A Prince Albert florist says she’s taking legal action after customers searching for her business online were directed to a sponsored listing that displayed her shop’ name while linking to another florist’ website.
Stacy Coburn, co-owner of Scentiments Floral Ltd., said the issue first came to her attention in late December during the Christmas rush.
“A customer phoned and said she kept trying to order from us, but when she clicked the link it redirected her somewhere else,” Coburn said. “At first I thought maybe it was just a mistake.”
Within days, she said another customer reported a similar experience. On Dec. 22 or 23, Coburn said she received a screenshot showing that when users searched “Scentiments Floral,” a sponsored result appeared with her business name in the headline but linked to burkittsfloral.ca.
A search conducted by the Daily Herald this week using the term “Scentiments Floral” displayed a sponsored result labeled as an advertisement. The headline read “Scentiments Floral” and linked to burkittsfloral.ca.
Sponsored listings typically appear above organic search results and are marked as advertisements.
Coburn said she initially contacted Google, believing the listing may have been a technical error. She said it appeared to stop after Christmas but resurfaced in mid-January when a customer called to complain about flowers she believed had been ordered from Scentiments.
“I couldn’t’ find the order in our system,” Coburn said. “When I asked her to check her credit card, it wasn’t processed through us.”
Coburn said she later learned the competing florist is owned by a corporation that operates flower shops in multiple Canadian cities. She believes the company purchased paid advertising tied to the search term “Scentiments Floral,” causing its sponsored listing to appear when customers searched for her shop by name.
“It only showing up in the sponsored advertisements,” Coburn said. “If you don’t pay attention, you might not realize which website you are ordering from.”
Coburn estimates her online traffic declined by approximately 35 percent in December compared to previous periods. She said she cannot determine exactly how much of that decrease is related to the sponsored listing but believes it may have contributed.
“You work hard to build a reputation and customer base,” she said. “To see your business name show up in that way is frustrating.”
Coburn said she contacted the local shop and later received an email from the corporate office indicating a lawyer would be in touch. She said her request is simple.
“If they stop using our name in their sponsored ads, that would resolve it for me,” Coburn said.
She is encouraging customers to verify website addresses carefully when ordering online and to scroll past sponsored listings if they are searching for a specific business.
“It’s important to make sure you are ordering from the business you intend to support,” she said.
In a Facebook post on Feb. 7, Scentiments Floral Ltd. wrote that they were “being forced to take legal action” and warned customers to be aware of “this dishonest marketing style.”
The Daily Herald contacted Burkitt’s Floral for comment prior to publication but did not receive a response by press time.
editorial@paherald.sk.ca
