Be careful when you google cccs

aarhus_2

From past experience (as a customer of Adwords) every click costs money. However they do do click fraud protection (i.e. a competitor clicking through) but a certain threshold has to be reached.

Getting to a be a sponsored link at the top requires (from memory) that you are turning over (for a google) a significant volume of clicks.

Larumbelle

Sponsered links at the top of the page cost a lot more per click than the ones at the side.

As I previously mentioned, I was the victim of 'competitor clicks' so I don't think their system is that sophisticated. Especially when a large number of people do a few clicks here and there...

MKDon

southernscouser wrote: »

What I have just noticed is that Payplan have a sponsored link aswell? :think:

And guess what 1 of them are the same bunch with the c-c-c-s.com site. Will add to my ever growing list!!

Did you get my PM BTW?

aarhus_2

The thresholds are based on the number of clicks come from net blocks (similar IPs) so - in this case - it is unlikely to trigger.

luckily we have never been hit by the click fraud - were you badly hit?

Larumbelle

MKDon, you couldn't PM the info to me too could you? I am all fired up now and on a bit of a crusade...

southernscouser

silvercharming wrote: »

MKDon, you couldn't PM the info to me too could you? I am all fired up now and on a bit of a crusade...

Easy tiger! :eek: :rotfl:

aarhus_2

Found a quick way to find more. Once you have identified one site they (by law) have to show their consumer credit license on the site with some exact phrase.

Google for

"consumer credit" Licence XXXXX

where XXXXX is their number quickly lists the sites owned by the same people


HTH

(aarhus the serial lurker - may disappear at any point )

ZTD

Even typing in "Citizens Advice" brings some up...

Larumbelle

aarhus wrote: »

luckily we have never been hit by the click fraud - were you badly hit?

It helped send my yearbook publishing venture out of business in its second year. The man responsible - most of us UK yearbook peeps are just individuals with second-hand copiers running off our PCs or printers dabbling as a sideline - was quite open and even boastful of what he'd done, but even with written evidence the police weren't interested. Google were useless and did nothing.

It could have been worse. In the long run I sold the copier, server and binding machine for about what I paid, and I earned a fair bit of money over that first year, so I'm not (that) bitter. I achieved a fair bit but I was in a sticky place with it anyway; spending too much time on it to do as a hobby but not quite earning enough to leave my job for it. I've been cutting A3 paper down to A4 ever since, too!

pandapaws

:T Good spot SS, well worth pointing out.

I don't really use Google, but search on Yahoo. A while ago I looked into their 'Sponsored Search' for my website, but decided against it as it was too pricey. I'm guessing it's basically the same as the Google Adwords you refer to.

Anyway, when I Yahoo-gled CCCS, there were 2 sponsored links - first one for 'Debt Advice Trust' who claim to be not-for-profit, you guys probably know more about them already, I've never heard of them.

The second was more worrying: Debtreliever. Most notable was the FAQ on their website:

Is my debt reduced?
Yes, we get creditors to agree to reduce your debt

and the statement that:
If you owe more than £15,000, Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is often the best solution.

I don't think I like these people very much.

Similar results when searching for Payplan and National Debtline. So anyone who fancies 'looking repeatedly' at these sites may also wish to click repeatedly on the sponsored links on Yahoo as well!