Categories: Articles

Google Alerts Spam – A New Low In Search Engine Spam

Today I got a Google Alerts email for the term “Google” – I did ask to receive those. But this email came with a long list of links that are supposed to be the latest news surrounding Google. What I got was six out of seven results from a new source called Money Plans out of Mumbai, India. It had “news” titles like:
– Google’s IPO Estimated at $36 Billion
– Google Offers Powerful Tools For Successful Sales On The Web
– Google’s New SEO Rules
There are more. When you click on any of the links it drives you to a site that is littered with Google Adwords with some of the original press release copy thrown in at the bottom.
Upon further investigation, I found that the core Money Plans website explains their company as:
“Money Plans provides stock market live data and industry news. Our Website provides the latest information about the market action in the real time as well as company results, information on bonds, banking and finance sector.
The website is run by Indica Investment Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
During the market hours, we post live stories on our website along with the reports and market commentary from various analysts across the country. We also provide live quotes during the market hours.”
I’m not sure I understand what Money Plans is after. If people are clicking on these Google Adwords and they’re making money per click and that’s the model – fine. If they are testing news forms of driving traffic that is going to drive something as useful as Google Alerts into the toilet like email spam, I will be frustrated, disappointed but not surprised.
As I watch additional Google Alerts come in, I am seeing more and more from Money Plans on many different search terms. My only additional thoughts are that someone is paying a bunch of people in India to pump in “news” to generate traffic and clicks.
So now, welcome to Google Alerts Spam.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.