Last week (could have been the week before), a get rich quick e book bought a Google Sitematch ad on the blog. Normally, I don’t have problem with Sitematch advertisers but this advertiser used the headline “John Chow Recommends This”. I emailed the advertiser informing them that I do not endorse their product and told them to change the headline or I would block them. After I sent the email, I blocked them anyway because I was pissed that they had used my name to make readers think I endorse their product.
They reply back within 20 minutes saying they were sorry, that they were doing some ad testing and the campaign has been deleted. I thought about releasing the block but decided to keep it on. My feeling was that anyone who would use your name without asking can’t be on the level.
Today I see another Sitematch Google ad with the headline “John’s Recommendation”. This time it leads to a different URL but the sale page is the same. A WHOIS showed the registrant is hiding behind a private registration service. The domain was registered on May 29.
If you see any Google ad that claims I recommend anything, I don’t. If I recommend anything, I will make a post about it. I don’t know what the two “Internet Programmers” were thinking when they advertised on my blog. But the fact that they tried to do the ad again after emailing me saying they won’t tells me they are dishonest marketers and their system is nothing but a scam. Their ads have been blocked.
