I received a case study today, from someone whos I added myself to – a former “friend turned ‘get rich quick’ on the Internet blogger”. You know the type – I talk about them enough here! This person has gone down the usual ‘I’m a guru’ route, selling people freely available information and advice…

If you’ve read much of this site – you’ll know the thing I really hate is people who lie and cheat unsuspecting newbies out of their hard earned cash. This case study, boasting about how successful his content blog was, is full of unsubstantiated claims. He claimed massive use (far beyond anything that could be expected for the niche), without having the courtesy or good sense to back it up with even a screen shot of his stats.

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He was very clearly over-stating his income from the site, the sales of his useless ebooks, and – this is what really pssied me off – his earnings from Google Adsense. In truth, he didn’t actually state his Adsense earnings – he did, however accompany the text with this image…

Perhaps at best it is misleading, it is designed to mislead – of that there is no doubt. But I say, in not saying it isn’t his – it’s downright fcuking dishonest. I’m sure you won’t be shocked to hear that the author’s day job is running a real estate agency!

So, what does it suggest – that he made $332 today, and $288 yesterday. No he didn’t!

How can we tell…

Firstly – it’s not the current view of Google AdSense reports as it stands now. Secondly, though it may seem that it has been taken out for confidentiality the blur hides the detail information too. Surely, if someone wanted to boast in this way they would at least make a recognizable email address visible to offer some form of proof that it at least might be them…

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How did he do it? Very simple – googleadsensegenerator.com

Here’s a copy of it I did to prove the point using the site. If you look carefully you’ll see the number eight is slightly cut off… And, other than the numbers after the decimal point – which are randomly generated, the two images are exactly the same.

For a man who talks on his blog about honesty and integrity – it’s a bit of a let down isn’t it? Would you buy an ebook, follow his advice advice, or be motivated to buy from his affiliate links? Or indeed, would you buy a property from someone who can do this? In my mind his business ethics are clearly questionable.

Related posts:

1. Fake Internet Guru’s…
2. Some people will never get to first base!
3. What the hell is this blog about…?