Local PPC Rip Offs
July 13, 2008 Local PPC No CommentsThere is a rip off similar to the Local SEO Myth: Local PPC Management . The pitch is always the same: “We get you to the top of every search engine for a price that is too good to be true”. Telesales rooms bombard businesses and make vague promises such as exclusive rights and top positioning which will lead to a surge of new traffic, calls and customers. The majority of the businesses called have no experience with online advertising and are overwhelmed with the information given. They are usually provided with statistics that are irrelevant to their specific industry and location. The sales person can usually talk the business owner into a one month trial period that leads to nothing but frustration and loss. A small number of sales people have been known to be pushy and sometimes violent when the person refuses the “offer of a lifetime”.
If coaxed, the business owner is guided through an unclear signup process over the phone. Poorly or untrained sales people, usually eager to make any deal, may leave out certain details. Some of the time it is intentional as to not give the potential client any reason to re-think the proposition. Other times it is due to a lack of proper training. The sales person will overwhelm the potential client with statistics and promises but forget important facts like the setup & monthly fees.
If signed up the business owner is told they will be contacted by a seemingly nonexistent customer service department. Many of these companies do not have a support team that can handle the amount of customers the sales rooms bring in. The work has to be done quickly and may never be checked for accuracy. If the client is successful with talking to the customer service department they are told it can take a few days to have changes made, though it usually never happens.
Some companies will try to create an illusion that they are representatives or employees of Google or other search engines. This is absolutely false. Companies may earn different certifications and be a part of the many programs the sites offer, but no company gets special treatment. No company pays search engines a flat fee for guaranteed placement. Every company listed under sponsored results pays for every click or impression. Google looks at how well the keywords, ad and website relate to each other to determine every keywords click price. The majority of these companies do not have customer service reps with PPC management experience and perform the minimum needed to temporarily keep the customer happy.
A very generic campaign is usually setup for the client and will only receive attention if the campaign goes over budget. Many companies limit the keywords to ensure they will never reach the budget. The majority of these are extremely long tailed keywords and have a very slim chance of performing for the client. Other companies may promise unlimited keywords but will limit the area the ads will be shown. A small number of companies give the client statistics that may create an illusion that the advertising is working, but has only provided wasted traffic. These examples only work for a limited number of clients and usually results in a high attrition rate.
Any success for the client and the advertising company is a crap shoot. Results from the advertising offers will differ for every client and should only be chosen after the proper research has been done. Unfortunately a large number of small business owners do not have the ambition and/or time to research the proper advertising strategy and rely on the guarantees and statistics that the sales person provides. Again, if the offer is too good to be true, it is.
