$250,000 fine...

Geoffrey Freedom · 06-10-2011, 06:11 PM

Be careful with fake reviews....
FTC Settles With DVD Seller Over Fake Reviews | PCWorld

PPC-Coach · 06-10-2011, 07:20 PM

Sad part is the guy probably made 5x that on sales.

PandoraMarketing · 06-10-2011, 07:27 PM

Look's like they are going to start coming down hard on the farticles soon again, be prepared lol

ChrisBa · 06-10-2011, 08:35 PM

Nice little fine there, wonder how much he made off of it

jcruz · 06-10-2011, 08:39 PM

Sucks for him, thats what he gets for being a scam artist.

truly_gifted · 06-10-2011, 08:39 PM

Excuse me for being a bit uninformed, but what the heck is a farticle?

Shaz07 · 06-10-2011, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by truly_gifted

Excuse me for being a bit uninformed, but what the heck is a farticle?

Fake content or reviews + article = farticle.

Fake + blog = flogs

PandoraMarketing · 06-10-2011, 10:34 PM

A farticle is like a fake news site, fake article with fake reviews and feedback.
A flog is similar but in the style of a blog

Cheers Shaz

James Sides · 06-10-2011, 10:49 PM

I think the sad thing here is it was actually the affiliates breaking the law but rather than crack down on them the company is hit with the fine.

Now, I agree that companies should monitor their affiliates but is it really all that practical? Wouldn't it make more sense for the affiliates to be the ones fined since THEY are the ones who didn't disclose their affiliate relationship?

I knew it was only a matter of time til the people trying to skate the FTC were nabbed but sadly it looks like the merchant is going to be forced to babysit every Tom, Dick, and Harry who sticks a link on their site.

Sad day indeed when the ones committing the crime avoid the punishment.

-James

J Bold · 06-10-2011, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcruz

Sucks for him, thats what he gets for being a scam artist.

Did you actually read the article? It was affiliates who were doing the fake reviews.

DerekMadden · 06-11-2011, 12:51 AM

idiots

Derek Madden

dragoncpa · 06-11-2011, 02:17 AM

250,000$fine? If I can earn 1000$per month. That will be great.

azmanar · 06-11-2011, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PPC-Coach

Sad part is the guy probably made 5x that on sales.

Hi,

The company Legacy, made $5million as a result of the 25 fake reviews.

The fine of $250k is the total of $10,000 per fake review.

That is only 5% of the total revenue already made by deceptive reviews.

FTC is being reasonable and that small amount serves as a warning only.

Mike Morgan. · 06-11-2011, 02:53 AM

I wouldn't even support farticles and flogs .

They are not ethical business practices .

mtmjohn · 06-11-2011, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azmanar

Hi,

The company Legacy, made $5million as a result of the 25 fake reviews.

The fine of $250k is the total of $10,000 per fake review.

That is only 5% of the total revenue already made by deceptive reviews.

FTC is being reasonable and that small amount serves as a warning only.

Just curious why they didn't just use real reviews if they have made $5million sales. Haha

azmanar · 06-11-2011, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtmjohn

Just curious why they didn't just use real reviews if they have made $5million sales. Haha

Hi John,

I bet Legacy knows all the time about what the affiliates have been doing.
So, they maintained it because it worked well and brought good sales.

" If it aint broken, don't change. " works ... until FTC flew in.

On the positive side, we now know how effective and powerful
testimonials are in bringing in sales. No doubt about it anymore.

Here is my conclusion John:

You give me review copies of your products. I use and test it.
Then I'll do a "real" fantastic review.

This means, my review is not fake.

And then if I join your affiliate program at a later date, the
review is valid, not fake nor it is deceptive. I can put my affiliate
links anywhere I wished in my site.

The next thing I need to stay safe is to state in my Site User Policy
that " this site contains affiliate links that may bring commissions. ".

Ok. John. Send me review copies right now. lol...

James Sides · 06-12-2011, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azmanar

Hi John,

I bet Legacy knows all the time about what the affiliates have been doing.
So, they maintained it because it worked well and brought good sales.

" If it aint broken, don't change. " works ... until FTC flew in.

On the positive side, we now know how effective and powerful
testimonials are in bringing in sales. No doubt about it anymore.

Here is my conclusion John:

You give me review copies of your products. I use and test it.
Then I'll do a "real" fantastic review.

This means, my review is not fake.

And then if I join your affiliate program at a later date, the
review is valid, not fake nor it is deceptive. I can put my affiliate
links anywhere I wished in my site.

The next thing I need to stay safe is to state in my Site User Policy
that " this site contains affiliate links that may bring commissions. ".

Ok. John. Send me review copies right now. lol...

Actually just tucking that little disclosure in a user policy is not going to do the job. Technically your disclosure is supposed to be in plain view of the affiliate link.

If you read the story here many of these sites had disclosure but were only accessible once you clicked a link. The disclosure MUST be on the same page as the affiliate link.

Cheers,

James

MayhemMirix · 06-16-2011, 11:49 PM

That's one big fine. Of course, not for them, but for the simple mortals, it is.

06-10-2011, 06:11 PM	#1
Geoffrey Freedom Geoffrey Freedom War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Oregon, USA Posts: 69 Thanks: 7 Thanked 8 Times in 6 Posts	$250,000 fine... Be careful with fake reviews.... FTC Settles With DVD Seller Over Fake Reviews \| PCWorld
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06-10-2011, 07:20 PM	#2
PPC-Coach Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: , , . Posts: 2,547 Thanks: 44 Thanked 663 Times in 379 Posts	Re: $250,000 fine... Sad part is the guy probably made 5x that on sales.

06-10-2011, 07:27 PM	#3
PandoraMarketing Facebook Super Affiliate War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 116 Thanks: 16 Thanked 24 Times in 19 Posts	Re: $250,000 fine... Look's like they are going to start coming down hard on the farticles soon again, be prepared lol
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06-10-2011, 08:35 PM	#4
ChrisBa Senior Warrior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 4,127 Thanks: 10 Thanked 507 Times in 401 Posts Social Networking	Re: $250,000 fine... Nice little fine there, wonder how much he made off of it
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06-10-2011, 08:39 PM	#5
jcruz HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 341 Thanks: 7 Thanked 33 Times in 29 Posts	Re: $250,000 fine... Sucks for him, thats what he gets for being a scam artist.

06-10-2011, 08:39 PM	#6
truly_gifted Ginesa Brackney War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Lone Star State Posts: 134 Thanks: 2 Thanked 35 Times in 28 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: $250,000 fine... Excuse me for being a bit uninformed, but what the heck is a farticle?
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06-10-2011, 10:34 PM	#8
PandoraMarketing Facebook Super Affiliate War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 116 Thanks: 16 Thanked 24 Times in 19 Posts	Re: $250,000 fine... A farticle is like a fake news site, fake article with fake reviews and feedback. A flog is similar but in the style of a blog Cheers Shaz
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06-10-2011, 10:49 PM	#9
James Sides http://wsocop.com War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Southeast Missouri Posts: 609 Thanks: 206 Thanked 365 Times in 208 Posts Social Networking	Re: $250,000 fine... I think the sad thing here is it was actually the affiliates breaking the law but rather than crack down on them the company is hit with the fine. Now, I agree that companies should monitor their affiliates but is it really all that practical? Wouldn't it make more sense for the affiliates to be the ones fined since THEY are the ones who didn't disclose their affiliate relationship? I knew it was only a matter of time til the people trying to skate the FTC were nabbed but sadly it looks like the merchant is going to be forced to babysit every Tom, Dick, and Harry who sticks a link on their site. Sad day indeed when the ones committing the crime avoid the punishment. -James
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06-11-2011, 12:51 AM	#11
DerekMadden Active Warrior Join Date: May 2011 Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas Posts: 50 Thanks: 1 Thanked 10 Times in 8 Posts Social Networking	Re: $250,000 fine... idiots Derek Madden
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06-11-2011, 02:17 AM	#12
dragoncpa HyperActive Warrior Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 98 Thanks: 7 Thanked 8 Times in 6 Posts	Re: $250,000 fine... 250,000$fine? If I can earn 1000$per month. That will be great.

06-11-2011, 02:53 AM	#14
Mike Morgan. Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2,688 Blog Entries: 42 Thanks: 569 Thanked 827 Times in 274 Posts	Re: $250,000 fine... I wouldn't even support farticles and flogs . They are not ethical business practices .
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06-16-2011, 11:49 PM	#18
MayhemMirix Active Warrior Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 36 Thanks: 6 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: $250,000 fine... That's one big fine. Of course, not for them, but for the simple mortals, it is.