Who is your PPC mentor?

Don't have a mentor just read through forums like this and try and learn something new each day

 

Wealthy Affiliate and Digital Point forum is my mentor. No doubt.

 

has any one tried this?

contacted all the competitors and then adjusted the bids after a handshaking?

 

I think that would be an impossible task.

But I see your point...

 

That would be known as cornering the market, price gouging, unfair business practices, consumer deceit, and completely illegal.

Besides I doubt there are that many competitors that would rather hold hands and have a love in....

You're not getting my vote as ppc mentor......

 

I have done this before with my competitors.

We also agreed on same pricing so the only factor was site layout and customer service.

Of course not every competitor did this, but I believe the top 4 companies within this niche agreed to the terms.

It was rather smart... profits went through the roof and almost tripled ROI per sale overnight.

 

Need some insights on this.. I think I raised a good point. On what basis did you say this is illegal? I did not say I agree to everything I think myself. But, there are good things that come out of discussions, and we need to discuss this.

About Unfair Business Practice, I do not agree. It's not about Cornering, it's about getting the bid lower. Bidders are not on a virtual race, but are here to do business, sell something for a respectable return. But, it's not fair to pay rocket prices for something that's not worth it, this could lead to an unwanted price hike for some required commodities, which has be so far overlooked. Something that can be easily used by MISCHIEF MAKERS living in the society to drain out competition. The entire concept of bidding itself is an unfair practice. It's more or less a jungle law, where only the stronger survives. Neither Bible, nor the Vedas, nor the Quran nor any ethical book in the world support this kind of a practice. But, now it's there, and some how has not been legally questioned? Many unfair practices are not questioned and I am not surprised for the same. The fair thing for a paid search engine would have been in fact to keep a fixed price for allowing among the paid listing and then listing the results depending on the quality, category of the website. But, we do not see this. So, let's leave ethics behind for the while and let's talk about, the legal aspects of the problem.

Is this really illegal? I mean adjusting the bids after a handshake. If yes, it would be great to quote legalities about a problem only giving proper references from the law books, and restrain from commenting legal/illegal issues otherwise.

 

It's basically Price Fixing and forming a Cartel.

Highly Illegal and wouldn't last two minutes in a court of law.

 

Simple answer call Google and ask them their opinion.

But since you have doubts

In the United States, price fixing can be prosecuted as a criminal felony offense under section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. [1] In Canada, it is an indictable criminal offence under section 45 of the Competition Act. Bid rigging is considered a form of price fixing and is illegal in both the United States (s.1 Sherman Act) and Canada (s.47 Competition Act). In the United States, agreements to fix, raise, lower, stabilize, or otherwise set a price are illegal per se.[2] It does not matter if the price agreed upon is reasonable or for a good or altruistic cause; or if the agreement is explicit and formal or unspoken and tacit. In the United States, price-fixing also includes agreements to hold prices the same, discount prices (even if based on financial need or income), set credit terms, agree on a price schedule or scale, adopt a common formula to figure prices, banning price advertising, or agreeing to adhere to prices that one announces. [3] Although price fixing usually means sellers agreeing on price, it can also include agreements among buyers to fix the price at which they will buy products.

The Sherman Antitrust Act (Sherman Act[1], July 2, 1890, ch. 647, 26 Stat. 209, 15 U.S.C. § 1–7), was the first United States government statute to limit cartels and monopolies. It is the first and oldest of all U.S., federal, antitrust laws.

The Act provides: "Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal".[2] The Act also provides: "Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony [. . . ]"[3] The Act put responsibility upon government attorneys and district courts to pursue and investigate trusts, companies and organizations suspected of violating the Act. The Clayton Act (1914) extended the right to sue under the antitrust laws to "any person who shall be injured in his business or property by reason of anything forbidden in the antitrust laws."[4]. Under the Clayton Act, private parties may sue in U.S. district court and should they prevail, they may be awarded treble damages and the cost of suit, including reasonable attorney's fees. [5]

I do not post things just to be a jerk. I post based on fact.

I find it disturbing that you claim to be a PPC specialist... yet need to stoop to such tactics to make sales..

Kind of a huge contradiction.....no PPC expert should need to cheat in order to make sales and I doubt agreeing to such would suddenly have everyone earning profits.....if you were not making profits or sales before the agreement there is no reason to think anyone would after....

Just an opinion....

 

Making such a deal is smart business in my opinion, and YES I made lprofit prior to making the agreement. But since me and the other people in competition with each other all know each other, we agreed to raise prices so that we can pocket more per sale. I think we see price increases all the time in every day life. While it may be mutual, its hardly monopolizing.

Its not a contradiction. PPC worked prior to the deal and worked even better after the deal.

 

Yes, I do take care to understand everything prior adopting things in my business process. If you had not replied, I would have kept the same in my todo's. Or, I was not a fool to have quoted something I could have easily kept secret. What's was the point otherwise in discussing these.

Now I agree you are not a jerk and someone to be taken seriously.

 

DP has become and invaluable tool for me. I have learned so much just from lurking on this message board. I decided that it was finally time for me to start posting here. Also, another mentor of mine is a co worker of mine who has been playing around with Adsense for some time now and has gotten really awesome at it...Some people have said it best here sometimes trial and error is the best mentor to have but you also always need some sort of guidance to guide you along the way!