False Advertising
You might expect it from a small cowboy operator but some young marketing genius in Dell no less UPDATE: Actually this is not Dell but there is definitely someting dodgey going on. Loook at this site and tell me it does not look like Dell:http://dell-ireland.electronicoffers.co.uk/?tracking=Computer-11&curlid=100172
[Some genius in some dodgey company that is NOT Dell] decided it was a good and legal idea to place a Google Ad for Acer Aspire One - Offers which would dupe people into visiting the Dell something that looks like the Dell website. Dell do not sell the Acer Aspire One which is a product from a rival company. Try googling Acer Aspire One before its too late.
[...] runs Google Ads for Acer laptop searches. Dell as you may know, doesn’t sell Acer [...]
Dell aren’t the first company to do this and probably won’t be the last.
I came across this last year courtesy of Steve Tuck’s DQView blog where a competitor to his company posted google ads purporting to be from Datanomic (his company) but linking to their site…
read all about it here
Could this in fact be an affiliate of Dell using the likes of Tradedoubler?
It may not actually be Dell themselves, but I assume you took that into account whilst drawing your conclusions?
@Dave - you are right!
But look at this sight and tell me it does not look like an official Dell one:
http://dell-ireland.electronicoffers.co.uk/?tracking=Computer-11&curlid=100172
They appear to be some kind of broker. Very dodgey.
I had a hunch really that such a big company could not make this mistake. I will amend the post.
- E
Came to the same conclusion as David above after looking at it a little more closely, and after contacting my friends in Dell’s marketing department who - obviously - knew nothing about it.
Click on the Disclaimer link in the footer of the destination site and you’ll see the site is defined as Tech_Offers.com, which a simple WhoIs query reveals is owned not by Dell but by this guy.
In any case, it’s still a really serious violation of Google’s TOS and I have written to them about it (I work for Acer, remember).
At least Dell’s off the hook…
You’re dead right its very dodgy would be interesting to hear what Google say on the matter!
AK
Looks like they’re some sort of affiliate broker:
http://dell-ireland.electronicoffers.co.uk/about-us
Electronic Offers.co.uk is the trading name of Traffic Broker Limited
http://www.trafficbroker.co.uk/
TrafficBroker is an award winning internet marketing agency specialising in paid search.
There is nothing wrong with affiliates, third parties linking to dell products, the links go to dells website, with a hidden cookie, if someone buys a PC the guy gets a cut of the dosh.
This is part of the internet and has made some people a lot of money.
The design of the site, could be cause for legal action by dell though. But as they have to approve their affilates, one has to wonder if they do not simply turn a blind eye to anything that brings in a little extra cash.