News - Interflora UK’s petals plucked by Google

[Jonj1611]

Thats very interesting.

In IE using google it is top of the list.

Using Chrome and searching on the google site it doesnt show up at all !!

[Treen]

I am a florist with over 25 years of experience in the flower industry, including 13 years of experience as an Interflora member pre-incorporation and 1 year after incorporation. Obviously this situation is very interesting to me as it could have a big effect on our industry especially over the looming Mother's Day period. Reading this and some of the other comments and articles about it I've found it a little frustrating that no one seems to have much of an idea how the Interflora system works and why they so vigourously pursue order gathering in this way. I thought those curios might find my post on a florist forum of interest. You can read it here (I can't post any links yet as I am a new member here but the site is called Floristnews if you are interested you can search it out).
I'd like to get the message across to our consumer while this iron is hot how much better off they are to deal directly with a local florist in the area they want flowers delivered to rather than using a middleman such as Interflora. Dealing direct with a bricks and mortar florists, especially those that display the Interflora branding as they are generally tried and tested, will get you a far better quality and value for money product than placing your order through either what is know in the trade as an 'order gatherer' or 'relay provider'.
This is an excellent directory of real florists called Good Florist Guide ( I'm not allowed a link). If you can't find a florist listed there for the area you want to send to give them a call, they will happily give you details of a reputable florist that can help you. The directory is produced by people who really care about quality and service and whilst they do not charge for a listing they do have personal knowledge of all of the recommended florists shown on it.
I hope that helps explain things from a florists perspective :-)

[mikerr]

Link to a long post on interflora from a florist's perspective:

http://www.floristnews.co.uk/flower-...lora-work.html

Also on interflora costs (which florists are generally banned from revealing):

I was told that I would have to buy an introduction / sundries pack at a cost of £800, even though I have inherited rather a lot of useable stock. - and I will also have to purchase the seasonal range change items on top. On receiving orders I was told it is 67.5% of the value + £3.50 for the delivery.

Oh, and the florist guide (use this instead of interflora):

http://www.goodfloristguide.com/

[HalloweenJack]

silly question as its not mentioned in the article

what does SEO mean? its used a few times but no explanation of the acronym meaning

[abaxas]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

[HalloweenJack]

yes but since its used in the body of the news it should have an explanation within - just the frist time use.

[jimbouk]

Assumed knowledge for a tech site I assume...

But yeah, articles should really expand acronyms on first use.

[Ciber]

Fair enough, Google are basically saying "If you try to manipulate our search engine then we'll take you off it, play by the rules of inclusion or don't be included".

Trust in search results is pretty important.

Agree. You need to know your searches are not being unfairly manipulated.