or not?

Forum discussion at Sphinn and WebmasterWorld.