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Paying For Google - What?

by Katie Rich
27 replies
A friend of mine had a company design her website. She was told she has to pay a fee (£110) to be listed by Google.

This is not a Google ad. I have no idea what she is actually paying for. Can anyone enlighten me please?
#google #paying
  • Profile picture of the author dougp
    Originally Posted by Katie Rich View Post

    A friend of mine had a company design her website. She was told she has to pay a fee (£110) to be listed by Google.

    This is not a Google ad. I have no idea what she is actually paying for. Can anyone enlighten me please?
    Kind of hard to answer without more information. However, if i was to take a guess its probably to have her site indexed in Google which is not worth anywhere near those numbers.

    Doug
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    • Profile picture of the author Batman
      Probably some extra juice money for them..

      it's like paying for a doc fee on mortgage...

      or a 40 dollar handling charge when you buy an item for 10 bucks...

      Tell your friend.. to save them money.. join this forum...

      and become a war room member with it
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      • Profile picture of the author Katie Rich
        Originally Posted by Batman View Post

        Probably some extra juice money for them..

        it's like paying for a doc fee on mortgage...

        or a 40 dollar handling charge when you buy an item for 10 bucks...

        Tell your friend.. to save them money.. join this forum...

        and become a war room member with it
        She already paid it before she mentioned it to me, but it's an expensive hobby to have this firm design a website.

        £1200 for the website, the google fee and £25 every time she wants to add a new product (physical products).

        And that UK pounds, not dollars!
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        • Profile picture of the author Greggg
          It sounds like they are just charging her to submit the site to Google, which is free and easy to do. BUT, since she doesn't know about it or how to do it, they are going to overcharge her big time to do so. You have to watch out for "web design" firms.

          Gregg
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        • Profile picture of the author dougp
          Originally Posted by Katie Rich View Post

          She already paid it before she mentioned it to me, but it's an expensive hobby to have this firm design a website.

          £1200 for the website, the google fee and £25 every time she wants to add a new product (physical products).

          And that UK pounds, not dollars!
          Is this an offline firm? Most of them are very expensive and their quality is usually so-so. Better off going to freelance service such as elance, getafreelancer, and etc. You can find very skilled workers for very reasonable prices. I would tell your friend to try and get some of her money back as it seems like this company is trying to rip people off or take advantage of the inexperienced. If the company is reputable then it shouldn't want such a reputation associated with their brand.


          Doug
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  • Profile picture of the author Katie Rich
    That may be it, she was unsure of why, so I am as much in the dark as you are. What would be a sensible price? I could ask her to barter
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    • Profile picture of the author dougp
      Originally Posted by Katie Rich View Post

      That may be it, she was unsure of why, so I am as much in the dark as you are. What would be a sensible price? I could ask her to barter
      Nothing , there are so many free and fast ways to get your site indexed. Tell here to submit her website to Digg. Also, she can submit your site to Google yourself google.com/addurl/, and if she has a sitemap make that as well as Google spiders will constantly come back to the site and check for new materials to index. Somethings in business are worth outsourcing, but this is not and can easily be done by oneself.

      Doug
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  • Profile picture of the author tgunasekhar
    There is nothing to pay to Google for getting indexed, not even to Google directories. Its better to get clarification from them.

    Gunasekhar
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  • Profile picture of the author Katie Rich
    Small town, off-line firm, probably taking advantage of anyone with no knowledge. I don't know them, but I would avoid them like the plague!

    It's unlikely that she will get a partial refund, but I will lead her here so she isn't scammed again.
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  • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
    Do you know if they were doing any search engine optimization work for your friend?

    Folks who are new and don't know the lingo might refer to it as "getting listed in Google" versus the terms we use like SEO.

    But who knows for sure. See if you can find out more info.

    cheers,
    Becky
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  • Profile picture of the author BIG Mike
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    • Profile picture of the author halfpoint
      To me it sounds like the people who created your friends website were mechanics in a past life.
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  • Profile picture of the author Katie Rich
    Thank you all for your responses.

    No, no SEO involved, becky, it was just to be indexed in Google, they told her it was google's fee.

    I will send her the link Big Mike, thank you.
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    • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
      Originally Posted by Katie Rich View Post

      No, no SEO involved, becky, it was just to be indexed in Google, they told her it was google's fee.
      Wow. So they didn't even call it their fee (which would be bad enough) -- they lied and said it was Google's fee. Kind of mind boggling how some of these firms stay in business!

      Hope you get your friend all straightened out. Maybe you can even find a trusted Warrior to do the other work she needs.

      Cheers,
      Becky
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    • Profile picture of the author Greggg
      Originally Posted by Katie Rich View Post

      it was just to be indexed in Google, they told her it was google's fee.
      Well, if they clearly stated that as opposed to saying that's what they charge to get a site indexed in Google, I'd let them know you want a 100% refund or your first step will be to the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs. If they were clear it was Google's fee, they committed fraud.

      Good luck!

      Gregg
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    • Profile picture of the author Kim Standerline
      wow that is so naughty

      She should maybe threaten to report them to trading standards or something if they are actually lying about google fees etc.

      "web design" firms who prey on people like this, make me sick

      Kim

      Originally Posted by Katie Rich View Post

      Thank you all for your responses.

      No, no SEO involved, becky, it was just to be indexed in Google, they told her it was google's fee.

      I will send her the link Big Mike, thank you.
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  • Profile picture of the author fitz10
    Stop on over to the Amazon Associates boards someday and you'll see all sorts of people getting absolutely ripped off by web design "firms" and eBay scammers who charge outrageous fees for silly things like this everyday. It's really quite sad watching it, but not everyone knows the ins-and-outs of starting an online business and there's plenty of unethical creeps willing to take advantage of that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    That's how these web design firms make their money. What those guys will do is they will get the site indexed by google quickly using some social bookmarketing sites and that's it.

    Then they will get £100 from your friend. Simple
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Sounds like she's being fleeced to me.
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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  • Profile picture of the author areaK
    Lord, I get so sick of seeing rip offs. I'm with Doug P, do the Google submission yourself, submit to Digg and set up a sitemap. That's what I do. There are other ways too but these are pretty effective. Digg gets crawled CONSTANTLY so Google will pick it up pretty fast there.

    I just got some new clients that were ripped off by "Web" guys that promised SEO but didn't even know what they were doing...they gave them TERRIBLE, unresearched keywords, took their money & then told them it would easily cost 30k for the SEO work. Really pisses me off.
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    • Profile picture of the author Robert Puddy
      Originally Posted by areaK View Post

      Lord, I get so sick of seeing rip offs. I'm with Doug P, do the Google submission yourself, submit to Digg and set up a sitemap. That's what I do. There are other ways too but these are pretty effective. Digg gets crawled CONSTANTLY so Google will pick it up pretty fast there.
      How long will that take you?

      I'm guessing even with experience a couple of hours to do it right...

      For someone with no clue, at least a week of reading and research, failed attempts and cock ups before they get it right. And they may never get it right

      £100 in that instance dirt cheap... No rip off
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan Ferraro
    She is getting totally ripped off. Pure and simple, she was just taken advantage of. The only search engine that I've heard you had to pay for inclusion is Yahoo's directory, but that has nothing to do with your site getting indexed for the search engines.

    It's amazing how some companies take advantage of people who don't know any better.
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    • Profile picture of the author Katie Rich
      Originally Posted by Jonathan Ferraro View Post

      She is getting totally ripped off. Pure and simple, she was just taken advantage of. The only search engine that I've heard you had to pay for inclusion is Yahoo's directory, but that has nothing to do with your site getting indexed for the search engines.

      It's amazing how some companies take advantage of people who don't know any better.
      I agree. After reading your replies I think she is getting ripped off.

      Why do offline web designers DO this! I canot believe it is ethical to take advantage of someone without SEO knowledge in this way.

      Thank you all for enlightening me, I only deal with one offline company who are excellent and I would recommend, unfortunately, my friend arranged this before I could tell her about them.

      I will take over for her and speak to the rip off merchants on her behalf. It's not even a great website.
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  • Profile picture of the author jazbo
    Is it definitely Google she is being told the fee is for?

    Could it be Yahoo?
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      While I don't condone what this company did (lying and saying that it was
      a Google fee) when I used to design web sites for this company I used to
      work for, when customers would tell us that they wanted us to make sure
      they got a good ranking on the search engines, we would do the SEO for
      them (tons of work, believe me) and we'd charge them for it.

      There is nothing wrong with doing this as long as you've honestly done the
      work. Naturally, we couldn't guarantee them a page 1 listing right away, or
      ever for that matter, but we were up front about this from the start.

      FYI, for those wanting to get into doing SEO for sites who either don't know
      how or don't want to be bothered, there is a TON of money in this. Many
      offline businesses who want a web presence will gladly pay handsomely
      for this service.

      It's something to consider as a possible income model IF you know your
      SEO, but don't do it just to rip people off which, unfortunately, a lot of
      shady businesses do.

      What we did was charge by the hour, however long it took us to get
      them indexed with each search engine and do all the on page optimization
      and off page backlinking. We charged $100 per hour and for some sites
      we ended up putting in 8 to 12 hours of work. Split between the two of
      us, that was $400 to $600 a piece.

      Ironically, this was more money than we made on a lot of the actual web
      design itself.

      Anyway, it's something to consider as a business model IF you have the
      skills. I got out of it because my partner turned out to be a crook (ripped
      me off big time)

      But that's another story.
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  • Profile picture of the author lakshaybehl
    I don't really know what so many guys are upset about.

    The OP hasn't mentioned enough details about her friend's business. In fact none at all. Maybe, and I am just speculating here, I can be totally wrong too, but OP is just not aware of the situation completely simply because her friend doesn't really remember exactly what she paid for.

    To me, this sounds kinda presumptious on OP's part, no offense please.

    And yes, I am sure there's more to the story than we are hearing.

    Wonder how quickly people can make judgemental decisions. </sigh>

    -Lakshay
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    • Profile picture of the author Katie Rich
      Originally Posted by lakshaybehl View Post

      I don't really know what so many guys are upset about.

      The OP hasn't mentioned enough details about her friend's business. In fact none at all. Maybe, and I am just speculating here, I can be totally wrong too, but OP is just not aware of the situation completely simply because her friend doesn't really remember exactly what she paid for.

      To me, this sounds kinda presumptious on OP's part, no offense please.

      And yes, I am sure there's more to the story than we are hearing.

      Wonder how quickly people can make judgemental decisions. </sigh>

      -Lakshay
      Not presumptuous at all, it was merely a request to ask what Google would make a charge for.

      Yes, she was told she HAD to pay for a google listing, not SEO, not Yahoo. I could not understand why there should be such a charge and so I asked here for information.

      Maybe their wording was incorrect, but if they meant SEO then that is what they should have said. They are also charging her £25 for every picture she adds to her website, even though it is supposed to be possible for her to add them herself as part of the deal.

      I understand that offline web designers charge hugely, my concern is that they are charging for something that is (a) free and (b) was meant to be something she could do herself,

      Thanks for the replies, all of them are helpful.
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      • Profile picture of the author reapr
        If what your telling us is a google listing for this price I would jump off that hamster wheel quick.

        Next she could be told that the reason for lack of traffic is she needs a yahoo listing then a bing listing for the same price and eventually an overpriced yahoo directory listing that cost 3 times more than it should! Oh and we still need to do the SEO package.

        I think what you should be asking is did she know the price going into this or are they now adding services as she goes along with the deal!
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