A Phone Conversation with Google?

So yesterday around the supper hour I received a long distance phone call from an area code I didn't recognize. Generally, spam calls (ie: unsolicited sales calls from telemarketers) don't show an area code or telephone number on our call display, they simply show as "private". Normally, I tend not to answer calls if I don't recognize the number, but we're in a bit of a family situation right now where we might receive calls from health professionals and we might not recognize the number, so I answered the phone.

 What exactly does this have to do with Adsense? It doesn't really relate "directly" to Adsense, but if you read on, you'll see that it might have an indirect affect on a site carrying AdSense ads. In my case, it probably wouldn't have affected my Adsense account since the site this call related to doesn't have Adsense on it, but yours might.

The caller on the other end of the line began by telling me they wanted to update my Google Business listing. Right away, I was hesitant about the call. I couldn't imagine Google calling me for a simple thing like updating my Google Places listing. If they wanted to do that, they'd more likely send me an email than make a phone call. The next thing he asked was my name, which I also found strange. Considering the fact that updating a Google Places business listing involves the business owner whose name is attached and listed along with the business information, Google would already know my name, so they'd either ask for me directly or ask if I was that person. They probably wouldn't ask what my name was. So far, two sentences into the conversation and I'm pretty sure I was not talking to anyone from Google Places.

Next the caller asked if I knew where my business site ranked when someone did a Google search for the type of services I provide. I indicated that I did in fact know, and since I am semi-retired and live in a small community and my site comes up fairly high in serps, it's placement was fine with me. Next he wondered if I knew where my site ranked on Bing and Yahoo, and other search engines and "bingo" ... I knew this was nobody from any Google services.

Right from the beginning I was suspicious since I know Google isn't going to "cold call" me for a tiny business like mine unless they're wanting to sell me a useful service like Google Engage, or Apps for Business (which I already had), and anyone calling from Google always identifies themselves and the programs they work with. So I asked this guy why Google would even care where my site ranked on Bing or Yahoo and there was silence on the other end of the line, and the silence got even deeper when I finally told him that Google wouldn't bother cold-calling me to update my business listing either, and I was a suspicious of his relationship with Google.

He asked me if I wanted to be removed from his call list since he didn't think he could help me. (Ha!) I asked directly what his position in Google was, and he finally admitted he didn't work for Google, but (yeah, there is always a but isn't there?) they were "partners" with Google. Oh really?

My final words to the caller: Do NOT call me again. 

So some of you might still be wondering how all this could possibly have any affect on your Adsense account. If you haven't figured out why this guy was calling me, I'll explain it.

With all his discussion of where my site ranked in all the search engine SERPs it was painfully obvious to me that they would have tried to sell me some sort of "SEO" help ... possibly okay services, but generally if they cold-call you, they're probably desperate for customers (and their money) and might just use methods way outside of anything that's acceptable for a site carrying Adsense.

 A word of caution - if you get a call from "Google", you better make sure they really are from Google BEFORE you give them any information at all - and I do mean "any".  Don't even give them your full name. And never buy any SEO services from a cold-caller without checking out their company and services before entering into any contract. This sort of thing is how scammers get your money, and how inexperienced AdSense publishers may have lost their accounts for generating invalid traffic or unauthorized methods of site promotion. Never let any SEO company promote your site unless you do your homework first, and know the methods they'll use are compatible with Adsense policies. Always be involved in the decision-making process; a good SEO company will involve you in everything they do for you, and won't charge an outrageous price for things you can learn yourself; they won't use automated methods for generating traffic; they won't spam forums, blogs or email with your site; they won't submit your site to link farms or link exchanges etc.

On a personal level - my opinion on this is simple. If they (SEO companies) can learn how to promote sites using only approved methods (no tricks, no blackhat), then so can I; and, so can you. Visit Webmaster Central to get help free - that's why the forum exists. Between Webmaster Tools help center and the Webmaster Central help forum, you can learn what you need to know to make good decisions for promotion of your own sites.

Listen Up...

Okay, today just a very short post. This is really a reply to some seriously stupid people - and yes, there are seriously stupid people out there in the vast world of the internet.

This little gem (below) I received today, in my gmail box:

First thing - I've never heard of "Google Account Alert" (who it is supposedly "from")

Second thing - "mailnorewly(at)gmail(dot)com" is not my address (though it insists it was sent to mailnorewly, is not even close to my address, and is spelled incorrectly anyway.

Heads up to the phishers out there - if you can't spell even a simple word like "reply" don't waste your time.

Third thing - nobody in their right mind would ever even try to reply such a dumb, stupid email.


Please people, if you're going to try and phish something out of me, you better learn to spell, and get way more creative than this.


For the rest of you, my readers - I am pretty sure none of YOU are going to even blink as you reach for the "spam" button in your gmail account, right?

Just about the only good thing I can say about this email is that it tickled my funny bone for about one-tenth of a second. It actually got a smile out of me,.

Hey folks - it's Friday. Have a great weekend...

Phishing for AdSense - or How Not to Get Hacked

In recent weeks I have noticed an increase in spam email coming into my mail accounts. In particular, these emails are purported to be from:

AdSense
AdWords
Blogger
Google

To date, none of them have actually been from any of those places, except the most recent one. They have been from spammers and scammers who hope someone will click a link in the email. Once clicked, the link will take a person to a page that is most likely set up to resemble a real page from any of those places, however, any sign in information you enter will be captured and used by the scammer.

How Will a Spammer/Scammer/Phisher Use My Information

If you use AdSense, they'll have the information to login to your AdSense account and redirect your earnings to themselves, or the information close out your account, or to do anything you can do in your AdSense account.

If you use Blogger, they'll have access to all your blogs. This means they can edit or change them, including putting their own adsense codes on your blog and removing yours. Most likely they are hoping your blogger login information is the same as your AdSense login. And it probably is.

With the Google account they can login to any service you use under Google.

What To Do When You Get An Email From any Google Source

The first thing you should do - don't panic. These guys often send emails saying your AdSense account has been disabled, and telling you to click the link to have it restored. The same sort of email is also used for Blogger accounts. Whatever you do, don't click any links in an email, even if you think it's from AdSense. Find out first who it's really from.

AdSense may indeed send you an email that your account is disabled, if it really is. And they do contain links, but usually the link leads only to a page on the AdSense Help Center.

The next thing you should do is check the header information. If you use gmail for your login you can show the header information by opening the email.

If you use the newer version of gmail, there is a link near the top and off to the right a little that says "show details".

When you click that, gmail will display the information in the email headers.


Check the information in the "From" and "Reply To" fields, as well as the "mailed by" and "signed-by" fields.

If you are still not certain, go the help forum and ask for help deciphering whether or not it's "really" from AdSense or Google or Blogger. Be sure to use the appropriate forum - if the email says it's from Blogger, use the Blogger help forum, if it says it's from AdSense, use the AdSense help forum.

When you are unsure - under no circumstances should you click any link in the email.

You can check the link by using the google safe browsing diagnostic page for the link. You do that by typing this string in the search bar and appending it with the page named in the link below - the link below is using the url for the blog you are reading now:

http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http://helpfulinformationfornewbies.blogspot.com/

Change the part in red to the page url in the email link.

The linked page in the email used in the example above can be seen below:

http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http//:www.google.com/adplanner

This tool will tell you whether or not the site is hosting any malware or has been seen in the past to hold any malware.

Other things you can do are to copy the link from your email and enter it into your browser search bar. This will take you to the page that the link goes to, where you can see the information on the page.

Look at the page carefully and note it's location displayed in the browser. In the case of the email I used as an example, the browser displays the following URL ("x" replaces the real information to protect the innocent):

You can see that this URL goes to a secure google accounts login page for the Google Ad Planner.

If you are still uncomfortable about clicking anything on this page, then leave the page and navigate on your own to your Google Accounts page the way you normally would. Click on the service link from your own Google Accounts page (for wherever the email is from - Blogger or AdSense) and login from there.

Take Charge of Your Own Security

Never click links in an email without first ensuring it's security.
Use safe browsing ad-ons or plug-ins to avoid phishing or malware sites.
Use pop-up blockers to prevent scam ads from showing.
Read and investigate things before you sign up or click any links.


Places You can Find Help with Security Issues

"What The Tech Forums" - trustworthy and helpful with useful free software listings

"Safer Networking Forums" - also trustworthy will some excellent free software on site

"Google Search Help" - helpful information in their Help Center for safe surfing & browsing.