Global Market Exposure

September 24th, 2009 by Chris

My Netbiz post was pretty popular. So when some guy named Chad called me today feigning to be a customer so I’d call him back I decided that I’d give “Global Market Exposure” the same treatment.

The call started out somewhat funny.

Him: “I was just on your website and I’m actually calling from Google.”

Me: “So you work for Google?”

Him: “Well, I’m calling from Google and….globalmarketexposure.”

Me: “So you’re calling from Google.”

Him: “I work for Global Market Exposure, we’re an adwords qualified company working on behalf of Google” (finally, half-truth!)

Me: “Did your company used to be called Netbiz?”

Him: “No, we’re much better than Netbiz, we can get you uploaded to the first page of Google within an hour. We-” (Did they choose to inappropriately use the word “upload” to sound more technical? I was so impressed with his masterful use of Internet jargon!)

Me: “You don’t actually work for Google, you just setup adwords ads for people, something they can do themselves. ”

The call degenerated rather quickly from there on.

Why doesn’t Google weed out companies like this that use confusing sales tactics? Quite frankly I think it gives Google a bad name. It is also highly unethical to represent ads as search placements, they’re not, they’re ads.

For the record, companies like Netbiz or this new outfit, Global Market Exposure, place advertisements through Google Adwords. Adwords is an auction based advertising system whereby the highest bigged gets slot 1, the second highest slot 2, etc. With each bid being modified through internal Google systems that judge quality and click through rate (a high bid no user will ever actually click on because the ad sucks isn’t going to do Google any good). Anyone can do this yourself for free.

This advertising differs 100% from Search Engine Optimization. Which is the practice of painstakingly building and tweaking your site so that it ranks better naturally in the unpaid main search results. There is no quick fix for search engine optimization, and as a general rule if someone says they can give you a top listing automatically or within hours, they’re talking about placing adwords advertisements, not doing SEO for you.

Using one of these companies is akin to using someone to put an ad in the phone book for you. Maybe the person is an expert at phone book ads, and maybe you’re too busy and don’t have the time. But you could probably do it yourself, and you could also probably setup your own adwords advertisement yourself. Plus, since you’ll not be using a middleman, you’ll be spending less money and so more easily obtain a positive ROI.

Caveat Emptor.

On an unrelated note the company uses the domain google-placement.com looks to me like a trademark violation. Anyone want to place a wager on how long that lasts? Anyone know a Googler to forward that juicy tidbit to?

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Posted in: Search Engine Optimization »  by: Chris

5 Responses to “Global Market Exposure”

  1. Lapsed Pastafarian  Says:
    November 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 am

    I just got off the phone with this guy 30 minutes ago. I’m impressed with his fast talking skills. My conversation was almost verbatim of yours. We sort of got stuck when he wouldn’t give me his last last name or website. Oh well, too bad. I was going to spend soooo much with him if he had just told me his last name. Luckily “guaranteeing google placement” and having his area code also guaranteed me finding him. Must resist urge to prod him on… must resist.

  2. Jeanne  Says:
    November 3rd, 2009 at 12:09 pm

    You know, there are so many companies out there that charge people for doing stuff that can do themselves, and usually for free. Also, the customer service of the companies, after you “sign up” and use them is so bad lately. I just switched from AT&T phone service and bundled with Comcast (in our area, it’s good – I understand in some it’s not)purely because of the customer service of At&T. Whith At&T I’ve gotten impatient, not nice people, lied to and I’ve gotten hung up on – can you believe that? And they kept sending me reconditioned, not-working modems at one point. Just yesterday I got a call from a very friendly and happy young man from AT&T about would I like to switch to them – I told him I have just switched AWAY from them because of their customer service. I was pleasant and simply was saying that I was not happy – in the middle of my explanation – he hung up on me!! These companies need to get their “stuff” together and stop lying and stop the crappy customer service!!

  3. Amanda  Says:
    December 4th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

    Here is the voice message I received today, word for word…

    Hi Amanda. I am on your website right now and this will be a really ODD call, but my name is Harry Spencer. I am calling with a company called NetBiz. We are THE ad words company for google- the search engine on the internet and google has asked me to run a campaign featuring personal trainers in every major market across the country. And that’s why I am calling you. I would like to see if you would like to be my LA area featured trainer. I’d like to plant a link to your website on the first page of google, any time somebody types in personal trainer Los Angeles- I’d like to have that link guiding traffic to your website. So, I need you to call me right away. My toll free number is 888-847-2226. My ext is 1532. Thank you very much.

    I called back and spoke to Harry and was given a VERY GOOD sales pitch about how most people don’t know google in a for profit organization! What it would cost me, only $79-1 time account creation fee & $125 month to month for top google spot. That is a lot of money for something that I now know I can do on my own.

    Thank you for your post Chris.

  4. Kevin Web Guy.  Says:
    December 15th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

    Buyer Beware of google-placement.com. This is not a reputable company. Look at their client list, they are preying on people who have no knowledge of the Internet to charge them for putting a few words in Adwords. Such a waste of money. These guys make it hard for reputable companies to do business.

  5. Linda  Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 2:51 pm

    The advice I give all clients who get these call/email opportunities.

    Get a written GUARANTEE that they will do whatever with SEO only. They get PAID WHEN YOU ARE PAGE ONE on your keyword.

    This usually gets a hasty withdrawal of the offer.

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