Not sure if 118 188 are spamming this or not but something is wrong.
I was looking at Local Search Companies in the UK, and seeming how I’m visiting Beckys’ Sister and Brother-in-law, in a couple of weeks I was thinking hmmm maybe I’ll get some flowers for Mand.. anyway while doing the research which I will post the data on that later, I found this 118 result at first look everything seemed normal, 118 is a pretty big company in the UK.
But then I noticed ..
Julie AnnS Florists
Tel: 0845 150 0000
378 Palatine Road, Manchester, Manchester M35 9FE and the web link went to http://www .flowersdirect.co.uk/?af=40100 ( thats an aff link )
so I looked a bit closer and
Lynn’s Flowers
Tel: 0845 150 0000
300 Warrington Road, Wigan, Greater Manchester WN2 5XA weblink again flowersdirect af=40100
Flowers Direct
Tel: 0845 855 9601
Anchor Buildings, Westgate, Morecambe, Lancashire LA3 3DD weblink again flowersdirect af=40100
Alternative Arrangements
Tel: 0845 150 0000
6 Holcombe Precinct, Bury, Greater Manchester BL0 9SH weblink again flowersdirect af=40100
Blooms Florist
Tel: 0808 144 0808
746 Oldham Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester M35 9FE weblink again flowersdirect af=40100
So what’s happened 118’s data been hacked or poisoned, or 118 playing dirty ? to be honest I don’t know
DaveN
8 Comments
-
- 2
Oh my that’s creative. It’s interesting to note that those listings are premium paid listings too.
- 3
Hmmm… Sounds pretty “bad” to me…
- 4
Lynn’s Flowers, Julie AnnS Florists & Alternative Arrangements oddly all have the same phone number – 0845 150 0000. The one listed for Blooms Florist, 0808 144 0808, appears to belong to Flowers Direct, too.
I’ve put in a request for more info on a UK florist BB to find out if the brick & mortar stores are aware their names and addresses are being used to redirect consumers to a national relay company. Very, very odd indeed.
- 5
Yeah I’ve used my affiliate system to track conversions from advertising partners rather than relying on their own systems and stats. nothing wrong with that.
- 6
If you are looking for the best florist directory try http://www.findflorist.co.uk – this lists the correct florist contact details and links to florist websites.
- 7
hmm
- 8
This example is related to advertisers that have paid to be on the site in the past.
It is not uncommon for chains to want a referral system, and not all chains bear the brand name on the outlets (eg Interflora has a network of florists, not all called Interfora), though increasingly companies are getting more savvy and wanting to track individual referrers with separate codes.
Some of these listings are expired and are in the process of being cleaned up.
Some of your comments have provided good food for thought though about ways that disreputable people could try to game systems.
Thanks for the feedback.
Nik
Flowers Direct has a paid ad in the right sidebar as well. My guess is that they just want to track sales or something.