This Kind of Dishonesty Bugs Me!

7 replies
Yesterday I was reviewing the "Hot URLs" according to Alexa,
and ran across a site in the top 40 that I clicked on to check out...
Los Angeles Tribune - Local Report
(losangeles-tribunes[dot]com/finance)

It turns out that even though it appears to be an article from a
financial weekly reporter, it's actually an ad for a product called,
"Easy Google Profit".

The part that bugs me the most is the "geo ip" feature that makes
it appear that the person in the article lives in my home town.

I guess this is supposed to make me more likely to believe the
article and buy the product? Somebody in my little town actually
made it big on Google! (I'm joking - that's apparently what they
want me to believe.)

What do my fellow Warriors think? Is this crap or is this just
great marketing?
#bugs #dishonesty #kind
  • Profile picture of the author The Pension Guy
    I think it's an interesting marketing idea BUT the product (and the hidden continuity behind it) is just crap. Big crap.

    Actually, it was discussed a lot around here a few weeks ago...
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  • Profile picture of the author Poglia
    This sucks.

    "Mike Richardson from Gassino Torinese , 12 is your average American Citizen."

    By the way, never heard of that city before. Apparently it's near my town.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brian Cook
      That's funny Apparently this geo-ip thing is not
      foolproof when it comes to serving pages internationally.



      Originally Posted by Poglia View Post

      This sucks.

      "Mike Richardson from Gassino Torinese , 12 is your average American Citizen."

      By the way, never heard of that city before. Apparently it's near my town.
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  • Profile picture of the author $Layla$
    You know that is just bogus. Its kind of like those little banners that float around that pop up on some sites and say "You've just won XX" and then when you click it you know you have so many minutes until you are the last one in your area to be eligible, because you know all the people in this community are online at that moment. What a bunch of crap.
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  • Profile picture of the author Philipc
    I saw this once. Apparently it's a nasty pop up that makes you think you opened the page. The copy and design is supposed to look like an actual online newspaper. Apparently it's a well known scam that's been written on many times.
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  • Profile picture of the author webpromotions
    I have no problem with the 'forced continuity' thing as long as its clear and honest, but the fact is that it often isn't.

    My ex-wife obviously knows that I make my living online, so she decided to do a little 'googling' to see if she could pull in a few extra bucks.

    She ran across something called 'Google Revolution'. She signed up, and about a week or 2 later got hit with about 5 different credit card charges. Stuff that had NOTHING to do with Google Revolution, and sure as hell wasn't disclosed in the signup. One of them was even some stupid 'identity theft' program.

    She called her bank and the person she spoke to immediately knew what she was talking about and said they get nonstop complaints about this program and its related fraudulent charges. Of course she had to cancel her credit card and have a new # issued.

    Its one thing to have a legit forced continuity program, but to have some BS program that results in FOUR (yes, it was FOUR) completely unrelated charges to your credit card is exactly why the FTC is cracking down on this kind of crap.

    Not sure if I'm allowed to post the name here, but since it was clearly a case of complete fraud, I'll give it a shot. The fraudulent crooks were from googlerevolution dot com.

    Maybe I'm wrong, but from what I've heard, its all the same. Google Money Tree, Easy Google Cash, etc etc. I'd bet my left one that they all go back to the same company.
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  • Profile picture of the author The Pension Guy
    I have no problem with the 'forced continuity' thing as long as its clear and honest,
    If it is clear and honest - then it's not "forced".
    Forced, although I used the word 'hidden', means it was not disclosed when you signed up.

    All these local-news-type of scam sites operate with hidden continuity. Hopefully, they will all be killed one day. Actually, I wouldn't mind if it happens literally - kill them all
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