SEO London, Edinburgh Internet Marketing Breeze Media

In the last couple of weeks we have received an increasing number of reports from clients regarding so called Adwords companies selling guaranteed advertising space on Google.

We advise you to be extremely cautious of such companies, especially cold callers offering you “one months free trial on Google” or “£20 links”.

We have heard reports of companies who have had unauthorised transactions taken from their bank accounts as a result of these offers.

The sales tactics of these companies are high pressure, enticing you with incredible offers and they won’t take no for an answer.

This looks to be increasing in the run up to christmas and we advise companies to be extremely cautious if you do receive any cold calls of this nature.

The more people that know about this the better.

We’ve listed some of the things to be on the lookout for:

1. Do not trust any company cold calling you claiming to be

• from “Google sales”
• “authorised by Google”
• “Google asked us to call you”
• “We are caling on behalf of Google”
• “We saw your ad on Yell.com”

(No one is authorised by Google.)

2. Do not trust any company claiming to

• resell Google advertising space
• offer bulk discounts on Google AdWords  or links
• have an exclusive contract with Google

(Google do not have resellers, offer bulk discounts to resellers or have exclusive contracts.)

3. Do NOT under any circustances

• sign up for a “free 1 month’s free trial”
• give a deposit to “secure advertising space”
• sign up for £99 a month deals that guarantee number 1 positions
• sign up for £20 a link deals

(If you do sign up for any of these deals then you run the risk of payments being taken from your bank account or credit card.)

4. Don’t always trust the company if they claim to be “Google Qualified” on it’s website.

Any company can put a “Google Qualified” advert on their website. If a company is genuinely Google qualified then clicking on the logo will go to Google’s verification page.

NOTE: Google “Qualified” does not neccessary mean a reputable company. The Google qualification logo is widely abused.

Note also that Google is a private commercial company and their accreditation is a purely commercial award (you have to pay to obtain it). It is not a professional qualification such as that given to a doctor, engineer or accountant and it is not recognised by any professional Institution.

If you are intending to employ the services of an AdWords services company then we advise that you meet with them or have them meet with you on a face to face basis. Ask for references and check the company out in any way you can. Any reputable company will be upfront about their processes, charges, expectations etc.