Business Watchdog

Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category

Look out for emails supposedly from Amazon.com about your recent order. It’s a very  Amazon like email but disguises itself with this email address – australia@lmhint.net – renowned for sending spam. If you click the links to Visit Your Account or Check Your Order you will be directed to a Russian web site. You’ll probably be taken to a cloned Amazon log-in page where you’ll enter your password, etc. Be warned!!

Just had a long conversation with a young lady from this company. They may well offer the type of service you require. I was told this company was “legally licensed by Google” to sell positions on Google and other search engines. They buy these licenses and can therefore sell these top positions. What they are in fact selling are the sponsored links at the top of the Google page. Why can’t they simply say that? There is no shame in offering such a service to those who don’t know what to do themselves. Cost: £299.00 set-up plus VAT then £99.00 a month for a minimum of 12 months. What she had not done was check the current position of the site she was phoning about – it’s already number 2. Check them out for yourself -  http://www.shieldmarketing.co.uk/

Update 15th April: Those of you have been following this thread will be aware that Shield has come in for a lot of stick, despite a number of positive posts from satisfied clients. But credit where credit is due. Mark has made a sterling effort to deal with client problems. He has been true to his word and with his team appear to be resolving issues. If you wish to post a complaint, please avoid abusive comments and stick to facts. Things do go wrong at times but we can’t fault Shield for the recent efforts they have made and we are pleased that we have been able to provide a vehicle for dialogue.

This company call saying they represent Google. Very much doubt it. But they have a search engine service called Google Easy which they say is “a new online marketing strategy from Search Engine Easy. We will identify your businesses five most important keywords, and within 48 hours they will be listed on page one of Google – the UK’s most popular search engine. That’s it. No contracts, no lengthy processes, just quick, easy and effective online marketing.” They promise a lot and may well deliver – but at £89.00 a month you may find there are cheaper options. Once again they did not check before phoning and the site they phoned about is already in the top 3.
My understanding is that this company will manage your Adwords campaign. But you can do this yourself.

This company declare they are a Google Adwords Qualified Company. We can find no record of them on the UK or Ireland list of approved companies. S E Easy Ltd is registered in Ireland. http://www.whoisagap.com/individuals/united-kingdom.html

Watch out for emails like this: “I took the liberty to do some research on your website, and uncovered some interesting points. This may interest you, since it appears that you are trying to gain new business through your website. From my initial observations, your site is probably underperforming in the major search engines – Google, Yahoo, and MSN LiveSearch. When searching on a topic, most people don’t look past the first page of search results. I struggled to find you in the first couple of pages, meaning that you could be losing a significant amount of business”

There is enough truth in all of this to cause you concern that you may be losing out on valuable business. They might have struggled to find my web site – but what obscure keywords did they try? The site they refer to is actually listed second on Google for my chosen keywords. So do your research and be aware that there is nothing you can’t do that these people offer to do for £40.00 a month!