VIRGINIA BEACH-- Local tourism officials say their counterparts at a South Carolina resort crossed a line in the sand with an effort to steer Internet surfers' vacation dollars toward Myrtle Beach.

A Web ad that greeted Google users looking for information about Virginia Beach touted Myrtle Beach, S.C., as a cheaper, more relaxing and yet more thrilling alternative.

Unhappy with having sand kicked in their virtual faces, Virginia Beach tourism officials demanded that the ad be taken down.

The ad broke an unspoken rule in the travel industry: Tourist sites don't attack one another, said Jim Ricketts, director of the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"This is unethical, unfair and frankly beneath the dignity of a major resort like Myrtle Beach," Ricketts wrote in a letter May 2 to Brad Dean, president and chief executive of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. Ricketts had yet to hear back yesterday afternoon.

A Virginia Beach convention bureau employee discovered the ad in late April. When "Virginia Beach" was typed into Google's search engine, a link titled "Escape to Myrtle Beach" popped up as the top sponsored link.

The link led to an ad on the Web site for the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, a division of the city's chamber of commerce.

"Thinking about a Virginia Beach vacation?" the ad says. "Allow us to offer a wonderful alternative that's more relaxing, has more thrills and is easier on your wallet. Escape to Myrtle Beach . . . "

Dean, other Myrtle Beach chamber officials and the city's mayor didn't return messages seeking comment yesterday.

However, Dean was unapologetic when contacted by The Sun-News of Myrtle Beach for a story yesterday.

"Frankly, my top priorities right now are filling hotel rooms," Dean told the paper. "It's pure guerrilla marketing and some take issue with that."

Ricketts said Virginia Beach has no plans to respond with an ad in a similar vein.

"I don't want to get down into a mud hole with them," Ricketts said in an interview.

The Myrtle Beach ad highlighted the area's 60 miles of beach, amusement parks, historic plantations, golf courses and other attractions and calls Myrtle Beach the "perfect departure from Virginia Beach vacations."

Virginia Beach has 35 miles of waterfront property and a resort area with an oceanfront strip of hotels, restaurants, clubs and gift shops. Fighter jets from nearby Oceana Naval Air Station frequently roar overhead.

Rosco Byrd, 70, of Richmond has visited both beaches and said he prefers Virginia Beach, unless he wants to do a lot of golfing.

"It's less commercial here," Byrd said as he strolled Virginia Beach's boardwalk.

Michael Edlow, a 45-year-old Virginia Beach resident, said the ad may backfire by making potential visitors wonder why Myrtle Beach went negative.

"When you're good, you don't need to be dogging someone else," he said.