Google Pay Per Click Spoofing Emails Are On The Rise

DBS & Google have become aware of 'spoofing' emails sent to some AdWords advertisers recently. 'Spoofing' refers to the act of fraudulently altering certain properties of an email to make it appear as though it originated from a legitimate source. The email can then lead to a deceptive website which collects sensitive personal information. In this case, the email may have appeared to be from Google AdWords, asking for your account login information. Please do not respond to these emails.

Here are some steps you can take to ensure the security of your account:

1.) Be wary of unsolicited messages. Google will never send unsolicited messages asking for your password or other sensitive information. If you need to change your account information, such as your billing details or your password, always sign into your AdWords account from https://adwords.google.co.uk and make the changes directly within your account.

2.) Check the message headers. The 'From': address and the 'Return-path' should reference the same source.

3.) Make sure that the URL is legitimate. The AdWords home page URL will always be https://adwords.google.co.uk.

4.) Change your Google Account password frequently. To learn how, visit https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=24828&hl=en_GB.

5.) Report suspicious messages to adwords-charge@google.com.

6.) Keep your computer's antivirus and spyware protections up-to-date and regularly run system scans.

If you believe your Google AdWords account may have been compromised, please let DBS know so that we can initiate an investigation.

Pay-Per-Click: 8 Measures To Take To Get The Right Company

With the advent of internet marketing there has been a rise in pay per click advertising.

With pay-per-click, your company pays a certain agreed amount to an advertising company every time someone clicks on the link to your business.

Some companies will try to generate fake clicks on your site to try and make easy money. Similarly, your competitors may click on your link and increase your bill without bringing you any genuine customers. This has given pay-per-click something of a bad name.

A good advertising company will know how to avoid these pitfalls and make sure your pay-per-click is effective.

Below are some measures which you can follow to make sure your investment brings you business rather than loses you money.

1. Choose a company with Google certification - A Google Adwords certification indicates that a business is competent and familiar with the way the pay per click (PPC) system works. Look at testimonials for the company and use your instincts to find out whether they are genuine or fabricated by the company itself.



2. Speak to other businesses - find out what experiences other businesses have had with pay-per-click and learn from their mistakes. Take on board the advice you receive and make sure you don't waste your investment.



3. Ask to see other examples - Ask to look at previous work undertaken by the pay-per-click company you're using. Make sure you enquire about their other clients and the kind of results they have achieved. Use your gut instinct and make sure you are satisfied with the information you are given. It may also be sensible to check if the company is familiar with the work you do and whether they are suitable to your business.



4. Check the professional conduct of the company - There's nothing wrong with holding the advertising company you use to a very high standard of quality and etiquette. Go through the contract and look at all the terms and conditions. If your standards are not upheld, don't be afraid to move on to another firm.



5. Consider the competition - Always consider more than one advertising company and have a variety of options available. Avoid companies that promise fast results, this generally indicates that they are not taking the time to test whether their results are effective.



6. Good companies lead by example - You can easily check the creditability of a company by typing their name into a search engine. Any reputable organisation's name should appear in the adwords section on the right hand side of the page or very close to the top of the organic listings.



7. Be specific to customer requirements - Good advertising companies know how to direct your customers to the part of the site which relates to their search, not just to your homepage. You could risk losing a potential customer by not being immediately specific to their needs.



8. Monitor your pay-per-click progress - Check back for updates from your advertising company on a regular basis. One of the benefits of pay-per-click is that every result can be measured. Your provider should be aware of this and therefore keen to adjust your listings to make them more effective.

Yell.com Pay Per Click Advertising

There is no set price for yell.com keywords. You choose how much you are willing to pay for each click-through. Minimum bid is 20p. The more you pay the higher up the list you will appear, so, the advertiser who bids the most for a keyword will be shown first.

The pay per click listings will appear when a searcher looks UK wide (the default search) or specifies a county. The pay per click listings won’t appear if a searcher specifies a town or city.

You can set a daily budget to ensure you do not overspend and there is no minimum time or spend commitment (other than the initial payment which must exceed £50 - this will be offset against click-throughs to your site).

You need to specify a maximum price you are willing to pay for a click-through to your website. Suggest you start at minimum bid to see how you fare against your competitors.

Yell only charge you when someone clicks through to your site to find further information about your company. You are able to update your advert, keywords and maximum cost per click (bid price) as often as you like.

You can trial yell.com pay per click for 30 days and throw £50 at it to see what happens. You should duplicate the most successful keywords/adverts you have on your Google ppc campaign.

A 10% discount applies if you pre-pay the cost of your clicks through an appointed agency ie they would purchase £50 + VAT worth of clicks but invoice you for £45 + VAT.

Strongly suggest you add a tracking 0800 number to the listing. You will be able to monitor click throughs to your website via Google analytics.

Pay Per Click Advertising: 7 Steps To Success in 2008!

When you carry out a basic search on Google you may have noticed that the top two results on the left hand side are in a beige box that has a headline of "Sponsored Links". In the right hand column there are also up to eight sponsored links. These sponsored links are pay per click adverts. If you click on these adverts then the business providing the advert pays for the cost of the click.












The ranking or order of the adverts is determined by a bidding system. The two top left adverts are ranked one and two and then the adverts that appear on the right are three, four and so on. Ideally you want to be in the top 10, so your advert will be shown on the first page of search results.

Business need to follow these 7 steps for pay per click success:

1.) Key words
Time needs to be spent in researching the actual key words and phrases that potential clients type into a Google, Yahoo or MSN search. If you don’t have a keyword associated with an advert then your advert CANNOT appear.


2.) Advert Development
Successful adverts have the keywords repeated in the title of the advert and on the landing page of the website. Searchers want to see a good match between an advert and what they typed in the search box. Multiple adverts for each key service areas of your business are better than one generic advert. For example if you are a solicitor then you need an advert for each key service area such as wills, probate, divorce etc.


3.) Landing Pages
Many pay per click beginners direct potential clients to the homepage of their website. This is usually a mistake; your visitors need to get to the part of your website that relates to their search. If a searcher is looking for an employment lawyer then they should be taken straight to the employment page.


4.) Call To Action
Once a potential client is on your page you need to give them a call to action such as "request a call back", “buy now” button or “ask a question“. You will reduce your chances of success if your landing page only says in small print "for further details call us on". Make your site interactive!


5.) Campaign Implementation
The next stage involves setting up an account with the appropriate service provider (Google, Yahoo and MSN); going through the bidding process for the key phrases / words you have identified and then initiating the campaign. Part of this will involve setting a budget - initially you may decide on a small amount - you can change this at any time.

6.) Campaign Monitoring
One of the major benefits of this form of marketing is that everything can be measured - number of times your ad gets shown, number of clicks to your website, new clients or sales resulting from enquiry etc. Thorough tracking will enable you to maximise the return on your investment.

7.) Management
If you find the prospect of setting up and managing a pay per click campaign too daunting then we offer professional assistance. DBS are “Google Adwords Professionals”.


I wish your business the best of luck in 2008!

DBS is awarded Google AdWords Professional Status

David Clarke - a partner at DBS - was recently awarded Google AdWords Professional Status after achieving 87.1% in a 100 minute examination.

This distinguishes DBS as skilled internet marketing professionals.

The examination covered some exciting topics for Google AdWords features that haven't yet hit the UK. Look out for image and video ads - they are on the way.


We will soon be displaying the Google AdWords Professional logo on our website and email letterhead.

We have offered pay per click services to our clients for several years through Google, Yahoo and MSN and have achieved some outstanding results for a range of businesses offering professional services through to Ecommerce.

Passing the exam brings the advantage of promotional credits to new advertisers which we intend to hand out in the form of free clicks on a first come first served basis.