Looking for Reviews on Ad Matching Company "Vertical Search Works"

[WineCellarInnovations]

Hey there,

We got cold called by "Vertical Search Works" - VerticalSearchWorks.com and while it sounds great (low CPC compared to our current PPC stuff) on great networks (DIY, HGTV), no contracts, pause anytime...

But RipOffReport has two bad reviews on them and I have not been able to search out anything else on them online. If anyone has insight before we start working with them, let me know!

Thanks!

[DavidKonigsberg]

Can't tell you about them - but i will say that cpc isn't as important as what type of quality visitor they send ie bounce rate , time on site , conv rate etc

[WineCellarInnovations]

Thanks David

[flowsimple]

Kristi, Did you ever go for the program with Vertical Search and how did it turn out?

[WineCellarInnovations]

Hi Pashmina,

They were very nice but we didn't receive any conversions for what we spent. We spent about $500 and got some traffic from some high profile sites but nothing happened. I think some of it came from recipes which was not supposed to happen.

We did not have the budget to continue to test further.

[flowsimple]

Interesting. Okay we're are planning to run a test for one of our clients too. I'll post back in a couple months if we see any results. Thanks for the quick reply.

[flowsimple]

Soooo... we ran our test with Vertical Search Works. Like Kristi's experience, we received traffic but the conversion rate was terrible, and well below par of our other paid advertising campaigns.

While I think their account service people were very nice, I did get into a bit of a healthy discussion (argument) with one of their Sales dudes about the "value" of their service and product.

This guy spent a good 15 minutes trying to convince me that the value shouldn't be measured in just conversions, but also in the 2 million plus impressions the ads received. I shot back and said that aside from lack of conversions which was obviously a driving force for an e-commerce client, site engagement in way of bounce rate, time on site, and page views were also below par. I also said impressions was a weak argument and a point with no merit given the client's goals (MORE SALES). This discussion then devolved into him defending the efficacy of their ad program, with me making funny faces as I listened (which thankfully he could not see).

Look, VSW sales dude: performance of your ads sucked. Plain and simple. I was both a little amused and a little annoyed that this guy was trying to convince me I was wrong.

Anyone care to agree, (laugh with me), or play devil's advocate?

[WineCellarInnovations]

That's a bummer, Pashmina!

I hate that argument that some of the advertisers are giving.
"Please spend $1k for a banner ad on our site."

Sorry, we didn't get anything from it last time we tried.

"You were expecting CONVERSIONS!? You know, banner ads are really just a branding opportunity..."

Maybe for YOU, buddy...

[nyakim]

Hi Pashmina,

Was wondering the results of your test.  Have recently interacted with VSW and not sure if it's even worth giving it a trial run.  Their CPC is much higher than Adwords and I question their contextual targeting ability.

The account manager is nice, but a fast talker.  He seems to be more accustomed to dealing with people that know nothing about SEM.

Any feedback you have would be welcomed!

[flowsimple]

Hi Fancois, this comment above from (Feb 13) is older. Did you see my above comment from March 16th, 2012?

[ToyotaPart]

Have you had any luck with other companies that are selling the same kind of service? It seems to me that reaching out to the companies that they put your ads on and just bypassing VSW would be a better option. I don't know if the pricing would be the same as what VSW offers but at least you would reduce the possibility of being scammed.