US Requires Top of Web Page Links to Free Services

14 years ago

I've never understood the FTC's obsession with going after those credit report sites.

For one thing they are offering a completely different service than the free credit reports available the FTC mentions (yes, you can rotate where you get them from to get them more often, but it's still not apples to apples).

Another, not directly related point is I've walked through the sales process for a lot of those sites and as far as I've been able to tell the terms of the offer disclosed in a clear and conspicuous manner.

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LB

14 years ago

Ya, pretty offensive to free speech but this is another symptom of the abuse of CPA type offers and failure to disclose things like monthly credit monitoring services. These types of things generate tons of complaints to the FTC.

How about some federal action on credit reports themselves? I've personally been involved in lawsuits in an effort to get accurate information reported on my credit report as well as collectors violating the law. (on debts that weren't even mine!) It was shocking to find out these people have hundreds if not thousands of FTC complaints and are still in business.

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psresearch

14 years ago

Originally Posted by LB

Ya, pretty offensive to free speech but this is another symptom of the abuse of CPA type offers and failure to disclose things like monthly credit monitoring services. These types of things generate tons of complaints to the FTC.

How about some federal action on credit reports themselves? I've personally been involved in lawsuits in an effort to get accurate information reported on my credit report as well as collectors violating the law. (on debts that weren't even mine!) It was shocking to find out these people have hundreds if not thousands of FTC complaints and are still in business.

Hmm. I'll have to walk through some of those sales processes again.

Agree on the inaccurate data.

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Ken Leatherman

14 years ago

Brian,

I appreciate you taking the time to let us know about this. I'm going to send the thread link out to my list.

Ken Leatherman

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kindsvater

14 years ago

What if the US published a free consumers guide to weight loss, and required all websites offering diet products to include a link to the fed's guide at the top of their web pages?

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What if you develop a formula that gives each website a trust ranking ("WTR") between 200 and 800. You start making millions selling the rankings to Google and Bing, which consider the WTR for their search rankings. No WTR? Good luck getting your site listed.

So the feds pass a law requiring that you give your WTR to each website for free each year, and that on all your web pages advertising your paid service you have to let website owners know where they can get their WTR for free.

----

Or, maybe the feds should require that Google tell website owners the factors behind their website rankings (for free), so website owners can look for errors or know how to fix their rankings.

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psresearch

14 years ago

Originally Posted by kindsvater

Or, maybe the feds should require that Google tell website owners the factors behind their website rankings (for free), so website owners can look for errors or know how to fix their rankings.

I think every Adwords Ad selling an infoproduct should require an extra line with a link to where people can get information for free. ;-)

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theimdude 14 years ago

When you click on the link the FTC requires this comes up

The AnnualCreditReport.com website is not currently available at your location. Visit www ftc gov to learn how you can request your free U.S. credit report by mail.

The one site they mentioned is a parked domain with godaddy
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sbucciarel

Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by kindsvater

What if the US published a free consumers guide to weight loss, and required all websites offering diet products to include a link to the fed's guide at the top of their web pages?

----

Or, maybe the feds should require that Google tell website owners the factors behind their website rankings (for free), so website owners can look for errors or know how to fix their rankings.

There's a big difference between Free Credit Report sites that ARE NOT free and weight loss sites that don't pretend to be free.

The FTC is targeting false and misleading advertising and sites that bill you to death until you have to cancel your credit card to get rid of them because you thought you were signing up for something .... FREE.

Personally glad that they are cracking down on forced continuity and misleading ads.

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JohnMcCabe

14 years ago

Brian, I see your point. But I don't think it's quite the same as the weight-loss analogy, unless those weight loss sites went out of their way to make it seem like the only way to get legally-mandated free information is to sign up for a trial of another service.

That said, I went to the site mentioned by the FTC. What bothered me was this little gem from their privacy policy...

Central Source, or the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies, may also disclose any of the information collected, as described above, to affiliates of nationwide consumer credit reporting companies, which are companies that are related to one of them by common ownership or affiliated with one of them by common control, or to the associated consumer reporting companies who utilize a nationwide consumer reporting company system and that may have information about you.

Central Source has to pay the bills somehow, and I have a hunch it's somewhere in their definition of an affiliate... :confused:

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Lance K

14 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

Brian, I see your point. But I don't think it's quite the same as the weight-loss analogy, unless those weight loss sites went out of their way to make it seem like the only way to get legally-mandated free information is to sign up for a trial of another service.

That's what I was thinking.

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Dan C. Rinnert

14 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

But I don't think it's quite the same as the weight-loss analogy, unless those weight loss sites went out of their way to make it seem like the only way to get legally-mandated free information is to sign up for a trial of another service.

I think it is similar to Brian's weight loss analogy.

Both are selling a product or service. The FTC is not asking the free credit report sites to be more transparent that they are selling a product or service. In fact, I see ads now that specifically state that the free credit report requires enrollment in whatever service they are offering.

So, in both cases, you have a company selling a product or service. It is not a company's obligation to tell you where you can obtain similar information for free; it would be part of the consumer's due diligence to research that for themselves. Consider as well that there are weight loss programs and services that will give you a free weight loss book (or eBook) if you sign up for their plan or membership site or whatever they have to offer. What if the FTC forced them to reveal where you can get such a book for free without joining their service?

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psresearch 14 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

There's a big difference between Free Credit Report sites that ARE NOT free and weight loss sites that don't pretend to be free.

Oh. Yep. You're right.
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Dan C. Rinnert

14 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

There's a big difference between Free Credit Report sites that ARE NOT free and weight loss sites that don't pretend to be free.

The FTC is targeting false and misleading advertising and sites that bill you to death until you have to cancel your credit card to get rid of them because you thought you were signing up for something .... FREE.

Personally glad that they are cracking down on forced continuity and misleading ads.

They are not asking these sites to be more transparent about their forced continuity programs. They are telling them they must disclose where the website visitor can get a free credit report without any obligation.

To me, that's a big difference.

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sbucciarel

Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

They are not asking these sites to be more transparent about their forced continuity programs. They are telling them they must disclose where the website visitor can get a free credit report without any obligation.

To me, that's a big difference.

If there had not been so many people scammed by forced continuity programs to start with, the FTC wouldn't have made regulations ... and it's not just the forced continuity, which I've been a victim of as well as many, it's false and misleading ads in general, complete with the fake testimonials, false claims, etc.

Originally Posted by jazbo

Considering its the "land of the free" I am always stunned at the interventions of various US bodies and agencies. And it varies from state to state for a lot of it. Absolutely bonkers.

It's land of free ... not land of the lawless.

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timpears

14 years ago

As far as I understand, I am not a lawyer, commercial speech is not protected by the first amendment. That is why the FTC can make all those regulations.

You should easily be able to verify this if you doubt it. Google knows everything.

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Rich Struck

14 years ago

Originally Posted by timpears

As far as I understand, I am not a lawyer, commercial speech is not protected by the first amendment. That is why the FTC can make all those regulations.

You should easily be able to verify this if you doubt it. Google knows everything.

Commercial speech absolutely ****IS**** protected. And just because the FTC invents a regulation doesn't mean it would withstand a court challenge but who has half a million bucks to give it a whirl? This is just another example of our government ****ting on the Constitution.

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DubDubDubDot

14 years ago

Some of you seem to be totally in the dark about the "free" credit report programs..... or maybe you are just shady like they are and grasping for some way to justify it.

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Rob Howard

14 years ago

Originally Posted by DubDubDubDot

Some of you seem to be totally in the dark about the "free" credit report programs..... or maybe you are just shady like they are and grasping for some way to justify it.

Or maybe we don't like a bureaucratic, non elected Government office deciding on what we can and can't say on our own property.

If the site is shady, it's shady and the market will take care of it. Whether through lawsuit or damaged reputation or both.

Rob

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Lance K

14 years ago

I've long wondered when the free credit report sites would have to quit relying on the "free credit report" offer to push their "credit monitoring" continuity.

What I'm interested in seeing is which company can present their continuity offer in a way that it will sell well enough as a stand alone service.

I figured one of them may have tried that by now in anticipation of getting the "free report" rug pulled out from under them. But I guess as long as it was working there was no need to try and fix it.

Will be interesting to see (and learn from) how they adapt now.

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Kay King 14 years ago

The "free credit report" hook for monitoring services was originally addressed in the credit bill that took effect this year - but it was stripped or something before passage.

I think this requirement is due to the times. One more instance of "govt as your mama" - and probably not the last.

kay
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tpw

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Lance K

I've long wondered when the free credit report sites would have to quit relying on the "free credit report" offer to push their "credit monitoring" continuity.

What I'm interested in seeing is which company can present their continuity offer in a way that it will sell well enough as a stand alone service.

I figured one of them may have tried that by now in anticipation of getting the "free report" rug pulled out from under them. But I guess as long as it was working there was no need to try and fix it.

Will be interesting to see (and learn from) how they adapt now.

Not that I am some guru copywriter, because I am not, but I would make that FTC mandated link part of my sales copy:

There are three credit bureau's in the United States that track and report your credit ratings...

Those credit bureau's are required by the Federal Government to give you a copy of your current credit report once a year, upon your request...

You can obtain your credit report from each of the three companies here:

Link One
Link Two
Link Three

However, if you think it is a hassle to visit three websites every year to find your current information, you are not alone... And if you suspect that things could change during the year, you may be right...

You could wait until the end of the year, when you are entitled to get your next free credit report, to find out that your credit rating went south... Or you could employ a tracking service that will notify you of any changes immediately...

Through our paid service, we will keep track of changes to your credit rating and notify you of any such changes... For only $20 per month, we will help you stay on top of your credit rating...

If you use our service, you will not have to wait until your are entitled to receive your free credit report again -- 12 months after the first request -- to find out about those things that could prevent you from getting a new car loan or a home mortgage...

p.s. Real life example --- My wife and I went to open a checking account, and found that someone in another state had bought a car on my wife's social security number, then defaulted the loan... Our Credit Union went to bat for us and fixed this negative on my wife's credit...

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Rich Struck 14 years ago

Originally Posted by ccmusicman

Or maybe we don't like a bureaucratic, non elected Government office deciding on what we can and can't say on our own property.

Exactly. Thank you.
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Adam X

14 years ago

Well I think what the US government is doing is a good thing given the financial crisis and the importance for one to have their credit report. There are those that offer free credit reports only as a pretext for other services and so on. Something which may not be ethical in tough financial times.

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Rich Struck

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Adam X

Well I think what the US government is doing is a good thing given the financial crisis and the importance for one to have their credit report. There are those that offer free credit reports only as a pretext for other services and so on. Something which may not be ethical in tough financial times.

Will it be a good thing when all sites have to have a link to a free alternative? Because that is how this crap ends up going.

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Lance K

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Adam X

Well I think what the US government is doing is a good thing given the financial crisis and the importance for one to have their credit report. There are those that offer free credit reports only as a pretext for other services and so on. Something which may not be ethical in tough financial times.

I don't think that it's unethical. You can cancel the credit monitoring services before you get billed. I've done it in the past. Then again, I was well aware of the terms when I signed up. It's an old habit.

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BradleyT

14 years ago

When consumers search for free credit report they don't want your bull-$*@# hard to cancel auto rebill enrollment in triple advantage. They want the government approved annualcreditreport.com website that truely gives them a free credit report.

Stop being so dense.

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Frank Ayres

14 years ago

Originally Posted by BradleyT

When consumers search for free credit report they don't want your bull-$*@# hard to cancel auto rebill enrollment in triple advantage. They want the government approved annualcreditreport.com website that truely gives them a free credit report.

Stop being so dense.

Me thinks you have an attitude problem, dont know what you are talking about and wont last very long here!

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DubDubDubDot 14 years ago

Originally Posted by BradleyT

Stop being so dense.

I think most of the people throwing a fit in this thread know what's up. They just want to continue their misleading marketing and know that the new regulations have thrown a wrench into their little scam.
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jazbo

14 years ago

Considering its the "land of the free" I am always stunned at the interventions of various US bodies and agencies. And it varies from state to state for a lot of it. Absolutely bonkers.

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DubDubDubDot

14 years ago

Originally Posted by jazbo

Considering its the "land of the free" I am always stunned at the interventions of various US bodies and agencies. And it varies from state to state for a lot of it. Absolutely bonkers.

The US is the easiest major country in the world to start up a business in. With that comes the need of government regulation.

Sure, people can say that the market takes care of itself. That if a business does wrong, they will be run out of business. But that usually is not the case. Most businesses are way too small to generate the kind of negative publicity to shut themselves down.

I should also add that the US federal government does not act on its own. They require citizens to submit complaints first. So these regulations for free credit report websites are essentially the market speaking. This isn't something that the government just went and did.

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