Copyright 2014 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
This blog post was transferred from another service.
The lesson in this post is: Be careful what you order, because you may get billed for it.
This is a theory about what may've led up to this valuable lesson you can learn from. If I just wrote the lesson, you may wonder 'What? How can that happen?" By adding my explanation, I may avoid confusing you.
I wish I'd have avoided confusing myself with this!
Something funny (strange) happened on the way to getting some Internet search results.
Some Web browsers have helpful settings; for example, "Search for text when I start typing" & "Check my spelling as I type".
Sometimes, good things combine to make something bad (or at least, less than good). Somehow with my typing 'skill' & some 'help' from browser settings, I managed to type "Laila christmas day" in the browser search bar.
It's a little surprising because I spell 'Christmas' with an upper case 'C'.
I also got "Laila" instead of 'Labor'/'Labor Day'.
At the top & bottom of the search results, I read "Ads related to: Laila christmas day". It was strange enough that I scrolled to the bottom to check if an ad was included there also. I mean since it was so strange I scrolled ...
Note: I slightly change the URLs in these ads to avoid the appearance of me advertising for these retailers.
Here is the text of that ad:
Laila Day?
www.target.c-m/?
Find Laila Day Today.? Shop Laila Day at Target.c-m.??
Home Decor?
Home Decor? Collections?
Decorative Accents?
?59 reviews? for target.c-m?
~~ end of ad ~~~
Since I'm curious & eager to learn, I clicked on the search ad link & got a web page with this response:
no matches found
We found results for "laila day"
you searched for “laila day”
search tips:
Check for typos and spelling errors.
Try different keywords or more general terms.
Use fewer keywords.
Target carries certain items in stores which are not yet available online. Please check with your local store to see if Target carries your items. Find a store.
If you are looking for a gift registry or list, try searching within Target Baby Registry, Target Wedding Registry, or TargetLists
guests who searched 'laila day' also viewed. (below that was a selection of those products)
~~ end of ad ~~~
At least I'm comforted in knowing I'm not the only 'guest' who searched 'laila day'.
Apparently, this retailer doesn't carry "laila day" online. I guess it's understandable since "laila day" requires at least 2 people to carry it safely.
By the time you read this, this mistake may've been eliminated.
Whatever arrangement there was between this retailer & search page advertising service, this ad would cost money or all clicks on it cost the retailer some money.
If "laila day" had been a real product, it wasn't available when I clicked on the link. In a real case like this, somebody should've canceled the advertising order when the last "laila day" was sold.
Another viable alternative would be to inform visitors about the product being out-of-stock, plus include a date when it would be in stock again. If the product was discontinued, similar products (if any, like "Linda Day") could be offered.
In the honored tradition started by Dave Barry, I hereby state "I swear I am not making any of this up."
I even used a search engine to confirm this "ISIANMTU = I Swear I Am Not Making This Up."
This confirmation led me to find this ad:
Ads related to: Dave Barry swear
Sears® Official Site - Sears.c-m?
www.sears.c-m/?
Shop Online Today, and Get Free? In-Store Pickup When You're Ready!??
$0 Delivery on Appliances?
Weekly LocalAd?
Shop Your Way Rewards?
Save Big at Sears?
?rating? for sears.c-m?
~~ end of ad ~~~
I found details about "2 Day Mothers Day Sale". There was nothing about "Dave Barry swear" or which offensive words he used. There were no references to Dave Barry's mother telling Dave not to swear.
So, why would a retailer pay for that ad to be posted twice on the same search page? Even if it was there on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis, ... OK, I suppose it wouldn't cost much because nobody but a fool would click on ...
I clicked on the link to pass along this bit of wisdom.
As long as you pay for advertising, you should be sure you're advertising something you can sell & hopefully what people will buy.
How much is the restocking fee for returning Dave Barry swear or Laila Day?
Thank you for shopping with us. I'm sure you'll enjoy your Dave Barry swear. Please visit us again soon.
Have a great Laila Day(?), I guess.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2014 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
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