I don’t normally like to get into bitchy slagging off about other businesses – mostly because I don’t generally have any reason to, but also because I don’t think it is an appropriate way for someone to conduct themselves… but in this instance I felt something needed to be said.

I discovered last night that when you google my business name (Obsidian Star), there is another business that appears in the sponsored link (I don’t need to name them, you can google it and see for yourself)  Why is that unusual you ask…. sponsored links come up all the time when you google….  well, it is unusual if you know how those sponsored links work…. let me explain.

They are called “adwords”.  To be listed there you have to create an adword account, and you choose the keywords you want for your ad.  In other words, if you want your ads to show up when people google “daisy” or “flowers” then you select the keywords “daisy”, “flowers” and so on.  You can have lots of keywords if you want.  You then have an agreed price you will pay each time someone clicks on your ad… that’s how they are “sponsored” – It’s paid advertising…. just that the people pay for each click they receive, rather than paying a fee for having the ad displayed.  So the only way for an ad to appear in that sponsored links section is for the person behind the ad to set up an adword keyword for that particular search term.

Why is it then interesting for there to be a sponsored link when you google my business name?  Because that means that whoever has an ad there, has put “obsidian star” in their keyword list for their adwords.  I googled “star” and “obsidian” on their own, and the particular business didn’t show in the list for those terms, so that means they have the whole thing “obsidian star” in their list…. and that can’t be an accidental coincidence.

So why is it there?   Well, I’ve e-mailed them to ask (no answer of course).  I would like to think there is a logical and innocent reason behind it…. but to be honest, I can’t think of one.   The most obvious reason to me is that if people google “Obsidian Star” chances are they have heard about my business, and most of what I do is selling cloth pads, and therefore having an ad show up when people search for me – that links to the cloth pad category on your website – will be one way to direct people to your website to buy cloth pads from you, rather than from me.  I mean, that’s exactly what the adwords are for – they are placing your ad on a search page that is directly targetted to the type of audience you want your ad to be seen by.  “Obsidian Star” however is not a generic term… it’s not like having your ad appear when people google “cloth pad” or “car” or something…  It is only targetting people who google my actual business name.  It’s the same as if Macdonalds made it so that an ad for them comes up if people google “Hungry Jacks” or something.   It’s not illegal  (Although the ACCC are currently investigating exactly this type of thing), but to me it’s not an ethical way of getting advertising.  You can almost excuse it in something like the HJ/Maccas example, since they are a cut-throat industry and we don’t expect anything more of them… but we are talking here about a small little WAHM community – I wouldn’t have thought we would need to stoop down to the level of that.

I suppose I should feel very flattered that my business name is seen to be enough of a search term for someone to want to have their ad appear when people google it.  However I’m not impressed at the fact a business would use my business name as an adword.  To me that’s trying to cash in on my reputation

Now I did have a store on that site, back in 2006 (I left amicably I thought – I just left to open my own store)…I don’t know how long they have had my business name as one of their keywords.  If it was set up when I had a store there, that’s a pretty long time to continue to have that set up – especially since every click they get from it costs them money.  It could be said that a reason for having my name in their adwords when I had a store there could be to help my customers find my products on their site….so I can see how that could be an appropriate reason for that – back then…. but even if it was set up way back then, there is no point in still having my business name linked to their site when I am no longer there.

If it was set up after I closed my store, then there would seem to be no legitimate reason for them to have my business name as a keyword for their ad.  Other than to drive customers to their store who search for me.  I’ve also tried googling all the stores on there, and it seems I’m the only one lucky enough to be on their list (Even stores which were there when I was, and are still there, are not seemingly on their list).  So it would seem that it is not a general policy to set up keywords for all the businesses on their site.  Which again makes me wonder why they have my business name in their keywords.

It’s not just me who finds it an unethical way to promote your business:

“It is the ACCC’s perspective that purchasing a competitor’s AdWord within a Google AdWord program can lead to confusion amongst consumers and that it is an inappropriate advertising practice.”

Link

So…..  that site obviously wants people to go to there to have a look…. so, please feel free to google “Obsidian Star” to see which website I’m talking about – and then go visit them