Martindale-Hubbell ads claim its lawyers.com directory has the 'Best Lawyers?'
Sure looks that way in Martindale-Hubbell's Google ads for their consumer and small business lawyer's directory, lawyers.com. Doing a search for the Best Lawyers directory, here's what I found at the top of the Google's first page.
Martindale-Hubbell is buying sponsored links from Google so that when someone searches Best Lawyers, their lawyers.com directory under the heading 'Best Lawyers' appears at the top of Google's search results. Doesn't happen on every search for Best Lawyers, but it's in the Google ad rotation as of Monday night.
Martindale-Hubbell has been a legacy product. It's been the standard bearer as far as lawyer directories. Martindale's peer reviewed ratings is the ratings system we all grew up with as lawyers. Now they are promoting a directory which is open to any lawyer who purchases a listing in lawyers.com as having the best lawyers? In an effort to beat out the Best Lawyers directory when Best Lawyers is searched for at Google?
The Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers lists have historically been subtly dismissed without mention by Martindale in Martindale's surveys claiming it to be the most trusted lawyer directory by far and away. Martindale may not have dissed these lists openly, but there's no question the company has enjoyed the legal communities perception Martindale was above the fray of lists claiming to have the 'best' or 'super' lawyers.
But now we have Martindale buying ads at Google, the number one place where consumers look for lawyers, to get a sponsored link for 'Best Lawyers' on top of Google's organic search results for the Best Lawyers directory. And any reasonable consumer seeing the ad would conclude Martindale is claiming to have the best lawyers in its lawyers.com directory.
Martindale would be better served by going back to its roots. It's what brung you. Claim that you are the legacy directory of choice, the directory that's above the fray of claiming to have the best lawyers. Claiming to have the 'best lawyers' is fraught with peril for Martindale.
Will lawyers have ethical concerns about being listed in a directory now claiming to have the best lawyers when there is no review of the lawyers included in lawyers.com? Will state governing bodies attempt to sanction or limit the use of lawyers.com because of its new claim like has happened in New Jersey with Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers.
No, Martindale hasn't bought ads claiming it's lawyers.com lawyers are 'Super Lawyers.' And don't be surprised if Martindale drops its ads claiming lawyers.com has the 'Best Lawyers.'
Let's see if "Best Lawyers" will complain about Martindale using their service mark within their ad text.
I don't think any consumer will be fooled. Most consumers, I believe, now recognize that the ads at the top and right side of Google are just that, ads. I don't think they'll be fooled any more than by seeing an add that promises "best cars."
But go ahead, click on it. What you see is that it takes the consumer to a mind numbing list of mainly lookalike websites. Most consumers will find that its very hard to differentiate one lawyer from the next on that list. (I know, I know...you could buy one of those dumb expensive banners that shows up in the Lawyers.com listing.. but again, they don't differentiate much, do they?)
Any lawyer who is buying into that type of marketing scheme (being listed in an on-line lawyer directory where you can show up right next to your 200 nearest and dearest competitors) isn't really thinking about how best to use his/her marketing money.
You guys are correct. Would you rather be a sponsored link for Best Patent Lawyer, or would you rather show up on the first page of actual search results for someone searching for the Best Patent Lawyer? Blogs are the way to go if you actually want to connect with clients worth having.