Google Responds to Work from Home Scams
Gina Kaysen Fernandes, a writer for momlogic.com, contacted me recently as she was preparing an article for MomLogic on home-based business and work from home scams. Essentially, she wanted to know if any of the many advertised home business and work from home opportunities were actually legitimate. During our conversation, I mentioned the Google work from home scam I had been following and I told her how many people were getting ripped off or came awfully close to it. I also mentioned to her that the FTC was starting to clamp down on an organization that featured the Google work from home scam in a variety of ways. Apparently, I got Gina's attention, as her article, Home Based Hoax, Don't be fooled by work-at-home schemes has now been published on MomLogic.
Fernandes was able to get a response from Google, which I have been unable to do so far. In her article, she writes:
In their defense, the company issued the following statement to momlogic: "As Google is not affiliated with these sites, we can't comment on individual claims. However, we recommend that users exercise the same amount of caution they would when evaluating other types of get rich quick claims. If there are trademark concerns regarding sites that misuse Google Trademarks, our Legal team reviews them and takes appropriate action if necessary."
In addition to links to these scams being created in Google AdWords and then published on sites that post Google Adsense ads, these scam ads show up in email and have been also showing up in pop-ups lately. Google should be banning these phony ads through its AdWords program as the landing pages used violate several conditions of Google's AdWords program policy, especially when it comes to their landing page and site quality guidelines, including, at the very least:
- Under the Relevant and Original Content section: "Feature unique content that can't be found on another site. This guideline is particularly applicable to resellers whose site is identical or highly similar to another reseller's or the parent company's site, and to affiliates that use..." How the scam fails: I know for a fact that the identical content is being used on a variety of the Google work from home scam sites. In fact, the blog comments posted on many of these landing pages are identical, they are supposedly from the same people saying how much money they made, and they use the same images of the Google AdSense checks and the account earnings screen shot. The policy goes on to state: "It's especially important to feature original content because AdWords won't show multiple ads directing to identical or similar landing pages at the same time." Oh really?
- In the Transparency Section: Visitors personal information - "Allow users to access your site's content without requiring them to register. Or, provide a preview of what users will get by registering." Sorry, these scam landing pages are a blatant violation!
- Under Navigability "Avoid excessive use of pop-ups, pop-unders, and other obtrusive elements throughout your site." On many of these scam sites, if you start filling out information and try to close the window, a pop-up appears asking you to chat with a representative. Sometimes, these pop-ups are not easy to dismiss. Violation!
Another interesting point (and I admit, I'm not a lawyer) is found in Google's Terms of Service, specifically in section 8.3:
"Google reserves the right (but shall have no obligation) to pre-screen, review, flag, filter, modify, refuse or remove any or all Content from any Service."
Wouldn't that, in and of itself, give Google the right to refuse to include these ads? Are they deliberately NOT refusing the ads because they don't want to appear biased?
Yes, Google's making money from the ads. But I have to believe with as blatantly false as the claims being made are and with the risk they run of damaging Google's own brand and reputation, the money wouldn't matter. Plus, you have to figure, that for every time someone clicks the ad link and Google's cash register goes "ka-ching", someone else is in danger of getting scammed. Maybe we'll have to wait and see what is decided in the FTC's case against some of these swindlers. Once the court agrees that they are engaging in illegal activity, wouldn't that give Google the final reason they might need to shut these idiots down?
As I was finishing this blog post I saw another ad for this same scam ON THIS ABOUT SITE leading to a landing page designed to look like a news site. I've reported it, of course, but I'M GETTING FED UP WITH IT.
Don't get me wrong. I am a big fan of Google and everything it has to offer. But it's time they choose to step away from the scams and get off their ass, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. IT'S TIME TO STOP BEING PART OF THE PROBLEM AND BECOME A PART OF THE SOLUTION.
Hi Randy,
To start off, I have to say that I really enjoy your dedication to the cause of work-at-home professionals. I’ve been freelancing on my own for a little over a year, and I have your section of about.com on an .rss feed so that I don’t miss a post.
That said, I’m going to have to take Google’s side in this. Not because I think that they are blameless, but because I think that the task that’s being set for them is an impractical one, if not impossible. I also think that you are potentially overestimating Google’s ‘benefit’ in all this.
AdWords is a fairly automated process. You plug in your keywords, and you put in a bid. Even if these people are bidding say… $1 or $5 a keyword (and in reality I’ve seen bids as low as .03 and .05, though probably not for the keywords these scammers are using) Google only gets that dollar or five dollars if a user actually clicks on the link. By contrast, these scammers are walking away with hundreds, and in some cases thousands of dollars from individuals that they manage to take advantage of.
The reality is, the scammers need Google far more than Google needs the scammers. Another point to take away from this – these are ads. Take them with the same grain of salt as if you ran across the ad in a local newspaper. No one tries to shut down the papers for running scam ads in the business/employment section, and I guarantee that some of the same scammers you find online are still using the older mediums as well. Heck, a lot of them probably just migrated over to online scamming as soon as it became viable.
In short, Google can’t be our babysitter. Those policies are in place for particularly egregious offenses, and the ads themselves are not (as far as I know) ever viewed by a human as long as some standard guidelines are met.
We’re all big boys and girls here – there is no excuse for due diligence. Any time you’re considering any business opportunity, just type the name into a search engine plus the word “scam”. See what comes up. Make an informed choice. You can’t expect a business corporation to do that for you, whether it’s the newspaper where you’re looking for business opportunities, or an online search engine that has ads automatically placed based upon whatever you type in.
You’re doing a great job here by keeping users informed. That’s probably one of the best lines of defense: make sure information about these scams is readily available when someone starts searching to see if the opportunity is legitimate. The only way to beat the scammers is to be smarter than they are – I’m glad to see that there’s someone out there that’s up to the challenge.
Lana:
Great comment – thanks!
While I agree we all have to use due diligence, I don’t think the local newspaper would accept ads from someone they know was a con artist – I could be wrong. Since the FTC is now prosecuting some of these folks, I’d say they need to clean up their act. While we need to be careful, it’s no excuse to allow deceptive advertising and other practices which are against the law.
Your point on the cost per click is well taken. I also find it interesting that the ad I saw today (like most before it) claimed that someone got paid $25 for each click and got checks every week. How deceptive is that? Plus, Google allows these people to advertise this as a $63 per hour part-time job?
The thing that irks me, also as an Internet marketer, is that I know first-hand that Google has refused ads that were perfectly legitimate. In fact, they’ve been starting to refuse affiliate landing pages because they’re “not original content”, yet they allow these ads like the one today with the newspaper layout that use the same damn testimonials and photos and text that’s been out there a thousand times already. If they’re letting the scammers get away with it because they want to be “fair”, where’s the “fairness” in that? These people come flat out and say that “Google is hiring” and “Google advises you to buy this kit”. If it were my business, I sure as hell wouldn’t allow that, especially not when I have control over it.
Randy D.
Thanks for sharing such valuable information.I think this will help the work from home job seekers to be aware about the increasing numbers of work from home scams as well.
http://www.ezinfocenter.in
Hi again,
You bring up a valid point about the newspapers, though most include a disclaimer warning readers about the potential for scam. I also think that while most newspapers have a person who looks over ads to see if any seem suspicious, Google’s process seems automated.
I’m very curious about the affiliate landing pages versus the scam pages now. Without having seen one versus the other, I would assume that the affiliate pages are static html, while the scammers have .php or some other actively scripted page. The content might not be generated until the user actually clicks the link, and then they pull text to the page based on variables.
It also could be hidden text via .css that Google’s robot would see, that we wouldn’t. But, there’s also the chance that Google is just being plain sloppy about the approval process, which would be a shame.
I’m sure that many of these scammers are overseas, and trying to chase them down, even for what surely must be an impressive legal team up in Mountainview, is probably more expensive than it’s worth (at least to their bottom line).
But I have to agree, I wouldn’t want that type of blatant misuse of anything with my name on it, and I don’t make even 1/10000th of what Google does. When it comes down to it, it’s all about integrity, and having a brand people trust. The spammers are abusing Google’s good name, but there’s no telling how long that will viably last if Google doesn’t do something to stop it.
Lana:
Thanks again.
Not all of these characters are overseas. The latest FTC action involves a company in Las Vegas. I’ve seen others supposedly based in Vegas, and some in Utah as well. I think if consumers continue to complain, we’ll see additional action from regulatory authorities, as this is flat out deceptive advertising – in the meantime, we all have to be careful – it’s a jungle out there!
Randy D.
Ranvijay:
Your comment was trapped in my spam filter – I suspect because you posted twice, each time with a URL. You are best off linking to your site from your name (as you complete the comment it asks for your website) in the future. While I normally might not allow your link, it provides information for people looking for work in India – and since I’ve been asked about that and have no way to cover the topic, I’ve allowed it. For those who visit Ranjivay’s site, the usual precautions would apply.
In the meantime, Ranvijay and others – I welcome your comments about finding work at home in India and in other parts of the world. I know that while most of the same precautions probably apply, I respect that the culture in your countries is different, and since I have not been there I certainly can’t speak as an authority on the subject.
Randy D.
Great article! Another way to make honest money is to work as an employee at home for a well known corporation. I have been doing it successfully for more than 10 years now. It was the best thing that I ever did.
Big companies are cutting costs by hiring home workers. Below is a link to a FREE list of hundreds of LEGITIMATE stay at home jobs offered by known companies. These jobs do NOT cost you money. They are employment positions. I hope this helps some of you find success at home.
{Link removed by moderator}
WAH Mom:
You posted this same message earlier and I rejected it as spam. So this time, I let it go through but I have removed your link because the site doesn’t offer much other than a bunch of AdSense ads. While I’m not trying to mess with your potential success, I’d suggest in the future that when leaving comments, just put your URL where it says “Your Website” – that will link to your site from your name.
To others – as with any other site, use due caution. While some of the links may be okay, keep in mind that most of what you see are ads and no one can vouch for the legitimacy of those.
Randy D.
Well… some of these ads just pop up on your screen when you browse an unrelated web site. For example
popped up while I was reading news on samachar.com ( An Indian news site).
Well said. I am getting sick of seeing ads for these scams too.
I posted this on the Google Help Forum:
Look at how blatant these scams are with their lies, even claiming to quote Google!
“Google Now Hiring People To Work From Home
Google is Set To Hire A Group Of Americans To Work From Home In The Next Few Days. Thousands Of Jobs Available, Anyone Can Apply. ”
“Google has now released a new “Work From Home Program” that will allow Americans to work for the titan from the comfort of their own homes.”
“The way this works is very simple, Google says.
First you will need to apply for their work from home kits. Google has release a limited amount of kits, all distributed through local websites in your area, which will cost $2 of shipping and handling to the public. ”
Come on Google – this has been going on for months now – why don’t you sue out of existence these sites which abuse your brand like this?
You are allowing the trust in the Google brand name to be damaged by these affiliates of the cpa networks who create these flogs (fake news sites/blogs) full of lies.
Neil:
Some pop up blocker software (like that included with some security suites) might help. Otherwise, I’d let the site know that you don’t appreciate the ads for scams popping up on their site. I converted the URL you posted to an image so the SOBs don’t get a link from my site.
Randy D.
John:
Good post. I converted the link to an image so these jerks don’t get a link from my site.
I’ve seen similar posts in Google forums – they seem to go unanswered. Sometimes it makes me if Google monitors the forums at all, or if they are selectively disregarding these.
Randy D.
It is impossible for Google to monitor all of these forums and spam emails. Take a look at the number of scam emails for banks, reward programs, online games, etc. My take is that before you start pointing the finger at Google, take a look at the number of scams on the internet; you will find that it is quite impossible to stop all of it.
Brent:
Thanks for your comment. I agree, it’s impossible for anyone to stop the emailers and forum posters. But Google has to approve every single ad in the AdWords/AdSense network, so I don’t accept that argument at all. I also know that many companies spend time and effort to find those who are illegally using their brand – and prosecute them accordingly – and that’s what some of these jokers are doing to Google.
Randy D.
I was scammed by this ! they kept taking money out first 1 dollar the 50 then 100 before i noticed! thank god my bank is very good about those things and canceled my card
Anne – sorry to hear you got caught in the trap. At least you’ve learned something from your bad experience.
Randy D.
Just FYI: WAHMom left the exact same post on another article I just read. This is obviously spam.
Joy:
Which “post” were you referring to? Banker’s comment?
Randy D.
I got scammed with this crap from [link edited by moderator to disable it] – {dub dub dub}internet rich gurus {dot com}[end moderator edit] website, they first charge 3 dollars which nobody cares about to take the risk, its all fake no work from home or anything , once they have your credit card number they will charge you 130 dollars initial fee!! and 40 dollars every month, unless you cancel, there are 2 phone numbers and e-mail to cancel, guess what one number is fake nobody even answers it dials forever and nothing happens, the other line they answer and they pretend like they dont know who you are like you are not registered or anything, and they don’t answer emails of course. so once you pay those 3 dollars they now have all your information and they will try to steal hundreds of dollars and money every month!!!! dont fall in their trap! Also after i checked my credit card statement there was those first 3 dollars on hold from this company AdTech Academy, they can be found on Facebook, I invite you to bash them!! After I made my mistake I google this and I heard that after the first 3 days I am going to be charged 130 dollars, so I went to my bank and CANCELLED MY CREDIT CARD, if this happens to you CANCEL YOUR CARD ASAP!!!! they will not let you cancel your kit “order”. its so sad that theres so many scammers out there!!!!!!!!!!!
Victoria:
Don’t hold back – tell us how you really feel ! (Kidding). Thanks for stopping in and venting some of your frustrations. For you and those like you who have been shafted, I invite you to share your story here:
http://homebusiness.about.com/u/ua/workathomescams/internet-scams-reader-responses.htm
Thanks!
Randy D.