Google suspends ticketing marketplace Viagogo from advertising on search engine
Google has suspended Viagogo – a secondary ticketing marketplace where people can resell their tickets for inflated prices – from advertising on the search engine through paid ads. The global suspension, which takes effect immediately, could severely impact Viagogo’s business given its reliance on paid ads for website traffic.
The decision comes after Viagogo was accused of ‘profiteering’ from charity concerts, selling tickets which may not work upon entry, colluding with scalpers, who buy tickets in bulk to sell them at a huge markup, and found by the Federal Court to have engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
An example of how far down Viagogo results will now appear. The first two results are ads, from which Viagogo is now suspended. The ticketing platform’s website is instead listed second and third in ‘organic’ search results, underneath the ads
ViaGoGo and their affiliates seem to set up a lot of dodgy events in Facebook like this one that look like the official event and use copyrighted images but just link to ViaGoGo instead of official outlets. Event spam.
https://www.facebook.com/events/340598433280287/
But apparently Metallica via Live Nation give tickets straight to ViaGoGo anyway
https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/07/metallica-live-nation-deal/
ViaGoGo a symptom, not the cause. Just as the banks can’t be trusted with our money, Live Nation and Ticketek can’t be trusted with our tickets. Would love to see a Royal Commission blast some much-needed sunlight over this opaque duopoly.
Awful site that creates a system of gig going being based on how much money you have. Glad to see this move from Google.
Sounds like Unlocked 2.0!