Monday, April 2, 2007

No More Graffiti!

Have I lost my mind???

Surely the owner of a site that sells graffiti prints (www.graffitipix.com), and writes a blog on graffiti (you're reading it) can't be advocating the end of graffiti, right?

Right. I have not lost my mind - yet! You see, among other pastimes, I surf a lot of graffiti sites. I also manage my own, which included creating ads with Google Adwords. When I create my ads, they are based on keywords, as in what searches do I want my ads to show up for? The most obvious one, of course, is "graffiti".

And so, the ads for graffitipix.com (hopefully) show up on sites searched using "graffiti". Other keywords include "spray paint", "graffiti writing", "writing on walls"... you get the idea. Well guess what - those are the very same terms you might want if you were in the business of removing graffiti!

I mean, if I'm a city planner, property manager, builder, etc., and I wanted to have graffiti removed, these are some of the keywords I would search on: "removing graffiti", "removing spray paint"... you get the idea.

The ironic part is that the companies that perform these services and sell these products ("graffiti removal solvent") buy the same Adwords keywords. And so, their ads show up right alongside mine! "Beautiful Graffiti" right next to "Remove Graffiti"!

Next time you browse graffiti sites, pay attention to the ads. You might see mine. And right next to it, you might see one on how to undue all that beautiful art.

Perhaps most ironic of all, one can imagine, is that someone legitimately looking to rid their outside wall of graffiti may find "Graffiti Removal Experts" - and if they look close enough, an ad promoting graffiti!

(That picture up top is either a very sad picture of art gone away, or a pristine wall just begging to be tagged!)

Happy Passover and Happy Easter, one and all!

Molly

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