If you get a phone call from someone stating, or implying that they are from Google, treat the caller with extreme caution.
In Australia there are now hundreds of businesses selling Google Adwords consulting services all competing for a slice of the billion-dollar Google Adwords and SEO market.
The business model of the less reputable businesses works something like this:
- See who is advertising using Google Adwords in different industries. Pick an industry with high advertiser competition, and high costs per click.
- Get the contact details of the business owner from their web site
- Telemarket the business and imply, or state that you work for, with, or in partnership with Google
- During the conversation imply that the target may be penalised if their click-through rate is too low and that you can help the advertiser get much better results. Confuse the prospect with jargon like click through rates, conversion rates and Adwords optimisation.
- Get the prospect on a free one-month trial and churn them over to your Adwords account
- Make some cash on the pass-through, typically 10% to 30% mark up.
- Get them to expand their Adwords campaigns and spend more money
- Rinse and repeat
Don’t get me wrong, there are some very good Google Adwords consultants out there as well as some very good Premier SME Partners. But before you sign anything call Google on 1800 287 850, check the caller’s credentials and get some references from other businesses in your local area.
To validate if the caller is in fact an employee of Google and not somebody just passing off, ask them two questions:
- To prove that you are from Google, could you please tell me my Adwords Customer ID? If they can’t, hang up.
- Ask for their full name and tell them that you will call them back on the Google 1800 number (1800 287 850)
