Comments on: Google Sues Make Money with Google Scams

By: Slots of Vegas

Slots of Vegas — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:00:03 +0000

Google has long way to go in terms of cleaning the mess.

There are so many companies which are using google name and running a big paid campaign on google itself proclaiming themselves associated with google.

But this is a good initiative i think.

By: Paul Schlegel

Paul Schlegel — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:54:03 +0000

Pretty doubtful they’d be able to find all of the scammers (except the stupid ones) without some serious Federal Law Enforcement involvement, as many of the ones running the other scams seemed to be following the model of using a lot of daughter companies (mostly out of the UK) in the same way the Estonian crime ring did as discussed in this TrendMicro article:

http://blog.trendmicro.com/investigations-on-a-cybercrime-hub-in-eston ia/

which is why you see so many different UK corporations popping up in what seems like an assembly line fashion.

So, put that together with the recent study Jason Sharman did about how easy it is to set up anonymous corporations tied to anonymous bank accounts here:

http://www.step.org/attach.pl/2596/5699/Onshore%20secrecy,%20offshore% 20transparency.pdf

…and it should make it incredibly difficult for Google to track down the actual perpetrators through a traditional discovery process.

By: Adam Thompson

Adam Thompson — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:45:09 +0000

@Don, censorship by non-government entities is not illegal. The first amendment only bars congress from interfering with free speech:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Legally, Google is free to censor the content on their websites or search engine.

Of course, they’ll need to be very careful, or they will make their users angry and get a poor reputation, but it’s not illegal.
.-= Adam Thompson´s last blog ..101 Dofollow Social Bookmarking Sites =-.

By: Don

Don — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:59:32 +0000

Yes Google will win. Now if they would stop their illegal practices, I would be happy. What illegal practices you ask?

1. Giving user info to the government. In essence, allowing the government to spy on us without probable cause.
2. Censorship. Removing videos speaking out against government corruption.

The two go hand in hand.

By: nou

nou — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:26:25 +0000

OMG! so what does this mean? will i get my money back or not? this is seriously pissing me off! theres no such things as making money from home, everything is a fake around here nowadays!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:37:38 +0000

I was suckered by these crooks as well. I am with all of you who are pissed off and feel violated. I have been on Disability for over 5 years. This so called $0.99 kit is a kit of dog vomit. I filed a fraud claim with my bank and they are taking this serious. These people are nothing less than yesterday’s toilet paper.

I am retired from Law Enforcement/Security and I have lots of resources that can dig up these dogs. They are sineless, ball less, cowards who care nothing about you. Come on out and show yourselves you chicken fecal matter! There is a prison cell waiting for you and Bubba is licking his chops.

Could you possibly be related to Madoff. Well you have made off with innocent people’s money, trying to make extra money for legit reasons. I hope your stomach’s explode with the greed you fill them with. You deserve a black eye at the least from every person you have ripped off.

Cowards, Cowards, money sucking junkyard dogs! Can’t wait until you are dug up from your pit of vomit and paraded all over the national news! You suck and will be caught!

By: Adam Thompson

Adam Thompson — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:31:57 +0000

Perhaps Google was reluctant to sue them, due to PR reasons. People are often very quick to view Google as the big, bad guy. Perhaps they were slow to take legal action lest people view them as just beating up on the little guys.

Just an idea…

By: David Walker

David Walker — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:26:55 +0000

I say it’s about time, Jordan.
I’m yet to find anyone who’s not been either extremely annoyed or scammed by those ads. It was surprising how Google let it go on for so long; didn’t they know it was going to get back at them somehow?
Everyone trusts Google, and it’s in Google’s best interests to protect that trust.

Go Google; sue them and sue them good.
.-= David Walker´s last blog ..Live Webinar – Thursday 10 December 5pm EST =-.

By: Nick @ Brick Marketing

Nick @ Brick Marketing — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:35:12 +0000

This is a huge topic especially since Google is starting to defend its brand publicly. I have several thoughts and theories about this that I address in my blog. I also referenced your post in my blog at the following URL:
http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com/2009/12/09/google-trade mark/

By: Glad To See Google’s Suing Scammers » Home with the Kids

Glad To See Google’s Suing Scammers » Home with the Kids — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:14:27 +0000

[...] posted in the past about the Google Money and related scams. Now I’m reading on Marketing Pilgrim that they’re finally suing the scammers for using the Google [...]

By: George Bounacos

George Bounacos — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:09:56 +0000

Good and timely piece as always, Jordan.

I’m with Jayson. I’ve had relatives and friends — bright people — who don’t necessarily argue back but do ask, “Well, wait a minute. If it’s on Google and they’re not allowed to use Google’s name then what’s going on? This has to be legit, right?”

Trademark in PPC is not a conversation one willingly takes up with anyone outside the industry so you simply have to grimace at anyone pitching like that and say, “Listen. It looks screwy. Mainstream media never would have allowed it. Heck, NBC wouldn’t let the Glee kids sing at the Macy’s Day Parade during Thanksgiving. But it’s a scam”

Now there’s a cool post to point them to with relevant facts, so thanks!

And finally indeed!

By: Samantha

Samantha — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:06:07 +0000

I hate those ads, they are everywhere. And yes I fell for one of them a while back. I kind of had been burned before with recurring charges though so I knew what to do.

I ordered the so called make money with google course and then immediately cancelled. The fine print states that you are automatically enrolled in some kind of membership program. I knew the course was crap but I had to order it because It was part of some get a free Ipod deal website.

I had to complete x amount of offers to get a free IPod. That was one of the offers. I didn’t get the ipod but i was sent a 500 dollar check.

I tried it again for a free laptop and failed (advice: stay away from those win a free anything sites). Sorry for my rant.

Anyways I hope those things stop showing up during my web browsing time ;p
.-= Samantha´s last blog ..Commission Payload Review Plus Killer Bonus =-.

By: Franck Silvestre

Franck Silvestre — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:19:31 +0000

I don’t know why Google let other people use its name to advertise. Do they need more branding? Huh.

Franck
the Body Guard marketer
.-= Franck Silvestre´s last blog ..Traffic Evolution By Jonathan Mizel My Review and Bonus =-.

By: Anand Srinivasan

Anand Srinivasan — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:11:46 +0000

Signs that the recession is over..Google finally decides to bite the hand that feeds it..

By: Adam Thompson

Adam Thompson — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:11:15 +0000

@Jayson, I agree. The ads are clearly deceptive and unfairly use Google’s name, etc. I hope Google wins. It seems they certainly have a strong case.

By: Jordan McCollum

Jordan McCollum — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:06:54 +0000

We have nothing to do with either suit and do not offer legal advice. However, I can point you to the class action suit filed in Illinois last month:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/15520695/11-9-09-Ford-v-Pacific-Webworks

By: Anthony

Anthony — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:18:12 +0000

I just fell for one of these scam sites and they said they would only charge $1.97 and i figured big deal even if its fake i might as well give it a shot…but then after they charged me that fee they charged me 40 dollars and put me negative in my bank account and I am absolutely furious…i cant even pay my rent or bills and now im in the whole 40 dollars that i cant afford…I want to sue these BASTARDS too…I want to know how I can get my money back from these jerks…They are seriously causing me stress…and the worst part of all this is my fiance is pregnant and now stressing out even more than she already was because now were negative 40 dollars…this could cause problems with her pregnancy…i want to know how to join google sueing these bastards…I want to hit them as hard as possible for doing this to us…

anthonyderosia7@gmail.com
anyone with information to how i can join in on sueing them please contact me!

By: Jayson

Jayson — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:40:34 +0000

I’m not usually a fan of suing people/companies, but it’s about time. The ads were annoying and so were the questions from family and friends about the ads. I’m not sure what the scam(s) were but using Google’s name as bait was a great idea, too bad they didn’t have great intentions.

Good for Google