Warning: I almost fell for a scam ...

... said they were licensed to sell MSN keywords!

[buckworks]

I got a phone call this morning from someone who said they "worked with MSN" and offered to sell me keyword placement "just like AOL's keyword program". They caught me in a frazzled moment (we're moving) so my defenses were down. I spoke with two different salespeople. The fellow talked a good line, he was witty and charming, and things got as far as me telling them a search phrase that would interest me and asking them to send me an order form with all the details.

Things turned over in my mind as we went out for lunch, and the more I thought about it the more things just didn't add up (especially the fact that the price was too good to be true compared to other forms of advertising on MSN that I'm familiar with). I got back from lunch to find the email with the order form waiting. It never said a word about MSN. One of the salespeople followed up with a phone call and I asked why MSN wasn't mentioned, and she insisted they were "licensed by MSN" to sell keywords. I asked how I could verify that, and she turned me over to her superior. I asked him who I could contact at MSN to verify the arrangement and he said he couldn't give me such info because they had signed a "disclosure agreement" (his phrase). He said MSN was in some sort of lawsuit so they weren't allowed to mention MSN in print. I said I needed to be able to verify that they were licensed by MSN to sell the services they were claiming to sell and he responded with more evasions. When I said I couldn't do business with them unless I could verify that for my own due diligence he cut the conversation short.

Having thought about it, I'm pretty sure they're a company with a parasiteware-type download that will steal traffic from MSN depending on the keyword you order.

And I nearly fell for it!

Keep your guard up, folks ... there's sharks out there ...

BTW, I once got a cold call from a legit company to get advertising placed on MSN. They were absolutely, totally patient with all my questions and answered them to my complete satisfaction before we actually got down to business.

Elisabeth Archambault

[dazz]

the advertising callers are always becoming more devious and cunning to trick people.........the more outrageous lies they come out with the more they think they will get people to part with there money.

[gsx]

I had the same/similar call. Asked for a demo, you do need to install software. They said that they were licenced by MSN to me also. Now, don't get me wrong, but if they were licenced by MSN, why do people need to download software from a third party? Surely this software would be available in a Windows Update.

Secondly, I begun asking people I know (some who virtually live on the internet, some who total 10-15 minutes per month) and not one said they ever had searched in the address bar.

I also like the comments some of these sales people state, such as 'Overture say they get 10000 requests for the search string (widgets), so you would get an extra 10000 visitors per month'. I would love 100% clickthrough rates, but I don't think anyone can ever promise that!