In reply to a post by bpullen:

FWIW, I think the link in the footer is present on all variants of the site (happy to be proved wrong if that's not the case).

Nope, not there for me. Same as yours without the "Broadband only" line.

In reply to a post by johnjburness:

Which is why I supplied Bob with the full URL, since that would appear to be based on my reading of the situation!!

No - that just gets Bob's computer to search google as though he'd typed "Plusnet" into the search engine for himself, from a Firefox browser.

The URL doesn't magically give his computer the ability to be recognised, by Google, as your computer. His IP is different. His location is different. His search history is different.

All of those means that Google serves him different adverts from you.

Advertising campaigns change dynamically too (and not just the one run by Plusnet), all of which means that the adverts served NOW can be different from the ones that you saw THEN.

Oh - and Google also employs split-testing of the ads too, so the chosen ad can change at any time, depending what tests are being run.

The fact is that unless you grab a screenshot of the ad, there is no way *ever* that Bob can guarantee that he is looking at the same ad you saw.

Incidentally, regardless how Google chooses to select the personalised Advert, it would still be based on an Advert supplied by PN.

This isn't guaranteed either. Anyone can place an advert with Googe, and ask for it to be displayed when you type "Plusnet" in.

If someone else can make money out of Plusnet when you sign up, then it becomes viable for them to run such an advertising campaign.

I don't know if Plusnet offer any affiliate deals, but they certainly give people "referrer" discounts. If you can get enough money for each of these, it can be worth paying Google for the ads.

However, that's all theoretical. I suspect you're right, and it *is* an ad placed by Plusnet themselves.

Additionally, since I haven't got a clue how to insert screen-shots into TBB-Forums (you will note that Bob had to link to a PN hosting) there wasn't much I could do about providing the screen-shot.

No - it's a pain. Most people put images onto some shared hosting, like Tinypic.

In reply to a post by bpullen:

FWIW, I think the link in the footer is present on all variants of the site (happy to be proved wrong if that's not the case).

Not the case. I could post a screen capture but I don't really want to beta test your nonsense.

It is there in mine - both in the site as it was seen last night, and when refreshed just now.

If you want an image hosted and have no place of your own, then email me andrew@thinkbroadband.com with a copy and can put up on personal web space and give you link back

In reply to a post by johnjburness:

Additionally, since I haven't got a clue how to insert screen-shots into TBB-Forums (you will note that Bob had to link to a PN hosting) there wasn't much I could do about providing the screen-shot.

Dropbox is excellent and can also give you a tinyurl to the upload. Put it in the Public area though .

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

I should also say that I'm not convinced that "BB-only" was actually invisible in each of the cases we saw at the start of the thread.

I appear to be both right and wrong on this front. "BB-only" isn't entirely invisible, but there is a very concerted effort to hide it as an option throughout the website.

I just tried starting Firefox, and created a new profile to give me a fresh cookie-less setup.

With that, I got to one of the split-test varieties with no reference to "Broadband Only" at all. There was no reference from the home page graphic (near the top) nor from the standard header or footer on most pages. When I went to "view packages", there were no tabs at all, so certainly no tab for "broadband only". When you drop down the "packages" menu at the top of the screen, it has disappeared too.

I couldn't find a link or reference in any of the standard navigation mechanisms on the residential sales pages.

But I could find the product in the following ways:
- Type "broadband only" into the site's search box, which gave me a link on the result page
- The same search result gave me a different footer too, that includes "Products" rather than "Packages", and "Broadband Only" is one of the linked products.
- The same search result gives a different header too, with a residential drop-down menu that includes "broadband only"
- Type "gobbledygook" into the search box. The header & footer still gives me the same links
- From Home Page, click "Help & Support". The header & footer gives me the same links
- Click "Business", and it gives the same header & footer with the "broadband only" links back to the residential side
- Click "Member Centre", and it gives me the same header & footer, except the links are on the portal website, rather than the main site.

When reaching the "broadband only" page from one of those locations, on either the main site or the portal, it doesn't appear as a link in its own footer, and there is no tab present to swap to the BB+phone deal.

So it is very much being air-brushed out of normal navigation, but not quite smartly enough.

I also tried the live chat, and asked if they did broadband-only. However, when asked exactly that question, the person there wouldn't answer directly, and needed my landline and address before being able to confirm whether I was "eligible for a standalone deal". I don't know if this is an attempt to hide the package, or over-zealous script-following.

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

I also tried the live chat, and asked if they did broadband-only. However, when asked exactly that question, the person there wouldn't answer directly, and needed my landline and address before being able to confirm whether I was "eligible for a standalone deal".

That's a whole lot worse than we've heard so far!

Here's mine... visited the plus.net website for the first time on my work's PC - no mention of it on the footer area.

http://db.tt/HSFzm4hA

And when searching for 'plusnet' on Google

http://db.tt/PAumqFpX

One thing that I really did not like is this

http://db.tt/bVeEFXlQ

it should have given me the option to go with Broadband Only. But that did not give me the option, just new line or have Plusnet to take over my line. If I were someone looking for broadband, I would have closed down the Plusnet website and look elsewhere from this point.

Edited by hypertony (Fri 10-May-13 10:14:05)