Beware of SCAMS

     The other day I was working on my computer when I got a phone call from two women calling me from Las Vegas, Nevada. Usually this would probably be a good thing if I were not married, but I am married, and it was not a good thing.

     The women told me that they had found my website while searching "Jacksonville Florida homes for sale". At first I thought I may have a future client but I then asked them to repeat where they had found my website and again the woman said "Jacksonville Florida homes for sale". I thought this was interesting since my website advertises Fernandina Beach real estate, so instead of hanging up I wanted to see how far they would go with this. The first woman then proceeded to tell me that  on Google my website was on the right side of the first page and that my website company had me on pay-per-click advertising. What is pay-per-click you ask?  

 Pay per click (PPC) is an advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and content websites/blogs, where advertisers only pay when a user actually clicks on an ad to visit the advertiser's website. Advertisers bid on keywords they predict their target market will use as search terms when they are looking for a product or service. When a user types a keyword query matching the advertiser's keyword list, or views a page with relevant content, the advertiser's ad may be shown. These ads are called a "Sponsored link" or "sponsored ads" and appear next to or above the "natural" or organic results on search engine results pages, or anywhere a webmaster/blogger chooses on a content page.1

     The woman then proceeded to tell me that when using pay-per-click some companies would pay people to click on the website advertisement, until your daily balance was depleted, and therefore you would be paying them there money but not getting any results. I thought this point was very interesting so while they were talking, mind you they said they had found my website, I searched "Jacksonville Florida Homes for sale". Amazingly my website advertisement was not to be found! I then told the woman of this finding and then she passed me off to her "supervisor". I explained to her that I could not find the advertisement and she proceeded to tell me that my daily balance had  probably expired and my advertisement would no longer be seen. HAHA! Amazing that my website would drop off in that short period of time. I reminded her that her counterpart had told me that they had just found my website and they were calling to warn me of this potential money drain. She then started to backpedal a little and stated that they had found my website earlier and were just getting around to calling me. WOW! 

     To make a long story short, PLEASE read all of the information that you can to help you understand SEO and how PAY-PER-CLICK and other advertising mediums work. DO NOT fall for this scam. I am sure that there may have been one or more people who have fallen for this and they have my sympathy. Please do not let yourself be one of them.

      Oh yeah, I did finally tell the woman that I was aware of what she was doing and that I am somewhat educated (Thank you to all of ACTIVERAIN for the information that you have provided) in SEO and how PPC works. I then told her I did not appreciate the fact that she had lied to me and advised her to never call my number again.

I apologize to all of you that I did not get a company name from them but I hope that this warning will serve as notice to anyone who may get the same call.

 Reference

Pay-Per-Click(2008)Pay-Per-Click Retrieved 3 Jan 08 from Wikepedia, The Free Encyclopedia,