| LED Digest 1978: Checks for Click Fraud? |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest post, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. June 7, 2005 Issue #1978 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Cheating Google (and Spiders) ==-- ~ Reg Charie "After reading the [Internet.com] article I took a look at the 'Articles' link..." --== A Google Click Fraud Check ==-- ~ Diane Dennis "...I NEVER made a complaint. Google found this fraud and credited me $230.25..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Cancelled Orders ==-- ~ David Spahr "A lot depends on what you sell and what your goals are." ~ Sharon Ardito "How about sending a confirmation email to the customer before charging them...?" ~ Gerardo Garcia "Why you don't do like the regular stores?" ~ Martha Retallick "I suggest that we e-book publishers become more like software publishers." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Dropped off Google ==-- ~ Jonathan Webb ======= NEW ===================================== From: Reg Charie Subject: "Cheating Google (and Spiders)" article As a full time web designer I try to work within the rules to get my client's sites top billing for their particular products, usually with excellent results. As such, my normal routine includes reading a lot of email newsletters and browsing sites and forums for new information on SEO and site building. Active News from 15 Seconds had an article on Exporting HTML from Word http://snipurl.com/fena [internet.com] which was of interest to me as I have a few clients that like to do updates and would prefer to work in word rather than in a HTML editor. After reading the article I took a look at the "Articles" link and scrolling down through them I came across "Cheating Google (and Spiders) by Matteo G.P. Flora" http://snipurl.com/fenb [asp101.com] who goes on to state: ---------------------------- "Choosing and sorting is the core of the World... and even ASP has the capabilities to "understand" who is coming. I've seen many examples on the web that implement a sort of "redirect the spiders to another page" mechanisms. It doesn't work. The spider will be aware of the redirect (302 error code: moved) and will not index the SOURCE page, only (maybe) the destination. And that's bad. In the following lines I'll guide you to implement a strange kind of page. A page that behaves differently on "normal browsers" and on "spiders", allowing the first to see the "stylish" page, and the latter to see a "stylish" page with a "welcome spider" section." ---------------------------- He then goes on to give a working example of the ASP code to effectively get the spiders to read something different than a regular visitor would. I certainly hope that the search spiders can catch on to this "cheat" as it again opens the door to "fudged" results, something that none of us want. Thank You, Reg Charie www.dotcom-productions.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Diane Dennis Subject: My reimbursement from Google for click fraud... Hey Everyone! This is a terrific list, as everyone always says, I've learned a lot from the folks who take the time to keep this discussion list going so thank you! :) About Google Adwords and click fraud. The most amazing thing happened to me the other day... I was looking at my Adwords account and I saw a credit from Google for $230.25 for the month of April. I emailed them to inquire about the credit and their response was that it was due to the fact that they had found that I had been a victim of click fraud. Now, everything I've read about click fraud and Google states that Google will investigate ONLY if you go to them with proof that you've been victimized. I'm here to say nope, they don't investigate and fix these issues only when a complaint is made, as I NEVER made a complaint. Google found this fraud and credited me $230.25 in a month that I incurred only $263.46 in charges, even though I never complained to them about the click fraud. :) I just had to sing their praises, to let others know that Google is taking care of us even when we don't realize we've been victimized. :) That's all from me today, I wish the best to everyone! Diane Dennis http://www.thecontractorsgroup.com ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: David Spahr Subject: Cancelled orders > Many people are happy to steal from an anonymous > website but fewer will steal from a private individual. > I have started to change many of the "we's" on my > website to "I's"... The other thing I do is send clearly > hand written emails to each and every client... - Jonathan Webb, LED 1976 I agree with Jonathan to a large degree. I have always run my site this way since 97. It has always been a good thing. People in my business expect nothing less than personal attention anyway. A lot depends on what you sell and what your goals are. I just try to make a living from one year to the next. I have no pretentions of becoming real big. (Ok, maybe a few). I always respond in a way that lets people know that it is me. I am part of the product. No corporate sounding anonymity or important sounding flunky business titles. Many of us find that off-putting. It should be noted that this is what link farmers and other solicitors / losers do. I like to distance myself from that. I do not understand why people would want to be so impersonal and risk putting themselves in the same category as these annoying people. I stay personal. I give about one or two refunds a year on average. My site is also there so I can acquire items. It works tremendously well. I can't tell you how important this is. It is almost more important than selling. I sell antique items not widgets made in China / wherever. Without merchandise I am sunk. This helps me to stay home and not go to antique shops, shows, auctions etc. There is less to find there than there used to be in these venues because of the internet / eBay. This is an aspect I never see being talked about on this forum. Buying. Buying on the internet absolutely requires that you are both personal and personable. I can have a slow sales month and if it is a good buying month it is still a good thing. I don't make a big splash with Alexa but have always made money from my sites from the moment they opened pretty much and I do tremendously well in Google with the searches that matter to me. Google loves my simplicity apparently. I have actually removed some of the fancies, bells, whistles etc. Simple works well and has a more personal feel. Antique customers do not need flash, blogs, fancy graphics, shopping carts etc. They are often Luddites and want / need things to be simple. Almost everyone that visits my site already knows what they are looking for and why they are there. (No, they probably don't look at my code to decide). Jonathan sells only a few items a week so he can afford to hit a customer with email every step of the way. The nature of his product is such that this works well for him. I can't always do that since I often have a large number of sales in a week. I do use some file menu responses but they do have a personal feel. You always know you got it directly from me. I try not to send too many though. Sometimes fewer is better. For people with fat mailboxes like mine it is. David Spahr dspahr3d, stereoviews.com -------- new post - same topic ------- From: Sharon Ardito Subject: Cancelled orders How about sending a confirmation email to the customer before charging them and before sending them the product. If they send back a "Yes, I want your product and I understand that I cannot cancel after you've sent me the product" email they'll have no way to say the order was made in error. Set up an auto-responder so that it's done automatically after someone makes an order. That should protect you from cancellations after you've sent the product. Hope this helps. Sharon Ardito www.partypalooza.com -------- new post - same topic ------- From: Gerardo Garcia Subject: Cancelled orders Why you don't do like the regular stores? When you send the media, wrap it with a plastic container and you can only accept the media if it is unopened with your seal; or like the envelopes from NetFlixs or Blockbuster On line. Gerardo Garcia http://www.itisadeal.com/ -------- new post - same topic ------- From: Martha Retallick Subject: Cancelled orders > Recently, orders from my website have been getting > cancelled and refunds requested... I sell digital content > that is sent to the customer on CD-ROM. - George Oliver, LED 1974 Unfortunately, George has discovered one of the seldom talked-about, but huge, problems of online selling. You have to deal with a certain class of lowlife purchasers who I like to call "renters." You know the ones: They buy your product via download or via CD, then, days, hours, or even minutes later, they want a refund. Sometimes, they'll give you some sort of vague reason like, "This e-book didn't meet my needs." Then, you, being the concerned and trying-to-be-helpful online publisher that you are, will send them an e-mail saying, in effect, "I'm sorry that the e-book did not meet your needs. I'm always interested in improving my e-books. What would you suggest I do to improve them?" The "renter," having gotten your product for free, does not respond to your sincere request for feedback. And off he/she goes to dupe some other online publisher. The solution? I suggest that we e-book publishers become more like software publishers. Notice how whenever you purchase and download software, you have to agree to a license agreement first. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that a license agreement says that if you don't like its terms, you can check the "disagree" box. This means that the software won't be installed on your computer, and you can request a refund. But if you do agree to the terms and go ahead and install the software, well, sorry, Charlie, no refunds. Martha Retallick "The Passionate Postcarder" http://www.postcardmarketingsecrets.com ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Jonathan C K Webb Subject: Google dropped A huge thanks to Rhoda Schueller and Jenny Halasz in LED and all who pointed out the need for 301 redirects, you've shone a light in the Google darkness. All is now clear, I suspected there might be something wrong with my meta redirects, now it all makes sense. I have deleted every single file that is duplicated and put a 301 on the whole site. I also had a third site with a few pages on which I had also moved to the new host and I will kill off the meta refreshes there too. Under the circumstances that is the most useful single piece of information I have ever had from any source on the internet on any subject. Its only taken 5 minuets to fix, I just wish I new it in December! Regards, Jonathan Webb www.webbaviation.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2005 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls." - Epicurus |
