[wayne zabel]

Had a call today from a guy from Google saying he could do me a special deal for a month of top spot on the coloured section at the top of Google.He said at first it was free for a month but then said there was a small charge of just £119 plus VAT.If this is a special deal whats it cost normally?

I wish I had as many people calling me about cleaning their carpets as I have people trying to flog me adv space

[nevil]

i'll bet he wasn't from google.

[Joe H]

You may be aware Wayne, he is not from Google, he is selling advertising on Google.
They do what they say, cause I have used it.
When my website was very new and waiting for it to climb the pages of Google I paid that sort of amount month by month - it was not a long term contract, it could be cancelled by me when I wanted.
They give you 5 key phrases, so if any one searches for say, carpet cleaner XXX, then you will appear.
Whether or not I got calls - thats the problem with advertising - sometimes it is difficult to tell what is and is not working.

[Carpet Dawg]

If its going free for a month then defo go for it!! what you waiting for!

But make sure your not locked in to any contracts that force to to advertise on Goolge Adwords after your free month is over. Adwords = thats what that coloured spot at the top of the search results is called.

Also, make sure he is actually from Google!

Also note that this is something you could do yourself and probably work out cheaper for you or set it to ur budget.  Just follow the steps here adwords.google.co.uk/

As for testing, just ask the customer that calls were he or she got your number from. And the admin section of your ad words account will also clock how many "clickds" or"hits" your advert gets.

thanks
tony

[yorky]

Don't pay someone else for "pay per click". You can do it far cheaper yourself than paying them to do it. There are also plenty of companies ripping people off just now taking unauthorized amounts from cards.

It's not difficult getting on the first page of the sponsored listing's

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

The 'coloured section' is the sponsored links which you can get for a hell of a lot cheaper than £119 simply by using Google Adwords!!

I cannot believe for 1 second he was actually from Google!!

[yorky]

If its going free for a month then defo go for it!! what you waiting for!

But make sure your not locked in to any contracts that force to to advertise on Goolge Adwords after your free month is over. Adwords = thats what that coloured spot at the top of the search results is called.

Also, make sure he is actually from Google!

Also note that this is something you could do yourself and probably work out cheaper for you or set it to ur budget.  Just follow the steps here adwords.google.co.uk/

As for testing, just ask the customer that calls were he or she got your number from. And the admin section of your ad words account will also clock how many "clickds" or"hits" your advert gets.

thanks
tony

They will ask for a card payment and there are numerous examples of overpayment. They will not be Google but private companies.

[Carpet Dawg]

They will ask for a card payment and there are numerous examples of overpayment. They will not be Google but private companies.

sounds like you have had a bad experience lol

I'm top of google for all my search terms so i dont need it for the carpet cleaning biz, but i do use it for other bits and bobs i do online.

[yorky]

They will ask for a card payment and there are numerous examples of overpayment. They will not be Google but private companies.

sounds like you have had a bad experience lol

I'm top of google for all my search terms so i dont need it for the carpet cleaning biz, but i do use it for other bits and bobs i do online.

Never got robbed myself but I did google the names of a couple of companies that offered me the deal and it did not make pretty reading. I would always advise to do the same with any company that you are not sure of.

[murky]

I think the same people rang me.

The name of the firm was Matchmaker I think.

Murky

[Joe H]

Matchmaker is just one of more then a few that are doing it - there are others.

[yorky]

I think the same people rang me.

The name of the firm was Matchmaker I think.

Murky

Matchmaker marketing have already changed their name on one occasion due to problems.  Google" matchmaker marketing scam."

I actually had a call from them and the girl stated" my colleagues are lying to people but I will be honest with you"

You could not make it up.

[rich hand]

I tried sponsored listing for 3 months in 5 different areas costing £100/mth. Cancelling this month after about 3 calls. Natural listing gives me several calls per week.

[Carpet Dawg]

I tried sponsored listing for 3 months in 5 different areas costing £100/mth. Cancelling this month after about 3 calls. Natural listing gives me several calls per week.

people are becoming "Ads by google" blind! lik we how we ignore banner adverts.
organic listing are much more powerful.

[garyhumphreys]

Fact: Google do not employ any sales staff to make outbound calls. Thet are making enough money without setting up sales call centres. Some companies will rip you off and are no more than scammers. If you want to advertise on Google, search their site for business options ie: Adwords (where you pay per click onto your site).

[yorky]

I tried sponsored listing for 3 months in 5 different areas costing £100/mth. Cancelling this month after about 3 calls. Natural listing gives me several calls per week.

people are becoming "Ads by google" blind! lik we how we ignore banner adverts.
organic listing are much more powerful.

I would agree with that. I have just never managed to get up the organic listings.

[Goldfinch PCS]

On the Topic of Free Ads

We have added Goldfinch Cleaning Services to Freeindex.co.uk - A completely FREE and genuinely good UK business site, and thought this may be a useful business tool for your company as well.

FreeIndex is a Business Directory, Job Site, and Business Advice Centre all rolled into one. The site gets over 850,000 visitors a month, so it really is worth adding your business to it. People say they are getting new business enquiries from the site all the time.

Signing up to the site only takes a few minutes, and its dead easy to do.

Sign Up Here : http://www.freeindex.co.uk/signup.htm?ref=R208464

[yorky]

On the Topic of Free Ads

We have added Goldfinch Cleaning Services to Freeindex.co.uk - A completely FREE and genuinely good UK business site, and thought this may be a useful business tool for your company as well.

FreeIndex is a Business Directory, Job Site, and Business Advice Centre all rolled into one. The site gets over 850,000 visitors a month, so it really is worth adding your business to it. People say they are getting new business enquiries from the site all the time.

Signing up to the site only takes a few minutes, and its dead easy to do.

Sign Up Here : http://www.freeindex.co.uk/signup.htm?ref=R208464

I would second that. I have had a job from them lately.

[Adam P]

i can't beleive people are suggesting to go ahead with this scam  don't ever give away your money to anyone claming to be from google. the coloured section as peopel have mentioned is paid for any way, you just simply sign up to google adwords and then start paying whatever for that spot. google will rotate so you will always at some point have a ad there, so when they say they guarantee it it's because thats how it works. google then will charge you whatever you want, £1 per day, £5 per day, 0.40p per click etc.

very easy to run as well and a hell of a lot cheaper then getting a third party to do it.

plus if first month is free, that's because all the others more then pay for it, first month is never free remember. this is a scam and you should stay far away from it.

on another note the fire fighters called me up today saying they are doing a leaflet in my area and wanted a cleaning company to be on it. it was £750 for it but it seemed worth it as it helps the local kids who has lost family to fires. what do people think? good idea?

[derek west]

another scam mate.

[Mark Lawrence]

i can't beleive people are suggesting to go ahead with this scam  don't ever give away your money to anyone claming to be from google. the coloured section as peopel have mentioned is paid for any way, you just simply sign up to google adwords and then start paying whatever for that spot. google will rotate so you will always at some point have a ad there, so when they say they guarantee it it's because thats how it works. google then will charge you whatever you want, £1 per day, £5 per day, 0.40p per click etc.

very easy to run as well and a hell of a lot cheaper then getting a third party to do it.

plus if first month is free, that's because all the others more then pay for it, first month is never free remember. this is a scam and you should stay far away from it.

on another note the fire fighters called me up today saying they are doing a leaflet in my area and wanted a cleaning company to be on it. it was £750 for it but it seemed worth it as it helps the local kids who has lost family to fires. what do people think? good idea?

Just looked at your site (nice by the way) - you only mention Public Liability insurance. Have you not got Treatments Risk 

Just thought I'd let you know mate. Im sure you know already that this covers you for items physically being cleaned - as opposed to property damage etc that liability covers for. Theyre not the same thing unfortunately.

Mark

[Adam P]

thanks for the compliment mark.

never heard of treatments risk before so no haven't got it. is it worth it considering we don't do carpet cleaning ourselves, just the rest of the property, and at the moment we say there is a £250 excess on any claim payable by the customer (was recommend this by another member here)

[Joe H]

I cant see how you can expect the customer to pay the excess clause on YOUR policy.
If you damage something surely you should expect to pay.
You may get away with it due to ignorance but if there was a legal challenge it would be interesting what the view would be.

[Karen Waterworth]

I think the problem with internet ad's and ad words is getting it wright, then by chance you manage to get at the top, but it only lasts for a few weeks, then you start moving down again because some other people manage it, you spend more time trying to sort it out than doing the cleaning.

when we tried ad words we set a limit, guess what we got clicks all the time by 9.00am most mornings are link was gone not to return until the following day (google informed us click fraud)

Google maps?? again you go on your local map great you know there are only a couple of cc,s in your area and it's free, but omg 10 new cc companies have moved to your area within a week, whats going on?

Then we go on yell.com again you pay to advertise in your own area (area = your real business trading address/postcode), you do it because you judge the amount of companies that will show in that given search, but again companies show on that search which dont belong in your area (area = real business trading address/postcode). whats going on?? Oh i am talking about the listing that is under the sponsored list on yell.com the ones that cost about £600.00 unless you are part of a national company with branches then it cost about £130.00ish per area.

It is hard to work out what will work and what is a waste of money, but one thing i think is correct you do need to advertise it will always cost money and time.