One of my competitors has a claim for a very very low price for a service on their Adwords text. I actually pick up the phone and call to place an order. (Yes, I have ordered from all competitors, and continue to do so, and I recommend it highly. I have learned a lot.) Well, the lady on the phone, says that they do not offer that price any more. I explain that the price is on the internet, and I really would like to receive the offer advertised, and I have printed out a copy of it. She said, that it was from Adwords, and was a price they had last year, and it takes a looong time to change prices on the internet, and they cannot honor that price, but, they do have this price, which is comparable . . . . . Their adword text also has a couple of other false claims. Now, I imagine, they get a lot of clicks this way, and people end up purchasing their product anyway. What would you do in this situation? Thanks
There's not much you can do over a small $1 error. Until there is a binding agreement between the customer and retailer (eg. payment has been accepted) either party can change their mind.
Guerilla Tactics By Mr. Rosen 1. Buy an ad and make sure you're placed below your lying competitor. 2. The ad should read: The Ad above Claims $5.99 They Lie. Press On Them. Then Come Back & Buy From Me! *Note that the words "The Ad above" may be replaced by the name of your competitor. 3. Watch your CTR increase while your competitor gets a high CTR with a low conversion rate.
It IS an interesting idea, is there anything in Google TOS saying you have to be honest, or your offer has to be valid, I could not find it.
The concept of Universal Justice springs to my mind. Don't forget, I assume that rliddle doesn't use false advertising techniques and therefore they wouldn't be able to expose him for lying.
They'll yank the ad with the "press on them" text. They won't let you (at least for long) get away with using your ad to tell people to click on other ads. rliddle, i know a lot of sites/stores have the "we reserve the right to change any price at anytime" text in their legal mumbo-jumbo pages. Consumers are pretty savvy these days and a lot of people will comparison shop. Once they find out your competitor won't honor the price they'll continue shopping. Edit: You may also be able to get Google to yank the ad: "Support Advertised Prices, Discounts, and Free Offers If your ad includes a price, special discount, or 'free' offer, it must be clearly and accurately displayed on your website within 1-2 clicks of your ad's landing page. Example: If you mention that you are selling socks for 20% off in your ad text, your Destination URL should link to a page that clearly displays socks at the discounted price." That's from here: https://adwords.google.com/select/guidelines.html
Indeed .. if you would have on your ad saying "click this ad", i think they would aproove it, but saying "click the competitor ad", wont be aprooved.
Call the rest....then call the best...... If it's the kind of price that you can guarantee put a guarantee in your creative...only $xxxx guaranteed. Alternatively concentrate on any unique benefits your product/company has and remember that not all consumers are price sensitive where they feel they are getting a better deal.
I've done the tactic where I call them on their lie. It works very well. The one key is don't say "The ad above" or "The ad below" just claim their statement is bologna and tell the surfer you are honest. The only problem is I've had the competition click the crap out of ads to try to drain my budget. I put a stop to that real quick too with a phone call to adwords with my logs...
They would be mad to be listing a false price on purpose, unless they have very convincing sales people. In my experience the most truthful ads convert better - telling lies just costs you more clicks and creates less sales.
Enginez, I wonder about that also, but once you are talking to them, then you just may purchase. I do agree about being truthful. I wonder how many people, click, look around for that pricing and then go away. Got a PM reccomending a Cease and Desist letter, that also is an idea I had not thought about.
Agreed - that's not what I meant though. I meant if the competitor was to find out that you were trying to ramp up their advertising costs they might try and sabotage your own ads by employing a load of click-happy people.
Thanks to all, I did send an email to Google Adwords, with their violations of TOS outlined. Will see what happens with that. Their URL posted is not the same as the landing page either. Hopefully Google will enforce the rules. Thanks.
Response from Google: At this time, the same violations are still showing. Hello R, Thank you for your feedback regarding the background of this advertiser. The information you have provided will assist us in our review of this advertiser's account. We value customer service and hope our advertisers will provide quality care to our users. Again, we thank you for your feedback, and will review this situation. We encourage you to continue to let us know if there is anything we can do to improve your Google experience. Sincerely, Dipanjan The Google AdWords Team
Second Response from Google. (I am surprised, but no change in Adwords yet) Hello R, Thank you for reporting an ad that possibly violates our policies. Please know that ads in our program are reviewed per our advertising guidelines. While we make every effort to ensure that ads which may violate our policies do not run prior to review, it's possible that some ads run on Google before our AdWords Specialists check them. We assure you that we are working diligently to apply the same criteria to all of our ads. We will investigate this matter and, if necessary, will take the appropriate action. Thank you for informing us of your concern, and we appreciate your understanding. If you have additional questions, please visit our Help Center at https://adwords.google.com/support to find answers to many frequently asked questions. Or, try our Learning Center at http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/ for self-paced lessons that cover the scope of AdWords. We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available. Sincerely, Dipanjan The Google AdWords Team
The simple truth is that you do not have to honour the price you give in an advert. This is because in contract law, the customer is making the "offer" to purchase when they ring up, the seller can decide whether to "accept" the offer or not This might seem a bit strange but it is long standing legal precedent An advert is not an offer, but merely an "invitation to treat" - in laymans language, the advert is inviting you to make an offer to buy the product This is not the same as someone putting the wrong price on the product itself e.g. a packet of crisps in a shop with a price tag of 40c. In this case the crisps must be sold for 40c, due to trade descriptions legislation However as a matter of public service, advertisers should always be honest as to their prices. In your case if you are unhappy, you cannot force the advertiser to sell to you at the price advertised. You should decide if the product is worth it at the increased price, and if it isnt, then simply say thank you very much, and I will get back to you if I decide to purchase from you