Q&A: Is it permitted to click on sponsored Google ads in order to check competitors?
Is it permitted to click on sponsored Google ads in order to check competitors?
Question
Have a good week, Rabbi!!
At my job (which includes paid advertising of Google ads for my clients),
I check competitors in order to learn from them and understand what they are doing.
Among other things, it is important for me to see where they direct people who click on their ad in Google.
The problem is that every time I click on such an ad, that advertiser pays money to Google.
In other words, he does not pay Google for displaying the ad, only if someone clicks on it.
So my question is: am I allowed to click on ads of my clients' competitors in order to learn what they are doing, even though it is clear to me that I am not looking to buy a product from them?
And I am not asking from the standpoint of verbal deception, since the person whose ad I click does not know that I entered the site, unlike what happens in a store.
Rather, is there theft here?
Answer
Good question. It seems to me that there is no theft here, because he advertises the ad with that in mind. He understands that the ad is on the internet and that anyone who wants can click on it. It is like placing something in the public domain for public use, where it would not be reasonable to demand that people not use it as they wish.
Additionally, he could have written, “Please do not click if you do not intend to buy” (and even that is not certain would be valid, because this is the internet’s public domain). Therefore it seems that he takes this into account and is willing to pay the rate Google charges.
Still, in my view it is doubtful whether it is proper to do so morally. At the end of the day, you are causing him expenses in order to profit yourself. Perhaps it would be better to go in and buy one product, or find someone who would be willing to consider buying the product if it looks worthwhile to him and ask him to click for you, and then even if he does not buy there is no problem with the click. Another possibility is to get him one potential customer in exchange for the click you make.
Discussion on Answer
You could simply reimburse him for the cost of the click by bank transfer or by buying a product from him.
There is no way to know the cost of the click; it is not a fixed amount (and it can even be dozens of shekels).
If I click on 10 competitors, it could 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 am looking at ads for 10 magicians, I am not going to book 10 performances, or even one; that would not make sense.
Paying hundreds of shekels is exactly what should be done. If it is not worth hundreds of shekels to you, then do not do it. As for the magicians—I said above that it is permitted, but in my opinion not proper unless you can compensate them for the price of the click.
In the past I ran into the same problem, and the solution was to copy the address and paste it into the address bar above, so there is no need to click.
Anonymous, but when copying the address, later in the address there is no mention that this is an ad, like taboola../gogle=…. and so on, so even if you copy rather than click, does he still know it came through them?
Also, what happens if you enter the site and they know your IP, that you viewed ads at that time—so maybe that also counts?
It seems to me that you can simply find the company and the product manually through a regular search when the result is not an ad. Maybe also under a different IP, like with Tor.
Anonymous—it is the same thing. If I am not mistaken, they do not charge for the physical “click” but for entering the link the ad points to.
Thank you very much, Rabbi.
It is pretty complicated to get a customer or to buy,
since sometimes the products are very expensive and I have no need for them at all.
Could I instead give him a marketing tip about his website?
That has monetary value.