Did you know Adword employees are allowed to have Adword accounts?
 

This seems like a huge conflict of interest. That means that you may be competing with people who know exactly how the system works.

ya they shouldn't be allowed to

They actually encourage it so that they get a feel for what it is like to be an advertiser and see how the system works.

I think that is bullshit.

conflict of interest in my book.

weird never knew - I know for sure our banks employees cant trade stocks etc within the bank, they shouldnt imho

Who or where you got that info from?

How on Earth would it be a conflict of interest?

That's like saying a GM employee can't drive a GM vehicle.

theze peeple here r just toolz. dont mind them :2 cents:

Not really, if you think about it you can see how working for Adworks they will have a unfair advantage compared to normal affiliates..

Why do you think so many companies have in their terms (contests, promotion,nda,etc..) that you can't do certain things.

Your example doesn't fit into this. :2 cents:

exactly. plus they surely have better terms etc as well. know inside details bout upcoming compaigns, price in/decreases etc etc

Very fucked. Is the situation the same at Overture/Yahoo?

Did you know that GoDaddy employees have first access to drops?

Many other drop catch companies work the same way.

I have seen posts from GD employees with huge portfolios of really nice names for sale.

That's bullshit too. :disgust

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that's kinda like insider trading

Not the same analagy at all.

Now if GM employee had access to what the stock was going to do and traded based upon that information, then yes.

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Ooooh? damn that sucks big time. I knew long ago when dropped .NL domains came available some companies had earlier access to register. Thats years ago though, they cant anymore.

Damn that sucks.

I think they aren't allowed

I know. I play the drop-catch game but I always feel like no matter what I do I'm up against an unfair advantage with companies who I'm paying to catch names.

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Yeah that does sounds like a conflict to me as well...

there is a lot of stuff that goes on at google you dont know about, my friends gf works there, been there for 2 years. and another friend use to be a sys admin on a work placement co-op in college.

Who told you that? A friend of a friend? :1orglaugh

An employee who posts on a popular board.

:eek7

Thats something completely different.

thats a HUGE conflict of interest.... that would be like if CCBill started their own affiliate program

That is nothing like it. How does a GM employee compete with me and my car?

I think it's a huge conflict of interest. Employees can basically see which accounts have the best CTR and then copy the same style title/description.

But as they say it's all about who you know in this world. And being connected on the inside is a great advantage.

Hmmm... think I might have to start applying there myself, lol.

Ever talked to one of these employees on the phone? I wouldnt be worried.

They are useless. My ad got beat by someone who more or less exploits the system and she told me to try and improve my quality score. However, she said that they cannot tell me how quality score works.

she told me to try and increase my CTR of %38 with over 3 months of history and 15K clicks. As if that is even possible....

The support is completely useless. they tell you is "i cant tell you that" or "increase your quality score"

They're complete idiots.. I almost think that google pays them to act like that.

Agreed, wrong metaphor. you don't make money driving a car. But the fact is, they are not regulated and can pretty much do what they want, like any company. Banks are.

if you feel strongly about it, sue them.

I think a better metaphor would be Ford dealers buying getting first dibs on the new ford GTs and then personally reselling them for twice the price.

Unfortunately yes.

I don't think it is so much a problem of them exploiting little known secrets about how their system works, although some may, but as someone pointed out more that they can access anyones account details and plan their own strategies accordingly which we cannot do giving them what most would think is an unfair advantage.

seems like standard biz practice these days ... if we really want to complain, think about the fact that US Senators can conduct insider trading as long as they are senator. If they hear about a bill that would send Yahoo Stock climbing, they are allowed to buy and sell at their disposal. thats something I'd be more worried about.