Whether it’s a call from a digital marketer promising the impossible to get your website to the top spot on Google, the showroom floor of a shady car dealership, or the bustling streets of France, the bait and switch remains a timeless scam. From flashy online promises to in-person cons, this deceptive tactic is as common as ever—and I’ve encountered them all. Today’s article serves as a reminder to stay sharp and alert in your daily dealings, no matter where you are.
The Bait and Switch While I was travelling in France
As a tourist in a foreign country, I recently had the pleasure of learning how prevalent this little scam is. In this article, we’ll explore how bait and switch tactics not only occur in everyday interactions, like my own experience in Paris, but also permeate various sectors from retail to digital marketing.
The day was a cold day in early March, where the sun had come out and had started to warm my face. The air was crisp, but as we walked the lack of wind was bring faint signs of early spring to the day. There was a buzz in the air. People were out and moving around.
Of all places, we were approaching the edge of the largest roundabout in France, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris France.
Personally I have never seen so much automotive traffic in one place, and I’ve driven everywhere in North America. As a seasoned driver, who loves to drive places, the traffic was so intense, I was grateful I wasn’t behind the wheel.
Meet Slick Eddie
As a pedestrian you see different things from a different perspective and meet many people. It was as we crossed the street just before the roundabout, by the curb on the other side of the street, when a gruff looking man in his mid 40s, suddenly became excited. We’ll call him Eddie, as I never did get his name. Eddie suddenly lunged forward, squatted down in front of us and picked something up from the curb and yelled, in broken English, “I can’t believe I found it!”
Of course he was dramatic, jumping for joy, claiming it was his lucky day, and he made a point to show my wife and I, the gold ring he found, with a strong emphasis on the 14K gold stamp inside the band of the ring.
It wasn’t just me…
I initially thought this experience was unique to me, but it turns out Les Frenchies — whom I follow on Instagram — regularly call it out as a common scam to watch for while in Paris.
He then started to walk away, claiming it was his lucky day, only to stop, come back and try to give the ring to my wife and I. We didn’t want to take the ring, he insisted and said that since it was in front of us, we should have found it, and we should have it.
We kept saying no, no you keep it, when he forced my wife to take the ring by putting it in her hand. It was high pressure and awkward not to take the ring, so we agreed. He then turned away, and turned back, and it was then, that he told us he needed money.
He humbly asked, saying he would like to eat some food, and the ring was worth so much money as it was 14K gold. At this point we just wanted him to go away so we gave him 10 Euro. He then started to tell us he needed more money to feed his family, when suddenly he looked over my shoulder, and then quickly disappeared into the sea of people on the roundabout sidewalks.
In come the Cops
Behind me, an unmarked cop had pulled up on scooter, and identified himself as such. He asked what happened, we told him, and he asked us to show him the ring. He took the ring, he looked it over and handed it back and he told me it was copper. Eddie had quickly switched the 14K gold ring, with a copper imitation ring he had in his pocket. My wife and I looked the ring over, having both seen the 14K stamp and it was nowhere to be found.
We sort of laughed, we were out 10 Euro, and were glad we didn’t give him more money.
The Bait and Switch in the Online Business World
My professional self thought what a perfect example of the bait and switch, a small-scale example of a widespread tactic that arises in various forms across many sectors.
Whether it’s in France, in the shadows of the Arc De Triomphe, the business world, or even a door to door salesman, bait and switch scams are everywhere.
Getting into the business world, the bait and switch is another version of the same ole story.
The Car Dealership Bait and Switch
There’s the whole car dealership scam, where they show ads for a too good to be true sale on a car, and when you get there, you discover the “car in the ad” has been sold, but here’s a similar one at a much higher price.
There’s the duct cleaning bait and switch scam, where someone sells you a professional duct cleaning job that costs hundreds of dollars and then when the company shows up with a shop vac to the job, you start to wonder.
Larger scale examples of the classic bait and switch are the Fyre Festival or even as of late, Willy’s Chocolate Experience.
Driveway Paving Bait and Switch
I’ve even been recently approached at my door for a driveway paving scam, where the guy told me they ordered too much asphalt, so they need to unload it quick at a really cheap cost.
Be careful with that one.
After saying no, I read later that day of the scam is ongoing in my area; that the quality is often low-grade or they use oil and gravel instead of asphalt, the workmanship is shoddy, or they take your money and just don’t show up.
Bait and Switch SEO – What to Watch For
But how does a bait and switch scam directly affect my clients?
The Unrealistic Offer
It begins with a call, or an email, where this company makes the claim that yes, they can get you to the top 3 search results in Google in 30 days for only 99 dollars.
When you dig into their pricing, all of the services that they offer, the ones that will actually benefit a website from an SEO perspective, are listed as services that are priced individually, when added up, are nearly double or triple of what an above board SEO agency will cost.
One of the bait and switch tactics that makes me laugh is, I have a couple of clients in the home service industry. The client does above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to the services they render, but they don’t specialize in online search.
They get calls, with some aggressive person, usually calling from an unknown number offering them 10x the work at a fraction of the cost.
If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is
Invariably they call me, saying this guy called them, and can get them onto the front page of Google for about 100 bucks, and then ask me about it.
The clients are wise enough to know these offers sound too good to be true, and are bait and switch tactics, they just don’t know what to call them.
They usually tell the aggressive caller, “Oh you should speak with my IT guy about this,” and then they give them my number.
In the end, I play along with the call, acting interested for a short period of time, and then I start asking the difficult questions:
- “How long will it take to rank?”
- “How many keywords will I rank for?”
- “What is the impression share in search I will gain over my competitors?”
Depending on their answers, the callers usually start to feel uncomfortable and end the call themselves without me having to say no thanks.
No Secret to Google Search SEO other than Quality Content and Good Ole’ Fashioned Hard Work
The bottom line is, these tactics simply don’t work. There is no secret back door to Google Search, there is no easier softer way for 300.00 bucks. It’s just simply not the case.
Sure sometimes eventually someone will figure out a hack to “this, that, or the other thing,” but then as everyone exploits the weakness, it becomes discovered and the doors get closed.
Maybe you’ve had your experience with an Eddie or two, fell for a scam or caught it just in time, because your gut was telling you it was too good to be true.
Either way, I’ve come to realize that the only approach that works for longterm, sustainable growth for any business is quality content and good ole fashioned, roll up your sleeves, hard work.
Take a holistic approach to web marketing. Go beyond expectations and go the extra mile. Your efforts will pay off in the long term.
Build quality content that aligns with Google’s core principles of creating content that reflects Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust and that is helpful, people first content.
Don’t do anything shady, and make sure your web team has optimized the site for performance.
True growth for any business comes from building a product that people will find useful, and your website and how users engage with it, are a reflection of the types of products and services you offer.