Greetings!
 
Perhaps the GCU site has always had Google ads in some categories, but this is the first time that I noticed them.  Today I was looking for a specific bridal shower invite and noticed on the left hand side of the page that there are Google ads, which, when clicked, took me away from GCU.  There seems to be ads in the categories of Bridal Shower, Baby Shower and Birthday Party invitations, maybe other categories, too, but, I didn't look through to see.
 
And I have to tell you that I found a really pretty wedding invitation by clicking on one of those links!  All embellished and layered papers.  (Not that I'm in the market for wedding invites, but I do love to look at pretty things!)  
 
So, I'm guessing that regular shoppers will find other, really pretty, NON GCU, cards for their special occasions, too, if they happen to click one of those links...
 
Just sayin'...
 
Thanks for reading!
 
Penny
 

I'm pretty sure those have been there a very long time.  Course I could be used to 'ignoring them' from so many other places that I just assumed they've been there  

Well, this is strange.  I don't find any such adds; neither on my store front page nor on GCU Home Page.  And I do not remember them ever being there before either.  I'll be watching to see this all sorted out.  

That's weird-I have no ads on mine-it's all blank!

You have just witnessed the new Google Ads. It is based on your cache history so it is personalized to each user. As a publisher of Google Ads GCU can't do anything about this as far as I know. This has caused quite a stir on the internet. You can learn more about it through Google.  
 
I do know that if the user doesn't like it, just clean out your cache.

I really don't think so, but that is the controversy. Statistics show that advertising results is less than 3%.  I really want to say .03% but I'm not sure that is correct. Advertising on the internet has drastically changed and evolved through the years but the one thing that all advertising is based upon is timing. People ignore ads until a need arises which then spawns an awareness. This is the philosophy/theorem that Google is utilizing just in a more "I want it now" fashion.  
 
There are people that put a great emphasis on internet ad campaigns and swear that they work. Then there are other people who claim that ads don't work at all. I've worked with both kinds. The one thing that I do know is that ad campaigns can never fully live up to people's expectations. Just the nature of advertising.

I don't like it. No matter what the ad results percentage on the internet is, this is a bad situation for us.    I was browsing the wedding invitation category and there on the left was an ad for.... wedding invitations and greeting cards! If I were a shopper and had been shopping for cards for, say two days, I would see that ad, too, and I would probably click thru just out of curiosity. Now I've left GCU and have lots of different, pretty cards in front of me. The percentage rate in this situation could be 50% for all we know. Not good.  

I personally despise google ads. When I go to a site, it's because I want to see what they have to offer and not be distracted or offended by sidebar "junk".  I understand that kind of marketing--it's the same strategy that amazon uses (relating your previous views or purchases to the item you are seeing).  I don't like the psychology.  But that's my opinion.  I'm an opinionated person I guess. I also don't appreciate designers luring viewers away by advertising their cards on another card site on their gcu site?  What the heck is up with that???? I find that offensive as well.  When someone is just about to buy something and they have their hand out, it's not wise to distract them and show them a bunch of other "new stuff".   Most of the time, that's a great way to lose a sale!