Tropical Web Works

  • Home
    • Blog
  • Services
    • Turnkey Service
    • WordPress Site Maintenance
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
You are here: Home / AdWords / Don’t Fall For The AdWord Express Scam

Don’t Fall For The AdWord Express Scam

December 5, 2011 by Sonja Ray 2 Comments

AdWord Express — not to be confused with Google’s AdWords Express — sent me a spam the other day touting their “exclusive top placement” service to put my site at the top of “ALL MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES.”

They actually guarantee that my site will appear above all other sites on every search engine for my selected keywords.

I knew, of course, that it was some sort of scam, but I was curious about exactly what the scam was. They never actually say it in so many words, but apparently their “service” is a browser-based plug-in that inserts an ad for your site at the very top of the page in your web browser.

They key point that they don’t tell you is that only people with their browser plug-in installed will see your ad. Here’s a screenshot of their home page:

AdWord Express is a scam
AdWord Express is a scam

The only way AdWord Express could be accomplishing that is with a browser plug-in. Google doesn’t sell ad space like that, and neither do any of the other major search engines.

And here’s a screenshot of their “Browser Upgrade” page:

AdWordExpress is a scam.
AdWordExpress is a scam and they will install malicious plug-ins into your browser.

They very cleverly don’t tell you anywhere that their “EXCLUSIVE TOP PLACEMENT” will only appear to people who install these browser plug-ins, but that’s obviously what they’re doing.

And here’s a screenshot of the status bar for installing the “Upgrade for Internet Explorer” and the “Upgrade for Firefox”:

AdWord Express will install plug-ins to your browsers.
AdWord Express will install plug-ins to your browsers. Probably malicious malware-laden plug-ins. After all, a company that will scam you in one way is likely to scam you in other ways.

See what’s going on there? The IE “upgrade” will run a program called “Upgrade.exe,” and who knows what that will do on your computer….. The Firefox “upgrade” will run “install_tb_XPI(),” which will install something to Firefox —The name suggests a plugin that displays a toolbar, but who really knows?

AdWordExpress is found at adwordexpress.com. They have a private registration through Network Solutions. I swear that the day I received their spam, they were at adwordexpress.net, but that domain now has a GoDaddy parking page. The two domains were registered on 10/4/11 and 10/6/11, just 2 days apart, so they’re probably the same people. It appears that perhaps GoDaddy has already detected their scam and deactivated their site. The .com is still live through Network Solutions, though.

Please…… don’t anyone fall for this scam. And whatever you do, do not install their “browser upgrades.”

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Related

Filed Under: AdWords, Google, Search Engines

Comments

  1. Adwords says

    May 4, 2012 at 1:37 pm

    I received same thing some months ago, ended up in the spam section of my folder.

    Log in to Reply
  2. Alex says

    January 13, 2014 at 10:43 am

    I absolutely hate these companies that call, email, or even text me all the time wanting me to “submit my site to all the search engines”. I may be a real estate agent, but I am still a webmaster and understand the importance of utilizing Google Webmasters and Bing services and all that fun stuff myself! These companies are pretty slick in their campaigns, but I really hope there aren’t many poor souls out there that have fallen for it!

    Log in to Reply

Share Your Thoughts: Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Newer: Sailboat Home Listings
Older: The Cardillo Group

About Sonja Ray

Hi! I'm Sonja Ray, the owner of Tropical Web Works, a boutique web design and development firm in Punta Gorda in sunny South Florida. For help with your next website project, feel free to contact me.

Tropical Web Works

  • Home
  • Services
    • WordPress Site Maintenance
    • Full-Service Website Design & Development
  • Portfolio
  • About Tropical Web Works
  • SEO
  • FAQs
  • Glossary
  • Blog
  • Contact

Recent Posts

  • Corr Commercial Advisors September 25, 2019
  • Blue Water Surfing November 8, 2016
  • Charlotte Harbor Boat Storage November 8, 2016
  • “Your mailbox quota is full” Scam May 5, 2016
  • Contact Form 7 and Validation Errors May 1, 2016

Topics

Search

Top Posts & Pages

  • Website Design That Works

About Tropical Web Works

With two decades of experience in website development, I have the background and expertise to provide you with a website that will exceed your expectations. I cut my teeth on manual HTML coding back in the 1996 — the web's Jurassic era — before … Read more...

Facebook

  • Facebook

Get Started Today

We'd love to hear about your upcoming project. Tell us about it by filling out our contact form. Or, email us at sonja@tropicalwebworks.com or give us a call at 941-916-5671.

Login

  • Register
  • Lost Password

Tropical Web Works

  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • Services
  • About Tropical Web Works
  • FAQs
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Glossary
  • Blog
  • Links
  • Portfolio
  • Search Engines
  • Technology
  • Rants
Copyright © 2003-2023 Tropical Web Works. All rights reserved.
Designed by Tropical Web Works • Privacy Policy • Archives