Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
bradmccarty.me
Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
1–10 of 28 posts
Re: Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
#2Probably because they use an automated tool for generating ads, saw this was a "related keyword" and stuffed the search query into the opening line of the ad so it would appear more relevant.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Hanlon's Razor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlons_razor
Re: Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
#3There's actually a few tactics being used here that's very common in search engine marketing (SEM) that's not necessarily intentional (at least the ad copy part):
- They are targeting "meeting burner" and variations as part of standard expansion strategies. In fact, some of this could have been suggested by Google through Keyword Suggestions. Has meetingburner filed a trademark protection request with Google to prevent competitors from using their name in their ad copy? Google actually doesn't protect your keyword from being a "trigger" to show ads since they claim that the user intent is to search for "meeting software" and both companies have relevance to that query. Usually, if it's your brand name, you should have an exceedingly high Quality Scores which translates to your competitors paying extremely high CPCs to even show up against your brand. Try using "meetingburner - Official Site" to let people know the other ad is not meetingburner.
- The ad copy appears to be using dynamic keyword insertion so it's using keywords being targeted to build the ads so it's something like "{KeyWord} Software" and it could be "Meeting Burner Software" or "Online Meeting Software" depending on the keyword being used but the ad copy can be universally used and not specifically targeted at meetingburner. Filing a trademark protection request with Google will automatically flag/disable competitor ads that can trigger against your trademarked terms.
Re: Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
#4Probably because they use an automated tool for generating ads, saw this was a "related keyword" and stuffed the search query into the opening line of the ad so it would appear more relevant. "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Hanlon's Razor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlons_razor
There was a pretty good explanation of how this process works: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4086887
It seems they would have had to purposely put "MeetingBurner" as one of the keywords to be stuffed into the ad. If they truly are just that stupid then it speaks as much about them than if they were being malicious. o_0 It sure does look shady to me.
Re: Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
#5It is always possible their adwords sales person suggested it. Ever since Google prevailed in their advertising against trademarks suit [1] where they aren't responsible for folks who buy ads against someone else's trade or service mark I see more of it (well when I use Google anyway, which is hardly ever :-)
I expect that some sociopath at GotoMeeting has the 'win' bit set to "we get more referrals from Google" and they haven't had a penalty created for being underhanded (or as they would no doubt say, competitive). Bid more for your own name and you won't get ads on top of you. Google wins, you lose. Sorry about that.
[1] http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2012/01/keyword_adverti... - and many links at the end.
Re: Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
#6Probably because they use an automated tool for generating ads, saw this was a "related keyword" and stuffed the search query into the opening line of the ad so it would appear more relevant. "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Hanlon's Razor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlons_razor
"Ignorance is no excuse" - I don't need a wiki article to demonstrate this
Re: Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
#7I've been using MeetingBurner for about 3 months now, and it's not just the price (free) that won me over, it's the ease of use for participants compared to the other services.
When you're dealing with clients, a bad web meeting experience can damage your reputation, even though you had nothing to do with why it was bad.
I use Screenleap.com when I need to show things quickly, and MeetingBurner when I'm doing a more formal meeting and need both a conference line and a traditional screencast.
There are only two UX issues I have with MeetingBurner, and that's the need to download an "app" each time I present (which I can deal with), and the fact that the conference line doesn't beep when new people join the call (which really needs to change ASAP).
Re: Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
#8There are also folks who do what is known as affiliate marketing that may be behind this. GoToMeeting may not have actually placed the ad, however an affiliate marketer (3rd party) may have placed the ad in hopes to get click through dollars.
Re: Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
#9It is always possible their adwords sales person suggested it. Ever since Google prevailed in their advertising against trademarks suit [1] where they aren't responsible for folks who buy ads against someone else's trade or service mark I see more of it (well when I use Google anyway, which is hardly ever :-) I expect that some sociopath at GotoMeeting has the 'win' bit set to "we get more referrals from Google" and…
That would be my take too, some idiot sales guy thought it would be a good idea. I'm pretty sure that does not come from management.
Obviously that goes against google ads rules and you don't want your company ban from there if you are legit (gotomeeting seems to be)
Re: Why is GoToMeeting being a scumbag?
#10free for 15 people meeting, that's like 95% of the market, and I wonder if they can sustain the business model?
when we use this kind of online conference tools, any concern on internal IP(say, it's recorded without your knowledge)? I would like to buy similar software to host my own conferences instead, though I don't think anyone is doing that.