Lots of Scout troops from out of state visit Glacier National Park every year.
Some of them use our local Scout camp property as a “base camp” for a week or two of treks they make into the Bob Marshall, Glacier Park and elsewhere.
One thing they depend on us for is referrals to quality local businesses for various outdoor adventures. As volunteers, we don’t have the staff, money or licenses to be an outfitter, so we refer them to professionals.
We provide these troops with outfitter contact info on the camp website.
While looking up some websites to add to our “nearby activities” directory, I noticed that when I searched for the name of one of the outfitters, a Google Adwords ad for their direct competitor appeared at the top of the page.
“How 1999…”, I thought – a reference to tactics businesses used online way back in 1999.
Dumb and Dumber
I’ll address “dumb” first.
It could be that this business doesn’t know better or thinks they’re being clever.
The “don’t know any better” thing doesn’t wash. They wouldn’t buy a Yellow Pages or newspaper ad using the other business’ name with their own phone number in the ad? Yet they effectively do that in the hidden keywords of online ads and in their web site’s html source. The ad itself isn’t misleading, of course. How it got there is.
Like the Wild West, whatever you get away with online is legal and ethical, right? I mean It’s online, so the rules are different (if they exist at all), right?
Not hardly.
It’s obvious that outfitter-in-the-ad is advertising their business on Google Adwords using the competitor’s business name as a keyword. Likewise, the site’s meta info (source code that isn’t visible) does the same. The former is subject to discussion. The latter is uncool in any legitimate web marketer’s unwritten rulebook.
If “Joe’s Climbing Wall” bought an ad to display when “climbing walls” or “climbing walls Glacier Park” is searched, we wouldn’t have this conversation. But that isn’t the case. And this isn’t about climbing walls.
A big deal
You might not think this is worth talking about, so let me elaborate a little.
When every search for “Ford Mustang” results in seeing a Google search results page starting with Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro ads/links, users lose.
Should I expect to see both companies in the ads and search results displayed when I search for “American sports car”? Absolutely.
The key here is that this isn’t necessarily what the searcher is looking for when looking for a specific business name.
Misleading people in search results annoys Google, who wants people to find exactly what they want the first time they search.
Placing Gain next to Tide on the shelf at your grocery is fair game, but different.
How’s your icemaker?
Even for the ethically challenged, using a competitor’s business name as an advertising keyword is a bad idea.
If someone calls your HDTV store and asks about the newest 3D TV models and your salesperson says “Well, our refrigerators all have in-door icemakers”, would you expect a positive reaction?
It’s foolish. Likewise, so is advertising your business using someone else’s business name.
The other shoe
This could be an innocent mistake or something a web developer did on their own.
What really troubles me is that it makes me wonder.
When it comes to sending Scouts out into the woods or on the water, that wonder extends to…
- Whether your safety equipment is up to par, or you just say it is.
- Whether your staff is properly trained, or you just say they are.
It’s the last thought you want in the heads of folks who funnel hundreds of young, out-of-state visitors to businesses like yours.
What sends signals about your business?
Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a business, operations or marketing problem? See Mark’s site or contact him via email at mriffey at flatheadbeacon.com.