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Google recently got into the credit card business and they expanded the program recently.
A WebmasterWorld thread has one advertiser claiming a Google sales person called him yesterday and aggressively tried influencing him to sign up with an AdWords credit card. He said the sales pitch was way over top. He wrote:
I just got a call from Google trying to push a 'free' (11.9% APR) credit card on me for use with AdWords.The guy on the phone was very pushy I had to tell him 3 or 4 times that I didn't want another bloody credit card.
Are things really that bad at Google?
Did you get a call from Google selling you their AdWords credit card? Did you have the same experience?
I have a feeling Google isn't making these calls but the banks are.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Comments:
Jamie_Griff
11/21/2012 01:57 pm
Yup, looks like the Googlecard is a Barclays Bank product. Those guys definitely aren't known for dubious selling practices http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19995283
Barry Schwartz
11/21/2012 01:59 pm
That is in the UK.
One eyed Larry
11/21/2012 03:13 pm
I have gotten calls too but didn't bite. Google is desperate, not for money since they are profitable, but to make more than the previous quarter. Panda, Penguin and all ads above fold have done almost everything they could, so Google has to try other things. Mark my words, in less than a year, Google will implode. The SERP fraud will become obvious and their earnings growth will go down by a lot. Too greedy, too fast with Larry. The media and especially search blogs have let the world down by not reporting this, but once they start it will be over in no time. P.S. Google now tries micro-fraud with personalization: when you search for a camera, for example, and are logged in, towards the end of the research funnel the results get much worst, this is so you click on ads. Many time, I see the mangled-by-Google title of very relevant sites, making one wary of clicking there (ads are perfect.) I wonder how many sites are receiving less shopper, given that Google is fishing them for Adwords. Try it for yourself, in many cases you will notice that ads are ideally matching your query but SERPs are not. That's a feature, not a bug. That's not legal FYI, that's major fraud. Google is the biggest fraud perpetuated on the American economy--ever.
One eyed Bandit Larry
11/21/2012 03:25 pm
Barry, have you seen the phenomenon of sites just getting visitors that do not convert? Maybe you should write a post about it or a poll. On a few of my client sites the conversions from Google visitors stop for hours and even days at a time. It's definitely on purpose, normal visitors turn into zombies and ghosts. You see them, but do not see them since they do not convert. Then I notice that Google announces record, quarter after quarter even as search loses it's luster and peaks.
ethalon
11/21/2012 03:43 pm
I manage a rather large AdWords account and we haven't been contacted about a card yet. We were contacted and given a walkthrough in setting up a marketplace account, with a big push towards setting up stalker ads (he actually called them stalker ads on the phone), but nothing about a card. I wonder if we haven't been contacted because of our total ad spend or even because we pay the bill on-time, every-time. It would be interesting to see if those who have been contacted are primarily small-ish accounts and/or if they are accounts which have had delays in paying the monthly bill. Barry: I am with you on it possibly being a bank who has been doing the calling. I have never been called by Google, only e-mailed with an invitation to set up a call or requesting some time for me to make a call to them.
Kevin Gerding
11/21/2012 07:05 pm
This is probably just another tool for Google to get into everyone's wallet. Literally. No call from Google (yet), but it would not surprise me if they moved from ad spam to phone spam.