Do you think this is legit?

[DrMarie]

Hi guys...I just got a request for purchase of advertising space on my main site (a non-affiliate site). Do you think this is legit?

My site has an Alexa rank of about 580,000 and no PR as of yet.

Here is the letter I got:

Dear Site Owner,

I am sending this query letter on behalf of my client, a well-known entertainment website developer currently in search of new marketing outlets.

I came across your website last week when researching potential marketing vehicles for said client. It is my belief that your audience and his audience overlap, and that you would thus be an excellent advertising partner. We are interested in purchasing ad space within your site?s pages and would like to discuss details with you as soon as possible.

Please contact me if you are interested.

Best,
Eliza Walsh

 

[djbaxter]

Whether it's legit or not, what has an entertainment site got to do with your site?

One can never have as much control over ads as over content you produce yourself but I do think you want to reserve your ad space to products and services that are likely to be of interest to your visitors.

The very fact that the email was sent to a veterinary medicine site makes me suspicious. At best, it tells me the individual doesn't know what he's doing. At worst, well what's the catch and when do you get to find out?

 

[Laura61]

Hi Dr. Marie - it's good that your skeptometer is working! Not that I know whether it's legit or not, but as minstrel said, it seems unlikely.

 

[djbaxter]

I like that term: "skeptometer". Consider it swiped.

 

[Laura61]

I like that term: "skeptometer". Consider it swiped.

Well, I made it up myself, but then I googled it, and I'm far from the first. Someday I'd like to coin a word for real.

 

[DrMarie]

So is it:
-skeptAHMitter, or
-skeptOmeter

?

 

[Laura61]

Either way sounds good, actually!

 

[adsquare]

Lol, that is kind of funny. Did they ever contact you back?

Jared

 

[DrMarie]

OK, guys I just got a response which I posted below. I responded asking for a link and why a gaming site would want to advertise on a vet advice site. My skeptometer is still on...

Hi Marie, first, thank you for your response. We are eager to establish an agreement that is amenable to both parties.

Allow me now to tell you a little bit about my client. He is a respected website developer who owns and operates several successful entertainment websites. Currently, his focus is the online gaming industry. The reason for our initial query was one gaming site, in particular. Said site already has an international following. We are looking at further strengthening its online presence.

This is where you come in. To expand the scope of our site’s online presence, we would like to purchase ad space on your website. Specifics are listed below:

--purchase of 3 ad “blocks” consisting of 4 – 5 sentences each with 2 – 6 links per block (total = 3 blocks and 10-11 links)
--compensation of US$ 120 for 12 months of above service paid via Paypal or Neteller and transferred to account within 3 days of closed arrangement.

We hope you find this proposal to your liking. Should you operate additional related websites, we are prepared to offer a “links per portal” agreement for purchased advertising space after reviewing said sites for content relevance.

Please contact us with further questions and/or to complete the agreement.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Eliza Walsh

 

[djbaxter]

1. Given that your site has nothing to do with gaming, this is going to stand out like a sore thumb as paid advertising. If you accept a deal like this, be sure to clearly label it as an advertisement. Even with that, Google won't like it unless you nofollow the links, although my personal opinion of that is Google can get stuffed.

2. They are not offering you much money. You can do better. They are basically saying $40 per ad per year - you should be able to get almost that much per month.

 

[smartmarketing]

I don't know. Even if there efforts are sincere, they are looking for backlinks, and those backlinks are not relevant to your site.

If you're going to accept advertisements or other people's linking to you, then I recommend you hook up with a relevant site. Ads about Cat Chow are more relevant than some random gaming site. It could affect your site ranking with Google.

So I would pass on the opportunity.

 

[DrMarie]

It looks like the request was legit indeed, but wasn't a good fit for my site. It turns out the site is about online gambling which is not something that I want to support or promote!

I was wondering why they would want backlinks from my site as I had a PR of 0, but it turns out my PR jumped up to 3 recently! Woohoo!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Congrats on the PR jump Marie! Very nice!

 

[DrMarie]

Thanks Linda! I have been working hard at it!