Google reinstates Viagogo advertising
Just a few months after banning paid advertising from secondary ticketing marketplace Viagogo, Google has welcomed the advertiser back, saying the reseller has gone through the process to become compliant.
The news follows the acquisition of rival Stubhub by Viagogo, for US$4.05bn. Stubhub was previously owned by eBay and music industry experts have expressed concerns over the lack of competition in the market.
Excited to begin @StubHub’s next chapter! @viagogo is acquiring us from @eBay for $4.05 billion. This is a massive opportunity for us, our fans, and our partners in 70+ countries globally. https://t.co/F8H12kSkTf pic.twitter.com/OKDNt1bGx5
— Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (@sukhindersingh) November 25, 2019
The suspension of Viagogo came as the business was accused of ‘profiteering’ from charity concerns, selling fake tickets and colluding with scalpers who would buy tickets in bulk before reselling at a markup. The Federal Court found the business had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
Viagogo is now at the top of Google searches for some of the biggest concerts in Australia, next to its new business Stubhub.
Viagogo is back at the top of Google’s searches for tickets
In response, a Google spokesperson said Viagogo had satisfied the requirements necessary to have its advertising reinstated.
“Any advertiser can appeal a suspension, and if we find that they have made appropriate changes to their account, they may be eligible for reactivation. We still continue to enforce our policies and we will take action against ads or accounts that violate our policies,” the spokesperson said.
Hey @Google please stop helping @viagogo scalp tickets to our concerts. Very disappointing. You are a trusted company, they are not and by aiding them you are ripping off good people.
— Regional Touring (@RegionalTouring) December 3, 2019
Google may suspend advertising from paid clients at any time and those advertisers are entitled to appeal the suspension if the specific concerns have been addressed. According to Google, in 2018 2.3bn ads were removed that breached Google’s policies.
Specifically, in regard to ticketing, Google’s policies include clear ticket prices and ensuring resale tickets are beholden to any resale restrictions from venues.
The concerns that still surround Viagogo are more than just the inflated price of resale tickets. The business has also been known to sell fake tickets or tickets which don’t work when the patron reaches the venue.
Viagogo has also been accused of abnormally high booking fees and incorrect use of words such as ‘official’ on its resale tickets.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Elton John’s Australian promoter Michael Chugg said the lifting of the ban was “disgusting”. He said about 100 fans had been sold invalid tickets for Jonh’s performance in Perth by the platform and had been turned away and that he expects that number to rise now Google has lifted the ban.
This is actually outrageous. Viagogo is a parasitic business and should be shut down completely. But its Google and they only care about the money…
User ID not verified.
This website’s entire business-model hinges on deceit, it’s a sham of a company.
User ID not verified.
I had a bad experience when Ed Sheeron came out to Sydney with Viagogo. I booked thru them thinking I was paying for the best seats which vost me so much money. but with all the phone calls I made chasing up my tickets which finally came two days prior. Anyway the seats where so far up that my Vertigo was playing up and I had problems looking so far down. Lucky the staff had to request I have special seats.
I will never book anything with them again.
User ID not verified.