This client paid us to get his book on various news websites, over 200 in total. We did so, and also sent him all the links over email and an excel sheet. If anyone does a Google search on his book, you’ll come up with the screenshot below. Note that our efforts rank for 4 out of the top 10 in Google, and around 50 of these news features are in Google (though not all 50 make up the first 50 search results).

A quick pause before looking at the below screenshot is that this client paid for our news feature package, which gets his book featured on various news websites.

His complaint was that certain sites were not found in Google. The area of work pertaining to Google rankings is called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). While some of our news features do get indexed and ranked well in Google (4 out of the top 10 as shown), this was not a part of the package i.e. we did not promise or guarantee any kind of Google indexing or ranking.

While many people in the world may mistake Google to be the source of truth, i.e. if it’s not on Google it doesn’t exist, that is not true at all. For example, our own website has 15-20 pages. However you’ll only find maybe 5-6 in Google. We can 100% assure you that these pages exist since we created them. Google is only a search engine – a directory that shows different pages based on what you search and who you are/your location etc.

Here are 2 links for readers interested in SEO: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/34434?hl=en  and https://developers.google.com/search/help/site-position-in-search-faq

To be very clear, we do not assist in SEO at all nor have we promised the client to do so.

Yet despite this, our news features rank for 4 out of the top 10.

Screenshot below showing the 4 in 10 Google search results:

Client claim: The article has disappeared. No it hasn't.

Client claims that his article has disappeared. It hasn’t.

What has happened is that because we got too many results, which Google finds repetitive, they have collapsed some of our results. This is something that Google does which is out of our control.

To fix the “issue”, one can click on “repeat the search with the omitted results included” on the last page of the search. You can also see Google’s explanation that because the entries are similar, they have hidden some. We have no control what they hide or show as we are not Google.

What happens after one clicks that ‘show omitted results’? His Yahoo News article, which he claims went missing, now show up as result #2 and #3.

As we’ve delivered on the package, naturally we did not agree to his request for a refund. This is why we’ve labelled his 1-star review as an extortion attempt.

Below is the screenshot of what the client needed to click on to repeat the search and show omitted results:

Surprise: Our news articles actually rank for the top 8 results when repeated with Google-omitted results

The client’s claim of missing articles comes from the client’s lack of understanding regarding Google and SEO. We disproved all of this over email, but he has refused to accept our explanation.

See below screenshot for our top 8 out of 10 search results for him:

The client has stated over email that he “expected a whole lot more”. It’s not that we didn’t deliver what was provided, and more. But it’s just the client demanding a whole lot more than what was promised. This logic is beyond us because if we order one set meal at a restaurant, we wouldn’t expect two set meals to be served.

Because we always provide clients with all deliverables, we normally respond to bad reviews with evidence and leave it as that. Unfortunately, this client wants to make the claim that “Jerry is a liar”. Having delivered everything required in the package, we have requested that the client remove that specific line. The client is free to express his opinion otherwise, just like we can post evidence for all to see.

The client has not removed that line, which we find to be defamatory, and hence we are forced to pursue all legal avenues. Until this has been resolved, we will temporarily redact some information.

We do not make any representation that any single news article or the combination of news articles will sky rocket a client to fame or riches. For every PR launch, results may vary because article traction varies and book quality varies. Article traction and popularity is something we cannot control. This is the same with any news article. Imagine if a news network like BBC puts out 1000 articles. Some articles will get little to no attention while some can spread like wildfire. It’s just the nature of the internet algorithm.

What we can promise and deliver on is that publishing of these articles to the various news websites. Just like investment returns where past results are not indicative of future returns, we cannot guarantee that all authors see the same level of success selling over $100,000 of books.

To put in context the request for a refund after we have delivered on the service would be like:

  1. Running $1000 of Facebook ads, not getting results, and asking FB to refund you. They won’t.
  2. Running $1000 of Google PPC ads, not getting results, and asking Google to refund you. They won’t.
  3. Losing $1000 on your investment portfolio and asking your financial advisor to refund you. They won’t.