Hi this is Daren from Netbiz and I’m actually calling on behalf of Google

November 7th, 2008 by Chris

There is this company called “Netbiz” that has been sending me phone spam more or less every day, despite me being verbally abusive to them on the phone when they call.

They say they’re calling “from Google” or “on behalf of Google” and that they have started a new feature for whatever topic your site covers. Then they go into a sales pitch about getting you to the top page of Google with this program.

This, is obviously, misleading. Netbiz works with Google the same way hundreds of thousands of businesses work with Google, through their Google Adwords program. To get to the top of Google all you need to do is signup at Google Adwords and place an advertisement. It is easy, you do not need some company to do it for you. This type of predatory sales pitch is fairly common and Google severely frowns on the companies doing it. It may even be fraud the way they say they’re calling on behalf of Google, that is merely my opinion though.

Also, please note, these results are NOT actually organic search results, these are ads. The way to get to the top of the organic search results is through organic SEO, which you can read more about in my seo guide.

After getting yet another call from these people I Googled them and didn’t find any other warnings so I thought I’d make one, to let the less-than-Google-savvy small business owners out there know that they do not need a company to place Adwords ads for them, they can do it themselves.

No related posts.

Posted in: Search Engine Optimization » by: Chris

46 Responses to “Hi this is Daren from Netbiz and I’m actually calling on behalf of Google”

Sonja Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 5:39 am
They’ve been phone-spamming and e-mail spamming some of my clients, as well, and I blogged about it a few days ago.

Their approach does seem awfully misleading, and even if you understand that they’re simply reselling AdWords PPC ads, their approach to PPC advertising seems something less than ideal.
John Says:
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:07 am
Clarification: Is NETBIZ a scam or that good?

Why have a website if your customers can’t find it? If you have a business website, and want it to be a lead generator, you know you need to be on the first page of Google and/or YAHOO! for the keywords people type in when searching for your product or service. Otherwise, your competitors will get this business uncontested.

If your website already shows up organically/naturally on a search engine’s first page, now is the time to maximize your online exposure. Having two front page SERP (Search Engine Results Page) positions, (i.e. one organic and one Sponsored Links/Pay-Per-Click) ad can drive your company’s credibility through the roof.

Sure, you can sign up for a Google Adwords account and experiment with a Pay-Per-Click campaign on your own. However, do you really want to, or can even afford to: spend hours on research and then take chances with wrong conclusions; risk uncertain, volatile costs; be swindled by “Click Fraud,” spend many stressful hours throughout the day bidding and monitoring your ad positions. You’ll have to if you want to always stay on the first SERP in order to brand your company’s name, and be available for leads.

NetBiz.com, a Google Adwords Qualified Company, is “Making the Internet Easy.” The NetBiz Search Engine Placement (SEP) Program guarantees your website this first page position with Google and/or YAHOO!. NetBiz SEP is limited to one company per search phrase on a first come – first served basis. Your website will be placed in the Sponsored Links section (located at the top and/or right side of the SERP) on a month-to-month basis with no contract required. If necessary, NetBiz will bump one of your competitors off the first page in order to place your guaranteed ad there. You will pay a low, fixed, monthly fee (as low as $50.00/month depending on traffic and competition) and not have to worry about PPC (Pay-Per-Click) charges.

Why not let the knowledgeable advisory staff at NetBiz research “where the fish are really biting” and custom tailor a package that will fit your company’s marketing and budgetary needs. Based on our years of exceptional internet marketing success we will design ads for you that will have high Google SERP relevance and also grab your prospect’s attention. Then, the NetBiz Customer Service Team will efficiently monitor and bid your account to always keep you on Google’s and/or YAHOO’s first page. Guaranteed!

Utilizing Netbiz Search Engine Placement is a cost effective internet marketing strategy because it frees up your time so that you can capitalize on your core business competency. Our SEO competitors are jealous of the huge success, over 10,000 clients worldwide, and great BBB record that NetBiz has achieved over the last six years.

Why wait? Prospects are looking for your products and services on the internet today! Call us toll-free at 1-800-847-2226. NetBiz will help you to get the highest return on your advertising investment and put your site ahead of your customers and your competition.
Chris Says:
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:22 am
If you want to be seen as legitimate you have to stop representing yourself when you cold call people.

1. You are not calling on behalf on Google, from Google, or through a partnership or a special program with Google.

2.You’re offering to arrange advertising, not organic search engine placement.

3. You’re not providing a service to get to the top of the search results, you’re providing a service to advertise on search result pages.

I’ve found that companies with a quality service do not need to misrepresent it to gain customers, and a company that feels the need to use misrepresentation probably doesn’t offer a quality service.

I urge you to reform your telemarketing practices.
Russ Says:
December 30th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I received one of these unsolicited spam emails from Netbiz (www.netbiz.com) today… but it was from Stephanie (I guess Daren got fired due to his honesty).
Of course, as a looooong time web designer and SEO guy, I went straight to Google and found this page. (Now I don’t have to create one, thx Chris!)

Here’s whats funny about Netbiz … they must have found my site sitting at the #2 thru #6 position in Google (my ranking depends on the weather). Has been on the first page for years. So what does the Netbiz spam email say to possibly combat that scenario?
And I quote…
“For instance, anytime someone anywhere in over a hundred mile radius of Dallas does a search for “web page design”, your website would be on the first page of Google.com.”

A hundred mile radius? Hmmmmmmm… never heard that claim before.

All they are doing is reselling Google adwords as Chris stated above. Do your adwords yourself, Google makes it so simple its stupid… and you will have more money for more adwords!

If Netbiz was a truly reputable company… they wouldn’t be sending you a 4-page unsolicited spam to your email now would they.

While not illegal, per se, in my humble opinion they are taking advantage of those people who don’t know any better.
Shh! Its a Secret! Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 10:41 am
First of all, we do not just send out emails to people, there is no auto generator for phone numbers or emails. We ONLY send emails to people who we speak to that ask for them. If the employee is new, of course they are going to make some mistakes, and that “blind” email (if it really WAS blind) very well could have been a mistake.

As for the “hundred mile radus” <– (which is incorrect) they were speaking about a regional search. Meaning, it’s targeted to your local area with boundaries set by Google.

To the last post,

Just because your website is between #2-6 on the first page of ONE or SEVERAL searches, doesn’t mean you’re there on EVERY SINGLE SEARCH.

** We HAVE changed our representation to say something BESIDES “on behalf of Google”

** Obviously, we do not offer organic placement. We never have, and never will say it.

** We’re providing a service which allows you to not have to spend time managing your own adwords account. We make sure your ad STAYS on the first page of Google. NO MATTER WHAT. EVEN if your “budget” is reached, you’ll still be there, and we take that loss. We get your ad to the first page, we do not guarantee any specific position.

*BTW* We are qualified by Google to do this. They obviously do not frown upon us, as we bring millions of dollars of consistent business to them every year. You can go to the website netbiz.com and you’ll see the logo Google created for us to show that we are a Qualified professional. (Keep in mind, if we screw that up, they can EASILY revoke that title.)

We are not trying to scam people, we are also a faith based company. And to absolutely NO offense to some people (most people) there really are just some people who JUST DON’T GET IT.

Oh, and we’re not “phone spamming.” We literally go through websites individually that ARE NOT on the first page of the search we performed, and dial the phone number into our phone.
Russ Says:
December 31st, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Ok, let me denounce some of your comments as they are untrue or you have been misinformed of what your personnel are doing.

You contacted me FIRST, unsolicited through my email. You never called me. I can prove that with my phone records! I have NEVER heard of your company until I received the spam mail.

1st) You said: “We ONLY send emails to people who we speak to that ask for them. If the employee is new, of course they are going to make some mistakes, and that “blind” email (if it really WAS blind) very well could have been a mistake.”
— How could that be if you never called FIRST… as you imply… Which you didn’t… and I can prove that through phone records. So, your statement IS incorrect.

2nd) You wrote: As for the “hundred mile radus” <– (which is incorrect) they were speaking about a regional search. Meaning, it’s targeted to your local area with boundaries set by Google.” — — – Heres the original paragraph from your email… and don’t imply that I changed it because that would be an outright lie.
“I have done some research on what searches are being made that are likely to turn into qualified leads for conversion. For instance, any time
someone anywhere in over a hundred mile radius of Dallas does a search for “web page design”, your website would be on the first page of Google.com.
This is a $150 a month investment.”
— SO, that puts your comment either an outright lie or you are, again, misinformed of your company’s/employee’s actions.

3rd) The email I received stated: “Because we have made Google a lot of money, we are the preferred partner and are given priority placements for flat rate positioning (instead of Pay-Per-Click).”
— You are “THE” preferred partner? You must mean “A” preferred partner. Though I will admit I haven’t researched to see which of Googles adwords resellers is “THE” preferred partner. I doubt they have “A” preferred partner but I don’t know. So, I will give you that one even though I disagree with that.

4th) You Wrote:
“** We HAVE changed our representation to say something BESIDES “on behalf of Google”
** Obviously, we do not offer organic placement. We never have, and never will say it.”
— I didn’t comment on that portion so I won’t respond to it. But I will agree with you that the email I received did NOT say either of those things.

5th)You Wrote:
“** We’re providing a service which allows you to not have to spend time managing your own adwords account. We make sure your ad STAYS on the first page of Google. NO MATTER WHAT. EVEN if your “budget” is reached, you’ll still be there, and we take that loss. We get your ad to the first page, we do not guarantee any specific position.

*BTW* We are qualified by Google to do this. They obviously do not frown upon us, as we bring millions of dollars of consistent business to them every year. You can go to the website netbiz.com and you’ll see the logo Google created for us to show that we are a Qualified professional. (Keep in mind, if we screw that up, they can EASILY revoke that title.)”
– I have NO conflict with what your company does… many other companies do the same thing… I can go take the Google exam and spend $1000 every 90 days and be a adwords reseller too. I just have a problem with the way your company’s advertising techniques since you sent me an unsolicited email. (And NO, you never called first meaning you used my email address off the website and did not call my phone number first.)

6th) You wrote: “We are not trying to scam people, we are also a faith based company. And to absolutely NO offense to some people (most people) there really are just some people who JUST DON’T GET IT.”
– I never said you were trying to “scam” people so don’t imply I did. As for Netbiz.com being a “Faith-Based company”… Give me a break, sigh.

And as for your comment “there really are just some people who JUST DON’T GET IT.”
I WISH I didn’t get it… didn’t get your Unsolicited SPAM that is!

To wrap this up… Im on the National Do Not Call List and my States Do Not Call list. Apparently, for some reason, maybe because you pull phone numbers and email manually from websites, you do not abide by these rules. I’m sure theres a loophole somewhere.

Lastly, Maybe, since you think “Some People Just Don’t Get It” you should read this: http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/spam_and_law.htm

Again, I have no problem with your business dealings, just your advertising techniques that cost MY business time and money!

If need be, I can post the entire, unedited, email I received here… though I doubt you would want me to do that.

Have a great day!
Jennifer Says:
January 30th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Russ,
I too have been on the receiving end of an onslaught of phone calls from these people. And yes, I have heard the “we are a christian based company” line, too. I have asked them repeatedly to stop calling me and yet I have lost count of the times I have picked up my phone only to hear one of several scripts which include the lines “we are an affiliate of google” and “we are their largest search engine placement (?) affiliate”. My web guy filled me in on this band of no goodniks. He says that if you call anyone at google you can be sure they will not have heard of netbiz. Also, what they claim to do anyone can do and do it more effectively and for alot less money.
Beware of their dubious claims for this is a call at all costs and get their credit card number outfit. It’s creepy to use religion as a selling point in my opinion anyway, and all too often this means you are dealing with an unscrupulous and unethical group. I doubt anything claimed by netbiz.com. Spread the word and keep fighting the good fight Russ!!!!
Matt Leech Says:
February 1st, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Hey guys I am right along side of you on this one. Currently I am trying to get back the money they charged my companies credit card without my permission. I had agreed to try them for one month to see if my cpc burden would lessen. At the end of the month they were suppose to call me with a report that showed the results of the campaign. I even emailed and ask my sales rep. for it. Two days after they charged my card again (without permission this time) my sales rep Doty called me to tell me I can not have a copy of the report because it had their costs on it. Well, needless to say we went round and round until I said I’m not using them anymore if I can’t see the performance report. That’s when I found out they charged my card. The refused to refund, sent me an email with what they said the report said, but was not the report only a typed email. Then I find that two of the keywords were misspelled. What a nightmare, everyone should know this before they do netbiz with them. My rep even went as far as to offer to pray with me before I signed up. I guess to prove that God was going to make it happen. I am heading to the BBB on Monday and writing a RipOff report. If anyone would like to contact me you can reach me through my site - crawlspaceinfo.com.
Dre Says:
March 26th, 2009 at 10:04 am
They just called me! Thanks for the insight.
Chris Says:
April 14th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Guess who just called me again. He didn’t say he was from Google, just “we’re actually a Google qualified company” blah blah “We’re doing a special promotion and we want to get one business from your category to feature so that you’re always at the top of the Google search results.”

No mention of it being advertising and not a search listing that you’re buying.
Duncan Says:
April 17th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
i just received a call from some girl called Kathy at netbiz. i told her i was not interested in her pitch so she started to lecture me about how i wasn’t running my company correctly. i’m small (1.3 million / $250k net) so i’m doing something right. i had to laugh when i read they were a “christian company”. every time i’ve heard “dont worry i’ll pay you, hey i’m a christian” that’s when i dont get paid. i called her back at her number 503-718-6321 and got the same lecture.
Randy Sprague Says:
April 27th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
I have to agree with John from Netbiz.com. Adwords can be done by anyone but do you really want to? I mean c’mon! It’s time consuming and I don’t care how savvy you are, your going to make mistakes. You might be able to work on your own car, or do a little plumbing but…you get my point. You’ll save more money having someone do it right the first time. You understand.

There are a lot of other companies that do this with many different business models that don’t feel like your getting mislead or scammed. Flat rate means flat profit for netbiz.com you never really get to know or even track conversions because they don’t offer it. Let me see my clicks per month and my click thru rate. Let me know what it Cost Per Click from Google and in-turn the % of margin they make off you. Ha.

I by know means want to come off like this is a pitch as John from Netbiz.com did. If you really are looking to have a Google Adwords account and dont want to risk the time and money doing it wrong yourself. Adwords Associates will manage your campaign for a %percentage% basis. You can see what your Traffic is you can login to your Google Adwords Account and see your stats for yourself. No smoke and mirrors here. We Manage your account, you pay Google then Adwords Associates the percentage of your cost. You only pay for results plain and simple…

One last thing.

“I’ll let you all in on an industry dirty little secret.” They don’t want you to see your stats, they don’t want you to know how good your doing or BAD, they want to get your billing information and hope that you never look at your credit card statement again.”

I used to work for them and now own my own company.
Boston Condos Says:
June 17th, 2009 at 10:50 am
I am really shocked to see how many people have been called by this company. I just got a call today from these guys and its the same story everyone else has heard. They claimed to put our website #1 in Google by paying them $50 a month. What a scam? It is ridicilous how these companies make a living. I did a search and led me to this post.

Jim
Michael Says:
July 7th, 2009 at 11:20 am
I just signed on with them for $125.00 per month. I am using Google Adwords now and have been for about a year and a half and we spend about $25.00 per day which is a lot for us where we are a small business. I spoke with Jennifer and asked at least 75 questions and felt that she was being honest with me when saying that we will be at the top of the first page for our particulas business. I will let you all know what happens, I’m hoping for the best!
Mark Elo Says:
July 13th, 2009 at 11:04 am
This sales lady must be ‘New’.

No mention of organic or adwords, regional or global. And an implication that they control the front page of Google! Shocking sales techniques. Someone should get a lawyer to look over this.

Hello,

Thank you for your time on the phone. I appreciate you taking the time to
listen to my offer.

We currently have space available on the first page of Google under
“xxx” for only $50 per month and “xxx” for only $75
per month and “xxx” for $325 per month. This is a month to month
agreement, no long term contract. You may cancel at any time. There is a one
time account creation fee of $79.95, then the monthly fee for the search or
searches you choose to be listed under.

We guarantee your website will be on the first page of Google 24/7. Most of
our clients land in the yellow box at the top of the page. We will monitor
your account to make sure you are receiving traffic.

We place only one client on the first page of a search. This ensures you
that we will not have anyone else compete against you for placement. Our
searches tend to sell quickly, so I encourage you to contact me asap if you
are interested.

We accept Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover, and E-Check as payment methods.
If you choose to use a credit card, we usually have you up on the first page
within 2-3 business days. If you choose to use E-Check or it usually takes
up to 10 business days.

Our website is: http://www.NetBiz.com and you can read what clients are saying
about us at: http://www.ivouch.com/netbiz

If there are other search terms that you are interested in, please let me
know and I can research them. Thank you for your time. I hope to earn your
business.

Warm regards,

xxxx
Internet Marketing Specialist
Michael Says:
July 17th, 2009 at 4:37 am
I’m back and all is great! I just checked this morning to see where we would show up and there we are since we have started using netbiz at the top of the page. So far so good!! Thanks Jennifer and netbiz!

Sincerely,
Michael Fowler
Holiday Guest House Bed & Breakfast
Liz Says:
August 20th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Did anyone ever think about the fact that Google offers these types of “keywords” or “phrases” for up to thousands of dollars a month based on how many times they are clicked… Seriously, why would you waste $50 a month on a placement product, if the price is so low, because of the fact that it isnt getting the search traffic to make it cost effective. There are plenty other companies who arent running on “county campaigns” or offering $50 phrases… because those companies are only interested in selling the phrases that work. Do some research, you might find a smaller, not so “corporate hungry company” who pins their sales people against one another to sell the same phrases. Good luck to all those people who claim to be “happy customers”, if you really are, I wish you all the best… but hope you’ll end up working with a company that is better.
Elinor Says:
September 2nd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I am shocked to see all of this about this company. I was ready to give my credit card to him when I started reading all of this and I just abruptly ended my call.

I was told for $50 a month I would get this great key word and it would be better than any others that I was using on my own ad words account. I spend $300 a month for my adwords right now that I created and manage on my own. He was telling me that I would be better off with this one other keyword opposed to the 1000 keywords I have under my own account. I am sure that for $50 a month I could also find one listing and get on the front page myself as I am on the first page under my own already.

Thanks to you all for your honesty about this company I am glad you saved me from a waste of money and time!
Brett Tousley Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Dear Netbiz,
Your continuous calls to me are a waste of your resources. If you insist on wasting our time together, please at least change up your script.

It is so tiring to her “Hi, this is xxx with netbiz and I’m calling on behalf of google” over and over again.

Thanks for writing the blog post, now I don’t have to.
Riesen Says:
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:09 pm
First, the people that really make money are visible EVERYWHERE!

Print, ONLINE, and through Media.

So, would you say that financial investing businesses are all scams because of Bernie Madoff, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns???? NO, not at all!

NetBiz.com is legit and full of educated professionals. Lots of them have college degrees and are working on their Masters.

My mother is a successful Green Builder but does that mean she knows how to place her website on Google where her developments will be seen?

Plus, do you think she would want to spend her days monitoring her placement on Google, or closing on properties from buyers that found her homes on the first page?

Enough said. Thank you.
fred Says:
September 28th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
If you were a legitimate business you wouldnt be getting complaints like this. If you just said you are pay-per-click consultants you wouldnt be scamming people. Wise up and shift your stinky thinking NetBiz. Until then when our clients ask about you we will continue to send them to this page as an example of what they might be getting themselves into
James Says:
November 5th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Wow. I just read through all of these comments and was shocked… Blogs are the bathroom stalls of the internet. You can say ANYTHING you want and get away with it.

Unfortunately, many people in here have been misled. I’ve been a Netbiz client for many years and have zero complaints. My rep explained to me that the keywords and prices are market driven, and you’re not paying-per-click with Netbiz. You’re getting a permanent, 24/7 spot on the first page for the keyword you select, and you’re the ONLY client that they place on the phrase.

The fraction of comments in this blog that are negative pale in comparison to the good this company is doing for people and for my business.

Those of you who are running an Ad Words campaign on your own know that the average amount of time your website is on the first page is only an hour and a half a DAY. Netbiz guarantees the first page 24/7 for their clients, and that is a position I’m not willing to give anyone else.

Don’t be misled by these frustrated bloggers. Netbiz is legit and I can’t say enough about how they’ve helped my business.
Jason Says:
November 6th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Like the rest of you I was also called by Netbiz (Randy). Randy strongly implied that they controlled the first page of Google search results. Randy guaranteed me placement in the #1 or #2 spot in the “yellow box” for a number of top tier keywords.

At first I just assumed Netbiz was a shady AdWords reseller - I get calls like this all the time - but then Randy gave me pricing info.

He offered me the #1 or #2 AdWords spot for the keyphrase “cleveland cavaliers tickets” for $700/month. The current average CPC for this phrase is $10. TEN DOLLARS per click. Randy also implied that I would be on the Google content network as well as in the search results. I have an e-mail from him quoting these prices as well as promising placement in the “highest position possible”.

This offer is insane. It just isn’t possible. To me, offers like this pretty much guarantee that it is a scam. Netbiz as a company would be losing buckets and buckets of money each month.

To the people that say that Netbiz is worth the money - you are being ripped off. Sure, your ad might show up. But there are other companies that will do it much cheaper (ie, charge you a flat rate to manage your campaigns) and with much more transparency.

I don’t think the argument that Netbiz is an “AdWords Qualified Professional” holds much water. Anyone with experience in AdWords and a campaign to spend money on can get that title.
pynkneewyze Says:
November 21st, 2009 at 8:26 am
I have filed multiple complaints to Oregon Chamber of commerce, Google, & BBB against Netbiz.com for deceptive sales tactics!

I purchased their services on 11/18/2009 after receiving a phone call from one of the Reps we talked for 45mins & I agreed to try the service.
I was told it cost $75.00 a month I told the young lady (Kara E. Amspoker)I would take a chance on spending $150.00 for 2 months service.
When I received the e-mail confirmation I find that $154.95 was deducted from my account!
as there is a $79.95 “setup” fee!(that Kara never mentioned)when I called to complain to the sales mngr she started the conversation saying “I understand there was some sort of misunderstanding” I told her there was no “misunderstanding” Kara never mentioned it!! After speaking to the billing dept I’m told it will take 7-10 business days for my refund!

All the while I’m being told that I must’ve “misunderstood” Or didn’t hear her say there was a setup charge.
I was also told by customer service that their bank is responsible for the delay
but when I talked to billing they said it’s MY bank holding it up & that I must’ve “misunderstood” the e-mail refund letter!

These people are liars! Even though they did get me to the top of page 1 in the yellow box it had to be the specific phrase “chicago personal training”
when I tried other search phrases ” chicago personal trainer” or “personal training in chicago”
mine would not show up but the same company beneath me came up for every search phrase! That’s the company to go with!
Don’t be fooled by these LIARS!
Pamela A Says:
December 30th, 2009 at 1:20 am
SCAMMING BASTARDS!! They have just taken $79.86 USD from my account on 24 December.

On 22 Nov I agreed to pay $2.95 to get an information pack on how to make money from Google. TWO days later they have charged my credit card $79.86USD for Elitepack 8663962729.

I have only just received my statement so I have been charged these two amounts, have received nothing and now have had to cancel my credit card and contact the disputes department. December charge is by NETBIZ.

This is a major scam and I am going to kick up a stink until I get a total refund of the two unauthorised thiefts from my credit card.

Beware! Any information on how to get my money refunded greatly appreciated.
Witty1 Says:
January 23rd, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Pamela A, check your info. Netbiz.com does not have an ‘information pack’, nor do we have anything called an ‘elite pack’. You may want to double check your information. Buyer beware…there are numerous companies out there imitating Netbiz.com, but there is only one true Netbiz.com. You can find us online at http://www.netbiz.com. Any customer service rep would be happy to walk you through OUR website and verification process.
Lee Says:
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Netbiz is a great company that does what they say they will do. They get you to the front page of Google in the sponsored links. Yes you COULD perhaps do it yourself, however it takes a LOT of time and energy to run your own ad campaign effectively. Time that I as a business owner would rather spend getting new clients. I could also learn to tune-up my own car and cut my own hair. I prefer to leave it to businesses who specialize in car tune-ups and hair styling, so I have time to make money instead.
Jay Says:
February 12th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
My wife ordered ‘Google Cash’ some months ago. She doesn’t regularly check her credit card statements but last week discovered that Netbiz has been charging her $86.00AUD every month since; four months worth in total. She did not agree to any such ongoing charge and does not even have an active website at this point. This is quite clearly a scam, and the pro-Netbiz comments in this blog are obviously from Netbiz employees looking to deflect the negative attention this company is deservedly receiving. Information about the deceitful ‘business’ practices that Netbiz indulges in is all over the internet and I have already made contact with a handful of Netbiz ‘customers’ who are keen to team up with us to recover their losses. My wife’s brother is a QC so legal costs are not an issue for us; they certainly will be for Netbiz though.

Witty1, regarding your response to Pamela - Netbiz may not have either an ‘Introduction’ pack nor an ‘Elite’ pack, but they certainly don’t hesitate to bill people indiscriminantly for these mysterious items.
Freddie Says:
February 16th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Netbiz is a complete and utter scam. I have filed multiple complaints with the Better Business Bureau, and I encourage everyone to check with your BBB and see the monumental pile of complaints that have been filed. The company’s deceptive marketing and total lack of transparency and accoubtability are recurring themes. Stay away from this company.
expresslocks Says:
February 27th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
NetBiz offered to sell me a phrase in Google’s Sponsored Links, and it’s value is $200. That plus the “set-up fee” is 279.95.

I changed my mind and called back after 2 business days and wanted a refund. The salesperson was angry and thought I should keep paying for another month or two “to give it time to work”. I asked to speak with a supervisor.

The supervisor apologized that all payments are non-refundable. But she offered two alternative phrases that might be of more value to my company. Each of those phrases were $75 each and that’s a total of $150, and so I had a $50 refund coming to me of the $200 I’d paid for the first phrase.

One of those two search phrases was posted to Google’s Sponsored Links as promised. But the second phrase was NEVER posted to Google, not even in the days after I called a third time complaining the non-fulfillment of their promises.

I repeated my demand for a refund due to non-fulfillment of the agreement. The same supervisor I’d spoken with before said that a full refund IS possible but only in the first three days so I was too late. (Though I had first called 2 days after purchase, when she’d told me a refund was impossible). She also claimed to have made the requested changes, which was false. And she claimed her company had initiated a refund of $50, which also has proved false.

I called a week later, protesting again that only one of the two phrases I’d bought were on Google. Again, predictably, the supervisor continued with the same excuse-making tactics. She promised the second phrase would be posted immediately and I’d be charged a “pro-rated” amount. And again, the result was non-delivery of the promised goods. And still no refund ever showed up.

They’ve had lots of time to refund my money for non-delivery of my purchase.

For those of you who had your cards charged without permission, report it to the bank that issued your card. Also everyone be very sure to file a complaint to the BBB.
Belinda Says:
March 1st, 2010 at 12:12 pm
I just received a call from NetBiz today. They left a message saying they had seen my website and , worked with Google, and could get me on the first page, and left a phone number to call. I couldn’t wait to call, because, you see, we don’t have a web page. That was my first clue that Mark Wilson with NetBiz was not an honest person. I did call him and told him I was excited to know he had found our web page because I didn’t know we had one. He started stammering and then said, “I hope I didn’t lie to you”, to which I replied, “Oh, surely you wouldn’t do that”. He asked me to let him look again and when he couldn’t find a website for us, stammered even more and started trying to tell me he could still get us on the first page of Google. At this point I told him that he obviously had lied and was a total disgrace and hung up. Then I found this website and was even more glad of my action!
Barry Sherman Says:
March 24th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
I used to work for Netbiz. They are a sweatshop/boiler room operation. I was fired essentially for not being willing to lie to people to get them to sign up. The average sales pitch they tell you to use there is more or less false, and even that isn’t actually good enough to sell the product consistently. To do that, you have to be willing to play snake oil salesman.

Also, they significantly mark up most of the search terms, charging you for a 7% click through rate when realistically, most of the terms get a click through of less than 1%. But if you do happen to go overcost, they hound you aggressively to increase your payments or switch to a cheaper (less effective) search.

Don’t go with this company when you can do adwords more cheaply on your own.
Kathia Says:
April 23rd, 2010 at 5:55 am
I really appreciate your time to share your experience.
You just save me couple hundreed $ Best,K
timothy Says:
May 10th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
I just wanted to let you all know my take on this. I do work at Net Biz. and we are a family there that does truly want for your business to succeed, we are not taking your money. we do not find you on a list. we find you by doing a-lot of research on your web sights and we try to see who is not getting the business that they should be getting. We really do work with google. we are qualified by them to service you. and yes we are a faith based business. at net biz, good Friday is a paid holiday. and on that day the company has a service given for the employees for them to hear the Word of God and respond to the call for salvation, in-fact, just this past Good Friday,11 employees gave there lives to Jesus Christ. the president and the vice-president are both Christians and so are many of the people who work here. so, please do not judge the book by it’s cover, we are humans here at net biz who have families just like you and we are trying our hearts to provide for them and help you truly succeed for your business. I have been with the company for almost 2 months and everyone that i signed up are on the first page of Google.
thank-you for your comments. try to see the cup as half full and see what we really do. and for those who had a bad experience. on behalf of netbiz, it is not in any way our intent for you to be taken for your money. we are trying to save you a lot of money that most of you are paying to be on search pages that you are not even being seen. thank-you and may you all have a blessed night and day.
Sparky Says:
June 9th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
The post by “Timothy” dated May 10th, 2010 just PROVES what a scam Net Biz truly is! I am one of many who knows exactly what SEP is and I don’t need these knuckleheads to mismanage my Google AdWords account for me. What I need if for them to stop wasting my time with their incessant sales pitches, as I have asked them AT LEAST 20 TIMES to stop calling me!
BTW Timothy, it’s a webSITE…and you purport to be an expert??!!
Brad Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Sparky,
I don’t work for Netbiz.com but I find your arrogance and hatred for netbiz to be interesting.
You harass Timothy for the common mistake of using sights instead of sites.
Yet you make an extreme bonehead mistake of using if instead of is. Perhaps you should practice a Christian philosophy of ignoring the sliver in someone’s finger, when you have a 24ft beam sticking out of your own eye.

One theme I have seen in this complain list is poeple saying that they have asked a company to stop calling them 20 times.

Just for your own edification… A company will not remove a caller just by them asking.

If you want to be removed you need to join the do not call and do not mail listing. An employee can’t just remove you. Especially if they aren’t calling from a list. You poeple have stated on numerous occasions that they call from your website info. How is an employee that makes cold calls supposed to let other employees know not to call you if they are looking up websites. That would be a huge data base and the salesman would never make any calls because they would have to constantly check the database of companies not to call. Does that even seem remotely logical?
Chris Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 7:56 pm
I find it perfectly logical actually that a company that conducts phone sales would keep a central database, managed by a computer (those newfangled devices that make record keeping, such as “constantly check[sic] the database of companies not to call”, very easy) on who not to call, and as well to remove people who ask to be removed. For they would have to know they are violating federal laws, and possibly state laws as well, if they fail to do so.

If you are ever prosecuted for breaking federal telemarketing laws I wouldn’t think a defense that consists of “it was too hard not to call people who asked us to stop” would be very successful.
Brad Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Also before you start accusing a company of wrong deeds you should probably realize that there is a yournetbiz and netbiz.com.
netbiz.com sells a service for websites and google ad placement.
yournetbiz sells packages for online businesses.

From what little I know about google ad space there is a limited vision of what google ad words will do.

If a company tells you that they will put you on the front page for the following ad “a+b+c=d” then you only have yourself to blame if you “thought” that would get you first place under “d-c-b=a”. Google ads are very specific and fine tuned. If you want to be first under “d-c-b=a” then you need to pay for it along side “a+b+c=d”. If you want more than what you are paying for, then you are the greedy one not the marketer. I would venture to guess that 90% of the people whining in here are not justifiably complaining about a lie from the marketer but because they weren’t proactive and didn’t take the time to find out what they were getting.
From what I’ve seen in comments by customers that took the time to find out what they were really getting rather than “ass”uming they are all happy with their services rendered. There have been a few disgruntled ex employees who of course are never happy.
Brad Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 8:04 pm
One other comment I just thought of.
Even if a company has the most ethical Management team, they can’t guarantee that an unethical sales person won’t misrepresent their company.

However, if they let it continue, even after knowing about it, that’s when they have a problem they need to deal with at the executive level.
Brad Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 8:14 pm
<<– picture me rolling my eyes at Chris.

Did you intentionally misprepresent everything I said or was it an accident of ignorance?

What I said was, they don’t call from a calling database. From what call receivers and those that work for the company have said, they do research on websites in given regiions and focus on the websites and make their phone calls from the website they are going to call, then it would take forever to screen a database and make sure they have the right person for the right organization.

As is obvious there are similar website names, as in the confusion of people that are pissed at yournetbiz.com and are taking it out against netbiz.com.

so the database would not only have to have the website listing as well as a responsible party name listing to be viable. You think the government is going to undergo the management of that and enforce it? They don’t have time to go after the scumbags that stand on the street corner of our kids schools selling drugs let alone that night mare.

If a person what wise and had an issue with netbiz calling them, rather than scream into the phone 20 + times, why not put a “no soliciting calls” note prominately on the top of the web site.

Why not garner cooperation from a senator or congressman to incite some sort of regulation about calling when a business has a “no solicitation call” listing on their website.

Constant whining is only iritating.

I have nothing to gain either way from this organization, I just hate whiners.
Chris Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:24 am
Brad “who doesn’t work for Netbiz” you’re just digging yourself a hole.

You don’t need a database of websites, or of people, just of phone numbers.

If a sales agent finds a number they wish to call, before typing it into their phone, they type it into the database. If they find a match, they don’t call the number. It would take 10 seconds, it is easy to do, and it is the LAW. (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/alerts/alt129.shtm)

Failure to abide by the law will result in penalties to the business. Which is why pretty much every company that relies on telemarketing to grow their business does so.
Gil Gibori Says:
July 20th, 2010 at 11:29 am
COMPLETELY TRUE. ALWAYS DELIVER.

Net Biz contacted me the same way. I didn’t believe them either. BUT, they are completely true to their word. For every search term I purchased, I have a top 3 place on Google. That is a huge bonus my small company and new website.

I’ve read about all of the skepticism and can really vouch for the fact that they have delivered on every promise.
Blue Says:
July 27th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
I signed up with Netbiz today for $100/month. I stupidly did not ask to see the Terms and Conditions before I gave them my card number. I was charged the extra $80 without being told. I plan on calling tomorrow and demanding a refund on the “account setup fee”; otherwise, I am hoping that this will help give my massage therapy biz a kickstart. I don’t know how/have time to learn to do Google adwords, and I can pay off $100 in two hour-long massage sessions. Here’s hoping, and next time I’ll be more careful before signing on the dotted line.
Ethan Says:
August 17th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
While some employees have misrepresented netbiz in their calls that was on their own accord. Netbiz says they are a Google adwords qualified company. In any sales job you will jave someone who lies to “do better” I assure you netbiz fires tjem promptly. Netbiz is Oregon’s seventh largest private employer and helps thousands of people. Checkivouch.com/netbiz
Susan Says:
August 27th, 2010 at 7:10 am
Any company that has to tout being “faith based” as a mark that they have an ethical business automatically sends up a red flag to me. If indeed your business is on the line, then that should stand on its own, not be propped up by saying that you are Christian based company.

Hell, I’m Catholic and I don’t care what religion a company is or isn’t, so long as they get the job done and done well for a fair price.
Jamie Says:
August 31st, 2010 at 1:28 pm
I recently signed up with netbiz and am trying to determine if they are a scam or not. I am very familiar with how to run Google ad-words campaigns and have run many myself. The reason I signed up with them is because they guaranteed 1st page on Google for an expensive and competitive keyword (electricians)24/7 no matter how many clicks. For $159 per month- that is an unbeatable deal. I also had no problem paying for set up- that is a legitimate charge in my eyes. However the results I have gotten are extremely disturbing and suspicious. On a keyword that gets only 14,000 exact searches per month I will consistently use up my entire (small) budget each day if I bid for 1st page placement I will see a minimum of 10 clicks per day. I ALWAYS see immediate traffic from an adwords campaign, especially on popular keywords. Not necessarily huge traffic, but noticeable and traceable traffic via Google Analytics. So here I am with a keyword guaranteed to be on page 1 24/7 through Net Biz that gets 165,000 exact local searches every month and my traffic is….0. Yes 0 clicks- over a 2 week period. Yes, the ad has been there when I have checked. However it is unlikely to the point of impossible that on such a high search volume keyword with an ad on page 1 all the time, that I would see absolutely no click through traffic. I have asked repeatedly to see traffic reports but have not yet gotten anything. Hopefully I can get tot he bottom of this, but it sure is odd.