Juan Monroy

The other day, I received a letter in the mail from Google. I wasn’t sure if it was related to my Google Apps account, all the unflattering things I say about them, or the fact that I’ve been circulating an image of “street art” that is critical of their surveillance over our online activities.

It turned out that it was none of those things. Once I opened it, I learned that people in my neighborhood of Long Island City have been searching Google for me, and they were just trying to sell me on AdWords.

Your current customers likely search for your business by name (e.g., “Juan Monroy”) and, as a result, your Google listing shows up in their search results.

Prospective customers however tend to search by topic and city (e.g., Flowers “Long Island City”), in which case it’s likely your business won’t show up…

I wonder what business they are referencing. Because I certainly don’t sell flowers! T-shirts, maybe, but not flowers.