explain the Adwords link

[Bobby_S]

hi all!

can someone explain why the link that will refer you when clicking an add is that cryptic?!

ex. when I type 'casino' in google.com, the second result is something like this:

http:// www.google.com/pagead/iclk?adurl=http:// affiliates.islandpoker.com/SmartLink.asp%3Faffid%3D1733&sa=l&ai=BUiB853K4QfPPEa-KiwG4hfSfCrH8twjrv7ubAdbQxwWAtRgQAhgCKAI4AECIEEidOaAB6cu-_gPIAQE&num=2

The first part http://www.google.com/pagead/iclk?adurl= is quite obvious, but then ...
Why isn't it something like http://affiliates.islandpoker.com/SmartLink.asp?ref=google&campaign=123 ??

Or is it google that encrypts the link?

[philaweb]

An advertisement is not a search result but ad placement by Google.
The search results are left aligned, the ads are right aligned on the page.

[Bobby_S]

Originally posted by philaweb
An advertisement is not a search result but ad placement by Google.
The search results are left aligned, the ads are right aligned on the page.

Duh! I'm no cow lol

Please read the question mate

[philaweb]

Originally posted by Bobby_S
Duh! I'm no cow lol

Please read the question mate

Ooops...

[russell]

It's for tracking purposes. They store information in the querystring to track clicks, and so does the target url (to track where you came from).

Google gets paid for clicks. IslandPoker.com pays for 'em. They are both interested in proper accounting.

[Bobby_S]

Indeed, but why are the values that cryptic? Makes no sense to me. Is there a reason to this?