[...] a month ago I wrote about how the domain channel at Google was converting well for me, even though a number of advertisers would tell you [...]

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Before Google implemented that, you could block at the AFD partner level but not at the domain level (for most parked domains). For example, if I saw some bad traffic from searchportal.information.com, adding that domain to the site exclusion list wouldn’t block the traffic. However, adding domainsponsor.com to the exclusion list would block. Note what Google said in this thread:

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Here’s a brief excerpt: “Currently, it is possible to exclude parked domain sites using the site exclusion tool. However, depending on the domain, the exclusion method will differ. While most parked domains can be excluded by adding the specific domain into the site exclusion tool, there is a fraction of domains in our network that involve a process of excluding the domains at the partner level, rather than the specific domain level, resulting in the exclusion of all domains belonging to that partner due to technical details of the implementation.”

Keep in mind that that was before they implemented the AFD block when upgrading the site exclusion tool to a site *and* category exclusion tool. Very confusing for advertisers since the rules are different for search network vs content network vs the types of parked domains that run across both of those networks.

I think it was a hack by Google to implement AFD across both AdWords networks and now it’s a hack to block the traffic. Really bad design. I’d expect better from a company like Google that espouses simplicity. Anyway, I hope that cleared things up, a bit.

In the meantime, it’s simply safer for advertisers to simply opt out of the parked domains. For advertisers bidding high on some competitive keywords on the search network, the risk of click fraud from parked domains is simply too high. The only choice is to turn it off.

BTW, I’ve argued that, at least in theory, domain advertising could be more effective than search advertising:

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IOW, I recognize the value for advertisers in the potential of domain advertising. I also see the impact on my clients of the click fraud that originates from parked domains and the lack of control advertisers have over their ads on parked domains (via either Google AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing).

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[...] We have anecdotal evidence that parked domain names convert for advertisers. Efficient Frontier released a case study, and owners of large portfolios have run their own campaigns with success. I’ve even had great conversions on Dark Blue Sea’s ROAR network, which I understand is delivered via pop-ups on parked domains. More [...]