Too Good To Be True?

Yesterday a client forwarded a solicitation from a company called Star Position, who had an apparently fool-proof method for getting them to the "top" of all major search engine results for a single search term, all for a single fixed fee.

It's a very seductive pitch to small business owners struggling with the rising cost of PPC advertising. I took a look at their site and the description of their product. It is a virtual clone of an offering from a company called "Rocket Positions" that thrived with aggressive sales tactics and a series of affiliates companies seemingly designed to hide their identity. The fact that the "Business Segment Analyst" sent the email from a residential email address was an easy-to-spot red flag.

Do they get you to the top of all the major search engines? Yes!

EXCEPT...you only appear on the top of search engines for people who have been unlucky enough to download their browser plugin, which puts a large scrolling frame at the top of the browser when you conduct a web search. Advertisers who purchase a keyword can put whatever they want in that frame, including the landing page of their website related to the search term.

Now, let's think about this from the customer's prospective. How many people want to see a giant ad taking up a third of their screen when they are searching for something? Not many. How many people download this thing without realizing that it does this? Most, I'd say. How hard is it to remove from your system? I didn't install their product, but I practically had to wipe my hard drive to remove the Rocket Positions plugin from my computer.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.