Voucher Sites & Fake Discount Codes

[mpollard]

In the last week, we've had two customers complain that vouchers that they found on various websites haven't worked on our website.

Of course, the vouchers are fake and the websites are just harvesting their email addresses. But, is there anything we can do about this?

 

[fisicx]

Not really.

You could add a warning on your website about voucher sites but that’s about if.

 

[Andy Harris]

Most of those fake websites are of course found in Google results.

And there lies the problem ...

Until Google allows people to click a button to feed back on websites that they think are dodgy, or wrong etc. then we are stuck with this problem.

Google, unfortunately, don't care and the organic results are awash with so much junk.

 

[Darren_Ssc]

But, is there anything we can do about this?

Yes, don't ask customers if they have a voucher code at the checkout.

 

[Graham Tyers]

I would certainly make sure Google has your trademarks listed to stop people using them in any add copy.

I make our own voucher page and promote that above the scammers search for "[our brand] vouchers" and we'll be above them.

And stop using affiliate networks, as you just end up paying for the traffic that you generated yourself through your own branding, and would have had anyway!

 

[Graham Tyers]

Yes, don't ask customers if they have a voucher code at the checkout.

This is a good way - only present the 'have you got a voucher code?" box if you have cookied them with an approved voucher. People love a discount, but 9 times out of 10 they will buy anyway.

 

[billybob99]

but 9 times out of 10 they will buy anyway.

Especially when I can't always find one that works for Dominoes, Pizza Hut or Papa Johns.

 

[Nochexman]

Have you contacted the websites to ask them to stop doing this?

 

[Jay K]

In the last week, we've had two customers complain that vouchers that they found on various websites haven't worked on our website.

Of course, the vouchers are fake and the websites are just harvesting their email addresses. But, is there anything we can do about this?

What websites are doing so? First up are they affiliates? If they are tell them to remove or drop them.

As someone else also said you can make your own page on coupons and get this to rank so when people search for it they find yours at the top of the results.

If you hit them up and they won't remove them you can also hit up John Mu on Twitter (he's the public face of Google search) and say X sites are ranking for keywords using fake coupons. I have seen him pass on info before to the search engineers to improve what they do. They can also instigate manual reviews of sites and penalise them but wouldn't hold out much hope of that.