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Trust Mogul - Peter Garety's Fake Trust Seal Plugin

by Joan Altz
7 replies
This is a product launching today and it is perhaps the most ridiculous and maybe even most dangerous product you could buy for your website.

It's a plugin created by Peter Garety that allows you to place up to 3 "Trust Mogul" trust seals on your site anywhere you like.

When a visitor clicks a seal it pops up a window and appears to be verifying the information about your contact details and so on, using an animated gif.

It has these trust seal options:

1. Site Verified
2. Security Verified
3. Privacy Verified

And it also includes a "PayPal Verified" seal option.

It was almost laughable watching his full demo video where he references a Crazy Egg article in an effort to make the argument that a trust seal increases conversions.

In fact, the article did not make that claim at all, but rather proved that ONE trust seal in particular increased conversions, Norton's Verisign trust seal.

The article actually made the case that any old unknown trust seal doesn't do anything to increase conversions, but makes people more wary to buy because they don't trust the seal!

Could you imagine buying this plugin, using it, and the word getting around about how it is a fake verification seal? Forget about raising conversions, how about suddenly seeing your normal conversion rate drop to zilch?

And who in their right mind would use the Trust Mogul "Security Verified" seal on a site with http and not https? Most people aren't stupid about what a secure site url looks like.

I haven't used this plugin and I won't be buying it and I won't be promoting it either.

It's garbage with a sharp piece of metal sticking out among the crap and it just might cut you if you play around in it.
#fake #garety #mogul #peter #plugin #seal #trust
  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Wilson
    I don't get it.

    If a seal is of value then why pay money to have fake ones?

    If it ain't worth using a real one then why spend money to get a fake one.

    Why would we set out to trick and cheat our site visitors?
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  • Profile picture of the author ajr6758
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author forrestsmyth
      I agree ...I think most website visitors will see right through this and as Joan suggests, it will most likely have a negative effect on trust and conversions.

      It also doesn't do a lot for the credibility of affiliates who are promoting it, either!
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  • Profile picture of the author moreno
    even the creator ,Mr.Garrety credibility is very ,very low.......but anyway mosr of the marketers using a list to promote or product creator (jvzoo and warrior f. are full of them )are reaching the bottom of the barrel 'cause they promote and promise anythingh but 99% are just fake promises and lies or at the best ..a very unethical way to market , no wonder the fake seal of quality and secutity is just another joke......
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  • Profile picture of the author BusinessAce
    Let me start by saying that I completely oppose the premise of the product: 'fake' trust seals.

    That said, I disagree with the OP as far as the perceptions of the 'general public'.

    I don't believe most people know or understand "https" and would accept a 'legitimate' looking seal. Sometimes it's difficult to appreciate how far from "most people" those of us in the business really are in terms of our general understanding & familiarity with online marketing, the web, it's technology, etc.

    I also disagree with the implication regarding the Crazy Egg article. I've read it, and a few other studies & whitepapers on the subject, and they all underscore what I believe is the generally-accepted idea that trust seals do in fact convey an additional sense of security and do increase conversions.

    Lastly, I'm very surprised to see that he's including an option for a "Paypal Verified" seal; I don't think it will be long before he gets a letter from Paypal legal.

    Again - I'm absolutely not condoning the product or the idea, just adding my opinion about trust seals in general.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joan Altz
      Originally Posted by BusinessAce View Post

      I don't believe most people know or understand "https" and would accept a 'legitimate' looking seal. Sometimes it's difficult to appreciate how far from "most people" those of us in the business really are in terms of our general understanding & familiarity with online marketing, the web, it's technology, etc.
      Who cares? If even only 5% know what "https" is and would not just accept any old legitimate looking seal, that's 5% too many, don't you agree? It's lost sales, lost credibility, however you slice it up. And more people know about it now than they did 10 years ago. The general Internet user population is wiser, not dumber, and getting wiser as time goes on about all of these things.

      Originally Posted by BusinessAce View Post

      I also disagree with the implication regarding the Crazy Egg article. I've read it, and a few other studies & whitepapers on the subject, and they all underscore what I believe is the generally-accepted idea that trust seals do in fact convey an additional sense of security and do increase conversions
      The Crazy Egg article was about how Norton's seal is the most trusted and leads to notably higher conversions and how other, less recognized seals had less impact on conversions, because those other seals were less well known and therefore less trusted. No argument that a good, recognized seal leads to higher conversions. They cost more because they provide more value. A fake seal has no value.
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  • Profile picture of the author cabenb
    I fully agree Joan. It's ridiculous that these kind of 'products' are sold. It's even worse that many sellers want to make there income by scamming people.

    I advise everybody on here not to trust any product offered before you have some proof of real users with real reviews. That's why I opened a thread with the suggestion to the Warrior Forum admin to add some kind of quality score to the product threads.
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  • Profile picture of the author RoyChan
    The funny thing about this "trust" thing is that the seller does not even use it on his sales page, which says it all.
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