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Is it permissible to click on sponsored ads on Google to check competitors?

שו”תCategory: HalachaIs it permissible to click on sponsored ads on Google to check competitors?
asked 7 years ago

Have a good week Rabbi!!
In my work (which includes paid advertising on Google for my clients)
I do competitor research to learn from them and understand.
Among other things, it’s important to me to see where they lead those who click on their ad on Google.
The problem is that every time I click on an ad like this, the person who advertises pays money to Google.
This means that he does not pay Google for displaying the ad, but only if it is clicked on.
And my question is, am I allowed to click on ads from my clients’ competitors to learn what they do, even though it’s clear to me that I’m not looking to buy a product from them?
And I’m not talking about fraud, since the person whose ad I click on doesn’t know that I’m entering the site like I do in a store.
But is there theft here?


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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 7 years ago
Good question. It seems to me that there is no theft here, because he is publishing the ad knowingly. He understands that the ad is online and anyone who wants to can click on it. It’s like putting something in the public domain for public use, in which case it is unreasonable to demand that people not use it as they wish. Additionally, he could have written “Please do not click if you do not want to buy” (and even that is not certain to have been valid, because it is in the public domain on the Internet). Therefore, it seems that he takes this into account and is willing to pay the rate that Google demands. And yet, I doubt whether it is morally right to do so. With a social media site, you are causing expenses for yourself to make a profit. Maybe it would be more appropriate to go in and buy one product, or look for someone who is willing to consider buying the product if they see fit and ask them to click for you, and then even if they don’t buy, there is no problem with the click. Another option is to get them one potential customer in exchange for the same click you make.

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אופיר replied 7 years ago

Thank you very much Rabbi.
It's quite complicated to get a customer or buy
Because sometimes the products are very expensive and I don't even need them

Can I instead give him a marketing tip about his website?
It has monetary value

אורן replied 7 years ago

You can simply refund the cost of the click by bank transfer or by purchasing a product from him.

אופיר replied 7 years ago

It is impossible to know the cost of a click, it is not a fixed amount (and it can also be tens of shekels)
If I click on 10 competitors, it will require paying hundreds of shekels just to find out what others are doing.

In addition, most of them do not have a specific product – If for example I look at the ads of 10 magicians. I will not book 10 performances or even one, it does not make sense.

מיכי Staff replied 7 years ago

Paying hundreds of shekels is exactly what you need to do. If it's not worth hundreds of shekels to you, don't do it. As for magicians - I said above that it's allowed, but in my opinion it's not appropriate unless you can compensate them for the cost of the click.

פלוני replied 7 years ago

I encountered the same problem in the past and the solution was to copy the address and paste it into the address bar above so you don't have to click.

לפלוני replied 7 years ago

So-and-so, but when copying the address there is no mention in the address that it is an advertisement like taboola../gogle=…. Etc. Then even if you copy and don't click, it knows it is through them?
Also, what happens if you go to the site and they know your IP that you were viewing advertisements at the same time so maybe that counts too?
It sounds to me like you can simply find the company and product manually by manual search when there is no part of the advertisement in the result. Maybe even under a different IP like in Tor.

אזרח replied 7 years ago

So-and-so – it's the same thing. If I'm not mistaken, they don't charge money for a physical “click” but for entering the link that the ad points to

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