There is an organization we have dealt with in the past for trademark infringement (stealing our source code with trademarked names - various other tricks) where they essentially were able to take over natural results in many search engines (having maybe 8 of the 10 first listings). After obtaining a TRO for the trademark infringement they were forced to stop this behavior. This killed their SEO strategy (if they had put as much effort into legitimate strategies as they did into these silly games, they would have been much better off in the long run).
They recently popped back on the scene by doing the same thing with Google AdWords. It appears that they essentially get AdWord accounts for multiple domains and try to keep the top seven listings - everything above the fold. Occasionally a few other advertisers manage to show up in around three or four.
I would think this to be obscenely expensive and can't imagine how long they can do it- but this company has a very poor reputation among professionals who refer to these types of schools, so Internet is probably their only source of revenue, so they may think it is worth it.
This is a company that deals with residential treatment and other programs for children and teens - and these practices trick parents into thinking that each ad is some sort of third-party counseling service that will "help" the parents choose a good program for their child. Recently this organization came under federal investigation for fraud related to their treatment of children and questionable business practices.
I have sent information to Google about this and haven't heard anything yet. Having tracked the activities of these folks for many years, it is very obvious to me they are all the same people. They barely disguise their activities (it is pretty easy for a person with any knowledge about domains, design etc to recognize they are the same company) - but I am sure that if they get caught they will simply regroup and try new ways to trick parents and SEs.
This activity is seriously impacting legitimate advertisers. It is particularly disconcerting that this also impacts children.
I would appreciate any feedback if someone has dealt with this type of activity in AdWords.
You know, I've seen their ads under keywords that have NOTHING to do with this type of service. Namely some of my keywords and I'm like what the heck is that doing here?
patient2all
