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Monday, July 21, 2008

MALAYSIA STEALS TOURISTS FROM THAILAND

One of the ads here on The Bangkok Bugle that is provided as part of Google AdSense caught my eye this morning. The headline said 'Wanna go to Phuket?' The strapline said 'Why not fly to Malaysia instead'.
The ad is part of a campaign by Malaysia Airlines, obviously aimed at taking tourists away from Phuket. Is this ethical, and do you think it's likely to work? Surely anyone looking seriously at holidaying in Phuket isn't going to be swayed by Malaysia? If someone is just looking at South East Asia in general as a holiday destination the advertisement could actually be taking tourists away from Thailand.

2 comments:

Anonymous 10:03 AM  

Ha! I am sure it's not against Google guidelines. Phuket is not a brand name, so a "competitor" or competing destination can bid on the keyword. I had ads on my blog this morning for Krabi hotels and a Krabi taxi service, A resort in Koh Pha Ngan and Hotels in Phi Phi. Same country but also certainly bidding on the Phuket keywords to lure customers to other destinations. Right, I'm going to start bidding on Malaysia... "Thinking of going to Malaysia? Why not come to Phuket instead!"

:)
Jamie
Phuket

(c) 2016 Written by Andrew Batt 11:48 AM  

Hi Jamie. I get some weird and wonderful ads on my blog at times and the Phuket/Malaysia one is back again this morning. If there are no rules preventing it then everyone should make the most of it. Can you really see the TAT buying Malaysia keywordz though?
;-)

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