Hello I just had a chat session with a company named Globalinet.net
and I am wondering if they are speaking the truth with the questions
that I asked them and their answers....I have read your web site
://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html and I am not what is going
on....  :)

The chat log is as follows and your response will be greatly appreciated.

Ted works with Globalinet.net and I am Traysure.


Ted:  Thank you for contacting Global Inet. This is Ted, how may I assist you?  
Traysure:  I am just wondering what affiliation you have with Google?  
Ted:  We have contracts with Google, which once our clients sign up
with our program they will show up in the sponsored listings at a flat
rate versus a pay per click
Traysure:  okay...now is that the same kind of contract that I would
have with google if I was to sign up with them via an add word
program?
Ted:  No, you would show up in the same listings area as Google but
again it is flat rated. Is there a number which I can contact you, to
better explain the program.
Traysure:  Not right now...this is the best way to talk with me at this moment  
Ted:  No problem  
Traysure:  I see on google it says this Beware of SEO's that claim to
guarantee rankings, or that claim a "special relationship" with
Google, or that claim to have a "priority submit" to Google. There is
no priority submit for Google.
Ted:  Are you currently marketing your site  
Traysure:  no currently I am not  
Ted:  I don't care what it says, we can place you at the top of the
search engines.
Ted:  I can give you examples to look at  
Traysure:  I am not marketing my site via a marketing company...I use
ppc on Google and Overture
Ted:  how much are you currently spending per month, if you don't minf me asking  
Traysure:  Well..I totally understand that you can place me at the top
of the search engines....but I can do that myself via Pay Per
Click.....and my program checks it every 30 minutes to make sure that
it is still in the top postion....
Traysure:  how often does your service check to make sure that my
listing would be at the top?
Traysure:  What happens if it drops from the top spot and slips to the 2nd spot?  
Ted:  With our program it is flat rated no matter how many people
click on your site your rates don't change. If at any time someone
falls out of their listings it shows up on our end and you r site will
be put up immediately
Traysure:  okay  
Traysure:  So to sum it up...do you have a special contract with
Google for a flat rate program.....right?
Ted:  To a certain extent. We have contracts with 21 search engines  
Traysure:  Also....with your program...do you share the impression and
how many times the add's show up on Google...like I can check out when
I sign in to the add word program
Ted:  I have no idea, that would be adifferent department...I know
where you are going with this, but again we are not affiliated with
the add word program
Traysure:  okay...  
Ted:  What type of industry are you ijn  
Traysure:  We sell CD's  
Traysure:  check out this
http://forums.monstersmallbusiness.com/index.php?showtopic=4981
Traysure:  this is why I am kind of wondering about  
Ted:  No problem I understand your looking around, I would be too.  
Traysure:  Is this company a SEO?  
Ted:  i donot know what an SEO is to be honest wiht you  
Traysure:  I am sorry for being a pain..but I just dont quite
understand...say I pay to be at the top postion...with the key word
music Cd and then another company comes along and hires you to keep
their add on the top spot....how can that work...cause My program
checks every 30 minutes to make sure that I am on the top....
Traysure:  and your company says that it makes sure that your listing
will be always on the top....
Traysure:  but there can only be ONE top spot....  
Traysure:  So how does that work  
Ted:  If you own the top spot no one can take that spot from you,
regardless if people are using a pay per click
Ted:  we have 3 positions available per keyword phrase  
Ted:  It's on a first come first serve basis  
Traysure:  But how...cause I am paying for that key word for the top spot  
Traysure:  and if I get out bidded for the key word...then I drop down
to #2 spot...and then my program checks and see's that I am not in the
#1 spot...and then it raises my bid so that I then can bump you out of
the top spot
Ted:  Again we have no affiliation with the pay per clicks, our
contracts guarantee you that spot
Traysure:  Okay...well...I just dont understand.... :)  
Ted:  Again they are 2 different entities  
Traysure:  but thats okay  
Ted:  If you can give me your number I can better explain it to you  
Traysure:  2 different entities but only one spot....and we are both
working for the same postion
Traysure:  I know that I can take any spot on google in their
Sponsored Links section
Traysure:  right now.....  
Ted:  2 differnt ways to get to the top, the way our contracts are set
up once you are in our program you have seniority over the pay per
clicks
Ted:  for the number 1 position  
Traysure:  okay that answers my questions .......  
Traysure:  thank you very much for your time  
Ted:  the reason being is that we pay the search engines off for the
entire year to guarantee you that position
Ted:  No problem  
Traysure:  okay...  
Traysure:  take care  
Ted:  you too

Hi there,

Obviously it is remotely possible that Google and other search engines
have made a secret deal with this company, a deal that no-one else has
heard about. But it is all rather unlikely. I am in the industry
myself, and read forums and articles obsessively, and I have not heard
of such a deal.

SEO?
----
An SEO optimizes client's web pages, so they are clearly not an SEO,
and Google's official advice on SEOs does not specifically apply.

Aside from SEOing, the only way to reach the top of Google search
results pages is via AdWords.

From looking at their website it is clear that they use AdWords, and
you would just be paying them to provide AdWords placement. The
giveaway is the following:

"The only requirements are that your web site contains content that is
relevant to the keyword phrases you want it found under. There are no
broken links. No pop up windows and that you can escape the site using
the back button. "
http://globalinet.net/ppfaq.htm

The above are regular requirements of Google AdWords.


Special Deal
------------
To run such a business they would need to keep each client's campaigns
separate. To do so requires getting permission from Google to run
multiple Adwords accounts. That would be the only "special
arrangement" they have.


The Catch
---------
Their cheapest price for providing #1 position on Google is extremely expensive:

For 3 months of guaranteed #1 position -  3 URL's, 10 Keyword Phrases,
10 Search Engines (including Google)- is $17,691!

($1799.00 per month + $500.00 setup fee- for 3 months, Multiply x 3
for Number 1 position guarantee)
http://globalinet.net/ppsolutions.htm

There does not appear to be a cheaper way of proving what they
promise, in terms of a #1 position at Google.

The big catch (in my opinion, and I've never used them, so it's an
educated guess) is this:

Q. Who chooses my keyword phrases?
A. You choose the keyword phrases that will best describe your
business. GIM will research those words and use the ones that will,
based on experience, bring about the best result. We will also suggest
keyword phrases if you need assistance. Once the keyword phrases are
agreed upon you will see your site listed in just a few short days.
http://globalinet.net/ppfaq.htm

Best result for who? They will decide which keywords to use (obviously
the ones that don't cost so much) and then convince you to agree on
them. Use Google's Adwords tools, it is quite easy to make a strong
prediction of how much each keyword will cost. If I were them, I'd
offer one good keyword, and nine very ordinary keywords.

The same people/person runs a similar service:
http://arundel.net/pay-per-click.html

He has defended both sites in a forum:
http://www.corporatewebsitemarketing.com/forums.php/action::profile/userid::shadoze/


My Opinion
----------
I work in the AdWords industry. We run hundreds of campaigns and the
cost of all of them combined does not even come close to what Gloabl
Inet are charging. In my opinion the cost of having them run your
campaign would be many times more than doing it yourself, and much
more than paying a college student a full time wage to do it for you.

As you have indicated that you have a service that checks ranking of
AdWords results, I would recommend that you run the AdWords campaign
yourself. The program is easy to manage, and has been designed for
regular webmasters to run campaigns on their own, without 3rd party
assistance.


Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

I used global i-net for 3 months. I was guaranteed to be #1  on 13
search terms. I was paying over $5,000 per month. I came up #4 if
anywhere except on the less popular terms when I may come up 1 or 2
when I was up at all. On the overture accounts I didn't even come up
with the correct website address which could not be corrected for 3
months. What's peculiar though is that the website address was one
that i never gave them, it was one that I used on my overture acct. at
one time. How did they get it? It leads me to beleive that they buy
the time from overture and then charge us crazy mark ups. At #3 and #4
position i could have been up 10x more often had i spent the same
amount of money with overture. if you would like to talk to me i would
be happy to outline my experience with this fraud of a company. what
it boils down to is almost 20k of wasted money. DO NOT DO IT.

I have been using global inet since April 04, and I am having my
second bout of trouble with them.
I just can't seem to get any straight answers from them. Traysure and
Ted's transcript above sounds very typical with the kind of evasion
that I have been expeiriencing with them. And "customer service"
refers me to "quality control", and their CEO cannot be made available
to me. The only department that does not miss a beat is "accounting".
Getting past their sweet-sounding, wolverine "receptionist" to
actually speak to "customer service" is a major feat in itself!

In this latest round with them we noticed that our inquiries dropped
off dramatically in the beginning of September, and when I contacted
them about it they blamed their "servers being down" because of the
hurricane.... ok, forgivable.... but do they have "servers"?
We had not been checking on our listings until September, because we
did receive an increase of traffic since signing up with them.  After
reading your answer, I now know that we could probably have done
better on our own.... ah well, live and learn.
Anyway, they keep insisting that "Nothing has gone wrong on their
end", and that they and the search engines do "maintenance" during the
late evening hours.
I can't get a straight answer from them as to what is this "maintenance"?
Does anyone know if it's true that Google does "maintenance" on their
paid listings during the late evening hours? (say 10 pm to ? Eastern
time)

There is a clause in their contract that says "up time is mainly
dependant on the search engines, an will hold Global Inet harmless due
to technical or other issues related to the search engines".
I'd like to know how I can get information as to if our site was down
at a specific time due to technical or other issues related to Google?

For the past 2 days I have been checking our listings every hour that
I am awake,  and it seems that our site is down every evening.

I am beginning to think that they have have sold the same keywords to
several clients, and they rotate them, so at some point, each client
experiences some down-time.

Another very suspicious thing is that they themselves cannot be found,
even by their URL, in a Google search. I haven't checked the other
engines.

I'd appreciate any input on this subject.

Thank you.