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Google search for a local restaurant returns scammer’s ad as top result

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Re: Google search for a local restaurant returns scammer’s ad as top result

#121

Post by aikinai »

davidkuennen wrote: post #61

It has always boggled my mind that you're even allowed to publish ads targeting other companies brand names as keywords without being the verified owner of that company. But I understand Google here. It's probably their single biggest income stream. Our company is using a very big chunk of our ad words budget targeting our own brand name to make sure it's on top. More than for any other keyword by far. And I imagine…

I disagree that it’s a scam to advertise over someone else’s name as long as it’s clear and you’re not trying to confuse the user. I’ve found better alternatives than what I was looking for through competitor ads. I’ve had this happen on Google and the App Store and I appreciate it.

It gives newer, or less well-known, companies a chance to gain exposure. And consumers like me might learn about a superior option they didn’t know previously.

Edit: Thought experiment. Over in the Figma thread there’s a lot of talk about trying to ween themselves and others off Adobe products. So is it really a negative for the industry and consumers if Figma shows ads on searches for Photoshop?

Re: Google search for a local restaurant returns scammer’s ad as top result

#122

Post by BLKNSLVR »

joemi wrote: post #11

The most surprising thing about this is that someone as internet-savvy as Doctorow doesn't just skip over the ads but instead clicks on them. That's just asking for trouble.

It's important for us tech-savvy folks to be reminded of the jungle that exists out there beyond the technological walls of safety that our hard earned knowledge has afforded us.

And that those of least means all live outside those walls.

Re: Google search for a local restaurant returns scammer’s ad as top result

#123

Post by jeffbee »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #117
jeffbee wrote: post #96

I’d like to know what the author or any of these commenters think the process would look like that would have actually stopped this advertiser. Some guy wants to advertise their Thai restaurant. They’ve got the domain name, the site is up, it works. What else is the ad marketplace supposed to check? It’s not like you can’t have the same name as another Thai restaurant. After all, the domain registrar gave them that n…

It would look a little bit like a company that's got a fuckton of relatively well curated data about the world and maybe combining that data with some kind of "artificial intelligence" to maybe produce something useful to society like a reduction in the number of scams it gives advertising space to. But maybe that's just me being shortsighted and valuing benevolence over revenue.

If you think it's so easy describe how it would work in this case, where a human already familiar with the business fell for the scam anyway.

Re: Google search for a local restaurant returns scammer’s ad as top result

#125

Post by SecretDreams »

londons_explore wrote: post #102
davidkuennen wrote: post #61

It has always boggled my mind that you're even allowed to publish ads targeting other companies brand names as keywords without being the verified owner of that company. But I understand Google here. It's probably their single biggest income stream. Our company is using a very big chunk of our ad words budget targeting our own brand name to make sure it's on top. More than for any other keyword by far. And I imagine…

> Our company is using a very big chunk of our ad words budget targeting our own brand name to make sure it's on top. You shouldn't need to do this. Googles ad auction on search multiplies your bid by a quality score when deciding which ad to show. A site that satisfies what the user is looking for will have a high quality score, whereas the 'wrong' site (ie. one for a competitor) will have a low quality score - part…

Maybe this was the case before, but it certainly feels less like this now. Auto OEM ads are the biggest offenders.

I can plug OEM 1 + Model1 and get two to three ads for OEM2/3/4 before I get the result I was looking for.

Re: Google search for a local restaurant returns scammer’s ad as top result

#126

Post by BLKNSLVR »

friend_and_foe wrote: post #13
SillyUsername wrote: post #7

Seems to me to be perfectly legal, if not morally right. Did I miss something? Perhaps not being morally right is something to have outrage about.

Who cares if it's legal or illegal. We don't have these discussions to let the law be the arbiter of morality, we have these discussions to get to the bottom of what the law ought to be, or at the very least, how we as individuals are going to respond to this kind of stuff. Personally I'm going to continue to block ads on the advice of the FBI regardless what some other people say about it, I'm going to continue to r…

Respect!

I've just recently migrated to a daily driver android phone without any Google services sitting in the background.

Stay strong, follow the path!

Re: Google search for a local restaurant returns scammer’s ad as top result

#128

Post by reportgunner »

antihero wrote: post #32

I’m just amazed Cory Doctorow of all people doesn’t use uBlock and got duped by this. I’ve always seen Google Ads as about as reliable as the fake download buttons on crappy file websites. You tune them out or block them.

I dont know who Cory Doctorow is but his credibility went way down in my eyes.

Re: Google search for a local restaurant returns scammer’s ad as top result

#129

Post by giarc »

The problem is real but this guys response is a bit over the top. In one tweet [1] he claims Google should know which one is the real restaurant. Does he think there is a person at Google reviewing all search results? Does he not understand that it's possible for two restaurants to exist with the same name? Does he not get that there are billions of searches with billions of search permutations done every minute.

1 - And why the actual FUCK is @GoogleAds accepting these scam artists' ads for a business that they already have a knowledge box for?! Google KNOWS what the real KIIN restaurant is, and yet they are accepting payment to put a fake KIIN listing two slots ABOVE the real one.

Re: Google search for a local restaurant returns scammer’s ad as top result

#130

Post by epberry »

londons_explore wrote: post #116
iconosynclast wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't seem to work very well at all. I frequently search for a particular vendor of something by name only to be served another similar vendor as the top result. It feels like it should be doable to serve these results in some sort of "you may also like these similar vendors" box or something like that which would massively improve the user experience

It doesn't work if the real company isn't an advertiser, or if they are an advertiser but aren't in this auction due to their targeting rules or being out of budget.

Appreciate these insights. I'm just getting into setting this up for my company.
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