The Online Ad Scam Plaguing (and Benefitting) Google Ads

Google might be profiting from scam restaurant ads. How the bad economy means better metrics for marketers. Shopify changes up its partner program. Facebook's most popular links go to its competitors.

Google Ads Restaurant Dupes

Ad scammers are targeting local restaurants now and platforms like Google are reaping the rewards. 

Yesterday, technology blogger Cory Doctorow posted a thread about a local Thai restaurant in his neighbourhood called KIIN. He searched for their web site on Google to order some takeout. 

But here's where things take a turn: the top search result which was an ad is fake. That ad goes to a site masquerading as the Thai restaurant to trick customers into ordering from them instead. Same name. Same logo. Similar URLs. Convincing images. It even uses basic SEO – it looks pretty legit to me. 

And so Cory got duped. He placed an order on the fake site. The fake site then placed the order - in his name - with the real site, and marked up the prices by 15%.

He goes on to explain that the restaurant is clearly aware of the scam, as they contacted him within minutes to tell him they had cancelled the fraudster's order. Furthermore, he would need to cancel the payment to the fakesters with his credit card company, Amex. As it turns out, the scammers conveniently charged him twice. 

But that's not all. The business phone number for the fake restaurant on the Amex bill is the phone number for Wix, the company that provides the scammer's website. 

Quoting Cory: 

How the actual FUCK did these obvious scammers get an Amex merchant account in the name of "KIINTHAILA" [then] supplying the phone number for a website hosting company? What is Amex's [Know Your Customer] procedure? Do they even call the phone number?

And why the actual FUCK is Google Ads accepting these scam artists' ads for a business that they already have a knowledge box for?! Google KNOWS what the real KIIN restaurant is, and yet they are accepting payment to put a fake KIIN listing two slots ABOVE the real one.

There's NEVER just one ant. I guaran-fucking-tee you that these same creeps have 1,000 other fake Wix websites with 1,000 fake Amex merchant accounts for 1,000 REAL businesses, and that Google has sold them ads for every one of them.

Moral of the story: search for your brand, and check for fake sponsored links. 

Images: Twitter / Cory Doctorow

Bad Economy Causing Better Ad Prices: Varos.com

It's often difficult to know whether that dip in the performance of your digital ad campaign is because of seasonal changes, or industry trends... or maybe your creative just sucks.

That's why it's often helpful to get a benchmark — find out what CPM others in your industry are paying, what your competitors' clickthrough rates are, or what direction the average order value is trending for brands who sell at the same price point you do.

Those data have been difficult to get, but one of our favourite tools makes it easy — it's called Varos.com (this is not an ad), and every so often we ask them to give us a look at the overall media buying marketing.

I spoke with Yarden Shaked, Varos' CEO, earlier this week.

Yarden: For Meta, year over year up until now, overall CPMs are down 22%. And cost per purchase is down 31%.

Tod: Wow.

Yarden: If you look at fashion, food & beverage — CPMs are down 16%, and beauty & home are down around 30%. So we're seeing big, big dips. And cost per purchase across these categories is between 35 to 45% down. The conversion rates are pretty significantly up. AOVs are actually flat, but conversion rates are up and spend is up 10%

Tod: Interesting because you expect the CPMs to be down in bad economic headwinds, since it's an auction and in theory there are fewer buyers with budgets. 

Yarden: Yeah, and spend is up. So overall, advertisers aren't pulling back heavily.

Tod: Are there any other big outlier metrics you're seeing that have made some big shifts?

Yarden: We see Google gaining a little bit of ground from Meta as well, like 5% to 10%.

Tod: In terms of share of spend, or volume of spend?

Yarden: Share of spend. We saw at the start of 2022, TikTok having barely no share, then spend close to 7%-8% range, and it's basically stayed flat up until now. And Google and Meta are fighting over market share, which is pretty interesting.

Our full conversation is available on our podcast today, which you can find (after 4pm Pacific) at TodayInDigital.com

Changes To Shopify’s Partner Program 

Shopify is changing its partner program. Yesterday, the e-commerce giant launched the first phase of its expansion of the program. 

💰 More Incentives 

First, the company is offering new incentives to accelerate partner growth. Now, partners will be able to earn more money by working with Shopify Plus merchants, strategic accounts, and enterprise clients.

The company is introducing product referral incentives. This includes bonuses for every merchant referred to POS Pro, the top tier of subscriptions to its point-of-sale software, and U.S. partners can also earn more when they launch merchants on MarketsPro.

Partners can also earn money by creating e-commerce themes and publishing them in the Shopify Theme Store, and by developing Shopify apps and publishing them in its App Store.

👨‍🏫 More Education 

The company is also launching a certification program with both business foundation and technical certifications. Partners will have access to eight new courses starting in March. 

Finally, Shopify also plans to support partners’ education with expanded virtual and in-person events.

Image: Shopify 

Facebook's Most Popular Domain: YouTube

Meta has released its latest Widely Viewed Content Report which shows the most viewed posts and stories across Facebook.

So what was trending on Facebook in Q4 2022?

The most widely viewed domains were YouTube and TikTok. 

The report doesn't give any specifics about which videos saw the most links. But, as Social Media Today points out, the data suggests video content still performs well on Facebook, even if it's not posted directly to the platform. 

In terms of specific links, stories about celebrities dominate the list, as well as: 

  • A report on the closure of Splash Mountain

  • Twins born from frozen embryos

  • A woman who ‘bought nothing for an entire year'

To be fair, this sample of widely viewed stories is less trashy and spammy than what has been shown in the report in the past. Plus, there are no stories that were later removed for violating Meta's policies. Social Media Today noted this could show the tech giant is getting better at detecting and removing such content sooner. 

As for the most widely viewed Facebook Pages, made-for-the-web publishers and recipe sites take the top spots. 

Finally, the top posts show a cross-section of lighthearted, jokey posts, and fairly simple memes.

Images: Meta 

DOJ To Block Adobe-Figma Deal?

Adobe's big plans to acquire Figma might not happen after all. 

Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Justice Department is preparing an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the proposed $20 billion sale, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Figma is mainly used for designing app or website interfaces, and as the report noted has trounced Adobe’s competing XD product in recent years. According to Adobe, the transaction isn't anticompetitive because the startup isn't a rival of products such as Photoshop or Premiere.

The antitrust division, however, is concerned that the deal would reduce options for design software used by creative professionals.  

The European Union's antitrust watchdog says it has received requests to investigate the deal from national regulators. While the UK Competition and Markets Authority is also reviewing the merger, and the three jurisdictions often coordinate on their investigations.

Sources say that Adobe had a meeting with the Justice Department this week and that a case is expected to be filed as soon as next month. 

Adobe still expects to close the deal in 2023. A spokesperson for the company said it is engaged in cooperative discussions with regulators in the US, UK and EU among others.

In Brief

YOUTUBE is adding new metrics for Shorts, including 'Shown in feed' and 'Viewed versus swiped away' data. The platform is also adding new filters to display audience demographics by video format, and a new moderator role with expanded actions for live chat. 

TWITTER has removed closed captions from Spaces on iOS. Within the iOS app, the three-dot menu that previously let you turn on captions has disappeared. The accessibility-focused feature also does not appear to be working on the web or Android.

LINKEDIN has added more ways to integrate visual elements into your profile, by filtering your Activity section by types of content, like videos, images, and articles. The professional network is also adding the ability to schedule newsletters directly in the app. 

PINTEREST'S CEO warned that emerging AI tech like chatCPT could accelerate the negative impact of social media on mental health. The CEO said that AI amplifies the "darkest aspects of human nature."

AI is Coming for Radio DJs Now

And finally, Futuri Media launched RadioGPT yesterday, the world's first AI-driven localized radio hosts. 

The tech scans Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and 250,000 other sources of news and information to create a script of local trending stories, and uses AI voice technology and voice cloning to create audio content for use on radio stations. 

Stations can select from a variety of AI voices to create shows that can be hosted by a single voice or by a team of two or three AI “personalities.” It also posts to social media. 

It looks like The Buggles were wrong all along... and really... It's AI that killed the radio star.

Image: RadioGPT

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