Account evaluation

Company called and offered

[aleksl]

Hey, I just got off the phone with a company that is offering Adwords account evaluation...unsolisited call. Their website has whois info hidden, so it worries me a bit.

What they say is that I can login into my account, give them account number and then link my account to them that way. And then they can evaluate and offer service. There's a few things that worry me here. Have you ever ran into a service like that? Can they harm an account this way?

Thanks

[edit]spelling[/edit]

[edited by: aleksl at 10:32 pm (utc) on May 27, 2009]

[ppcbuyers]

I'd be careful simply because it's a cold call. I'm a PPC consultant and request a MCC link from potential customers looking for account audit and optimization. However, my potential customers and clients are 100% referral. That means they've been referred by someone they know well, and someone I'm already working with - so there's already a trust level established.

They could get in and wreak havoc on your account, or copy whatever you're doing for themselves.

It's very sketchy to me, but I'm more paranoid than the average bear :/

[ekimmerce]

If their company details don't check out to be legit or if they even give you the smallest doubt, don't link their account.

If you feel that your account is not performing as it well as you would like it to, post details in a separate thread about some of the problems you are having and I'm sure alot of people here (myself included) can offer you tips on how to get back on track.

If you're feeling quite flush and want to pay someone to evaluate your campaigns, take your time, do your research on possible PPC companies, demand client references and choose carefully.

Don't let someone you don't know into your account, you could be asking for alot of trouble.

[lumenbeing]

I think that if you are also running Google Analytics, and you have conversion tracking set up correctly so that it passes information between the two, you could just give the company access to your analytics, but not your AdWords account, and then they would not be able to do any damage and could offer you an evaluation.

[aleksl]

ppcbuyers, I am paranoid big time, have reasons.

ekimmerce, pretty much every adwords acct. - unless it is run by a professional can be performance-tuned, I guess.

lumenbeing, I do not have ecommerce section linked, I am not giving Google information on conversions, PERIOD. They are a COMPETITOR (I guess that explains why I am paranoid)

[lumenbeing]

Well there you go. Not many people can say they compete with Google. Besides advertising, I can't even think of a single thing they sell... :P

[aleksl]

lumenbeing, they sell Adwords. Whey they know your KWs and your conversions, they adjust "black box" to generate more revenue - enough said. #2, they still own Performics affiliate platform although they claimed they'll sell it. There's more, they continue to push commercial sites out of free listings in first 10 results, that is obvious even to a blind. There's more...let's not go there, please, and stay on topic.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

As a general principle I would advise that no advertiser ever, ever, give someone else access to their AdWords account, unless that person or organization is both well known to them and fully trusted.

Another way to look at it: would you give your bank account number to someone on the basis of a cold call promising services following an 'evaluation'?

My $0.02 - having seen advertisers writing in (or even posting here on WebmasterWorld) and asking "How could my account possibly have been hacked?!"

My thought is that giving one's AdWords account number to an unknown party on the basis of a cold call (or email) is one way that it could happen.

AWA

<edit> Try for clarity this time </edit>

[edited by: AdWordsAdvisor at 3:40 pm (utc) on May 28, 2009]

[lumenbeing]

Actually there is no adjusting of any "black box". The price of AdWords is determined by two things, 1) The market - so you can be paranoid and 'hide' your conversion data from Google, but they still know which keywords are popular (because they must be profitable), but your competitors (the real ones actually buying AdWords, not Google) are the ones turning the screws by bidding higher for the same keywords.
2)Your own CTR, history, and quality score. The more clicks your ad gets, Google actually lowers your CPC and gives it a better position.

AdWords professionals know this and they make it their job to lower your CPC by tweaking your ads over time, thus maximizing your ROI. They also know that there are a ton of people out there who don't know the first thing about AdWords who are throwing money away and they are easy to spot by the ads they run. That is why you got a cold call.

AdWordsAdvisor is right. You would not want to give your account login info to anyone you don't trust. I would suggest finding a certified AdWords professional and talking to them over the phone if you are too paranoid to give them Google Analytics access (BTW-you don't have to give them your password, just give access to an additional Google account).
One other option would be having the PPC manager actually start their own account on your behalf, or just run a campaign for you from their existing account. Chances are that their account has a favorable history which will result in a lower CPC for you. Then you can just funnel money through them.

[aleksl]

AWA, thank you, that is exactly what I wanted to hear! +1 :)

Ok, that guy got a shaft from us yesterday. Today another guy just like him called, similar situation, different pitch.

Gentlemen, if you are pitching SEO services, you better be:
1) in the top results for your own niche
2) if you say you've been in business 9 years, you better be in business 9 years, and your domain is better not be created 4 years ago.
3) if you have a hidden WHOIS info - like via DomainsByProxy - I CAN GUARANTEE YOU you are going to be shown the door.

limenbeing, I'd be glad to take the discussion about how and why Adwords functions the way it functions to another thread if you wish, don't want to go too offtop here.