Can deceptive ads help sites to rank? Pogosticking effect involved...

[fablau]

Hello,
I have a question for you.

I have noticed that many music sites that appear in the first top results for keywords our users search for, include all the same ads that deceive people by inviting them to "Download"  or get the "Full Album" of what people may be search for.

Look at the following websites that are often displayed at the first spots for keywords like "Christmas Sheet Music" (just an example):

[....]

They all have, most of the times, the same ads. Look at the following screenshots taken from the sites above (the ads are at the top of the page):

http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/storage/google/Shot1.jpg
http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/storage/google/Shot2.jpg

Those deceptive ads could engage users more than legitimate websites not showing those ads or not showing ads at all, making Google think that people are more engaged on those website showing those deceptive ads.

If it is quality that Google is looking for, shouldn't they do something to avoid having sites ranking well just because of some deceptive ads that take users into action, but without any useful result?

I am eager to know your ideas on this issue.

Thanks!

Fab.

[fablau]

Ok, I understand what you mean, but I do think that those kind of ads (the ones you can see in the screenshot links I posted above) could let Google think that users are "engaged" inside the website more just because they clicked those ads and didn't get back to Google (pogosticking effect). That would actually affect rankings. Do you see what I mean?

Thank you.

[EGOL]

Could visitors engaging the ads help them rank?

In my opinion, yes, maybe.

How might your site benefit from this idea?

A) Those ads are google adsense, so you could sign up for adsense and run those ads too.  If they are getting clicked by the huge percentage of people that you suspect then you could make the same money that they are making.

B) You could make a nice portfolio of printable music and offer it for free.  Offer it conspicuously at the top of the site, just like those ads.  Lots of people would accept your generous offer.  That would get your site some great engagement and get lots of people printing sheet music from your website - which might bring people back to make a purchase.

C) You could get really aggressive and offer lots of free music.  You could do that in a variety of ways... offer them the first page for free... they could then try playing and see if it is at the right level for them, if it is an arrangement that they like, they can come back and buy the rest.  Offer tons of free music for beginners.   Offer a different selection of  free music each month.  Lots of people will come back over and over to see what you have.  Some of them will become buyers, all of them can be shown ads.

There are many ways to structure free printables.   I have a website that offers lots of free printables (not related to music).   Printables had 160,000 visitors last month and 522,000 pageviews (not counting pdf views).  I don't sell the products that are given away for free, I make money from the ads.  The income was more than a lot of retail sites make.  Free printables can be a great business model.

[brad.s.knutson]

Those ads are generated by Google AdSense to target the user - you.  Google keeps track of your search history and pages you've visited to generate relevant ads to increase clicks and sales for the companies paying for those ads.

So in short, the ads have nothing to do with the sites rankings.  The fact that they are the same is explained by them being AdSense ads.