How can you tell the difference between an ethical Internet marketing company and an unethical one? A good rule of thumb is if they’re being sued by Google, then they’re probably not on the up-and-up. It was really only a matter of time, but it looks like Google is finally putting an end to those online ads that are using Google’s name and trying to trick people into ordering work-at-home kits.
Google filed a lawsuit Monday in the federal court in Salt Lake City against an Internet marketing company called Pacific Webworks and some other unnamed defendants. If you haven’t seen the online ads, a recent Cnet article has a good example of what they look like. They seem to be delivered as online ads, pop-up ads or promotional emails. Carrying the banner of a nonexistent newspaper, the LA News, they look more like newspaper headlines than online ads.
Interested consumers are asked to pay an “instant access” fee or a “shipping and handling fee” for a DVD that is supposed to explain how they can make money with the program. The lawsuit states that those who pay the fees receive a DVD that contain viruses or send them to Google’s online help center, which is a free site to use.
It should be pretty clear that this is an abhorrent scheme. Hopefully Google’s lawsuit will have a quick effect. Thankfully, Google has been doing other things to combat this scam, such as addressing the issue in a recent Google blog post. And Websites like the always-valuable Snopes and RipOffReport have also taken on the issue. If you haven’t visited them yet, both Snopes and RipOffReport are excellent resources for anyone looking for the veracity of a company or scheme like this. Remember, online Internet marketing scams aren’t always as easy to spot as this latest faux-Google one. It’s always a good idea to check out what others are saying about it before you sign up for anything on the Web.
