Forget Flogs...Say Hello to SPAMAZINES!

by 53 replies
62
Thought you saw enough with the Rhodes post on Flogs?

Check out the new trend my wife just emailed me.
I'm calling it a "Spamazine"...unless someone else has a better term.

(Even I thought it was real until I saw the Affiliate link)

Code:
http://www.los-angeles-daily.com/finance/index.php
Edit: The site has changed! .
For the record, here's what the old page looked like:

#main internet marketing discussion forum #affiliate marketing #cpa landing page #farticles #flogs #flogssay #forget #scams #spamazines
  • [DELETED]
    • [1] reply
    • How in heaven's name does that site have an Alexa rank of 11,255? That's just wrong!

      According to Yahoo Site Explorer, the site has one page and five inlinks. Alexa shows quite a bit of traffic starting on May 25. Either they're gaming Alexa, buying junk traffic, or both.
      • [1] reply
  • Comments conveniently closed due to spam.... rofl...
  • nice looking advertorial. probably converts pretty well compared to the flog?
  • It immediately hits you with Social Proof from CNN, AOL and others.
    Then it drops your guard with the mom and child.
    The "advertisements" actually add to the magazine look.
    The copy itself it written from a neutral editorial viewpoint which helps with the overall image.
    Then they top it off with "success stories" at the bottom.
    Meanwhile, every outgoing link is for Easy Google Profits.

    In my opinion, this is converting.
  • "Photographs or images are depiction of individuals and payment methods." Love it. So, in other words, they have no ACTUAL people who can offer testimonials saying that this method works, so they have to use fake pictures and fake testimonials. I wonder why?

    And now if you'll excuse me, I am going to follow some very promising leads into "making ten thousand dollars a week stuffing envelopes". As soon as I cash that check from that Nigerian prince. Hey, does Nigeria even have a monarchy? Oh well, never mind, he seems like a very nice and trustworthy man.
  • I love the comment - "comments close due to spam."

    That was priceless...

    Welcome to snn - spam news network!
    • [1] reply
    • Nigeria did have prince's at one time, I think some like to keep to old traditions.
  • This style could actually produce good results if used as a landing page.

    Before you scoff at this particular example, maybe we could all set up a version to run against our control landing pages in a split test to see which converts better...
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply

    • That's what I've been saying too...

      Instead of running and screaming "SCAM!", as marketers we need to learn from this. Take what seems to work and apply elements of it to your marketing.

      I don't have a problem with these really....especially when they put - "This publication is an article advertisement for Easy Google Profit." - right at the top of the page.

      No offense, but anyone with about half a brain realizes this isn't a real news article in about 2.7 seconds.....at the most.

      The actual advertising used here isn't a problem here with me....however if they are scamming people with these continuity programs and credit card charges these people can never cancel like many of these offers are....well...that is a problem.

      Advertorials like this have been around for DECADES in newspapers and magazines, so it's not like this is an earth-shattering idea. Just someone smart enough to finally take a proven technique from the past and apply it to the internet. Something to be learned from there as well, I think.....
      • [2] replies
  • New term for me

    What is a flog?

    Rick
    • [1] reply
  • Given the example though, what about the legalities, seems to be posing as the newspaper to me?
  • Is this legal? Can someone do this and stay safe?
    • [2] replies
    • Oh I am learning every bit of it! The trust is insane. If a wannabe marketer as me went there with my mouse cursor... i imagine non-webby people.

      I will test this method on a cross-test in some days in a non-IM niche.
    • Not speaking of the offer itself, but of the style...how could a news style be unlawful? It's just a publishing format. There are no officially sanctioned presses in the U.S., so what authority can say your website can or cannot appear to be a news article?

      Or is that not what you were questioning?
  • The comments are of course 100% bogus. That is why they are closed. Someone got their first check from Google in 2 weeks? ($2800 no less! LOL) Google Adsense pays 45 days in arrears, ie. you get paid mid-April for February's turnover. Sadly, this is one case where lying works. But I tend to agree with the assessment that there is a lot to be learned. This stuff is not new. It has been successfully used in print for decades. Read guys like Michel Fortin and they will often pull out ads from the 1940's as examples.

    The lesson I get from this is to spend more attention on what has worked offline in the past and apply it online.
  • The test is always this:

    "What is the net impression on a reasonable consumer"

    In this case, you've got completely bullshit proof elements and thus the entire offer immediately rendered deceptive, regardless of the quality of the deliverable or lack thereof.

    But let's remove that from the equation for second.

    And let's swap out the fakery of the officious sounding newspaper title with an equally compelling but niche publication type title...

    Trout Fisherman's Almanac
    Mama Kelley's Quilters Monthly

    And let's substitute the bullshit proof elements with verifiably true and accurate testimonials as we all use (right?!).

    My take is that they're flying too close to the flame... by a lot.

    But the baby isn't going out with the bath water. There's something here worth testing, big time.

    I dig the way the layout looks.

    Best,

    Brian

    P. S. For the flame-resistant (or those who believe they are) please don't mistake getting away with it today with getting away with it.
  • I looked at the first page. My thought is that if the FTC were looking at the page they would consider it misleading in that even though they have the line at the top under the headline that this is an advertisement.. that notice blends in to well with the page and I am sure easily overlooked which obviously is by design and that alone could cause an issue or warning.

    With links to Terms of Service and Privacy Policies for websites you are suppose to have those links stand out clear and be placed near where people would be looking such as subscribe form for newsletter, testimonials and earnings claim notices. The links can't be made to blend in so they are not noticed, they have to blatantly be there and obvious. With the advertisement notice I am not sure it stands out enough, if you were not looking for it you wouldn't really see it especially if you just scan the page which many people would do.

    I don't know but if they made that statement more blatant, showed it alone and clear so it does not blend in with the rest of the page there is no way that fault could be found they did not notify people this was an ad. Yes it is there now but my point is, it blends into the page and is specifically designed to. FTC I believe has issues with that, notices should be blatant and stick out from my understanding and to me that notice does not.

    The overall ad from a marketing standpoint looks good but I can't know how it stands from a legal point of view or how or if the FTC would have an issue or not.


    - Terry
    • [2] replies
    • I didn't read the page in my last post I just looked at the layout. This is an interesting way to layout the marketing offer BUT like others have posted, I agree that this is a misleading ad and the parent company as well as this affiliate could both end up in hot water.

      EDIT: That is if they get turned in or FTC henchmen that patrol the internet happen to come across it.

      There is no way this is not misleading.

      Step 1: Get "product name", only pay the $1.00 for shipping.

      So if there is any other fees other than that dollar my guess is this affiliate is going to get hit from attorney generals, FTC and both the affiliate and the parent company are going to wind up in court. Not to mention would add more fuel to the fire for legislating and regulating the internet which would do more harm than good.

      Good marketing setup there but is misleading.

      I wouldn't advise anyone to test this exact ad as is but there are many elements worth testing. Will anything happen here with this ad? I don't know, I mean from FTC or legal standpoint. It is similar to ads of old and the infomercials and spot ads on TV that take obama or other government officials giving a speach and just showing the section relevant to their product OR the ads that are layed out in a talk show format similar to Larry King. This is resemblance of those type of ads.

      I have no problem with the ad itself but they could change a few things to make it not so misleading, though it probably would drop conversion.


      - Terry
    • What law requires any advertising to have such a label? News publications do that so their readers know the difference between true editorial material and advertising.

      If I were designing landing pages in this style, I would in no way include that label...unless, that is, someone can produce chapter and verse of the law regarding such disclosure.
      • [1] reply
  • Wow! For everybody in this thread who has never seen these, you obviously haven't been an affiliate marketer for very long... and you definitely haven't peeked into the CPA world.

    FYI, his alexa is so high because he BUYS traffic. There are tons of places to buy traffic, not just Google.
  • Back in the day there was a "magazine" called Computer Shopper... 1.25" thick and 99% ads... and the 1% that weren't ads were advertorials.

    God bless Zeos, Central Point Software and Hayes Modems... the backbone of US publishing in the 1990s.
    • [1] reply
  • wonder why they didn't geo-target it - I've seen that page like 100 times and it has always geotargeted to my ISP's locale.
  • That page will be converting in spades. It looks so convincing.

    I wanted to see what the other pages were like (if there were any) so went to the root and got the Apache default test page. Another example of Michael Franklyns post: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ite-world.html
    • [1] reply
    • I agree that this will be converting like crazy. I think they use adwords ads that look like torn pieces from a newspaper. I also think this offer is from the same stable as **** and Green Tea, i.e. small shipping fee then large credit card charges. The adverts at the right all lead to Golden Lounge Casino!
  • Yeah infomercials have used this format in their commercials for years. We all know we are not watching some random news program called Amazing Discoveries, but the format and presentation is familiar enough to make us trust more on a subconscious level.

    I am working on a few landing pages like this right now. (without the BS logos and phony testimonials of course)
    • [1] reply
    • is using the logos illegal even if its true?

      I see a lot affiliates use logos, but is it illegal or can you "cover" yourself with the right terms/conditions/clause?
      • [1] reply
  • Is there anywhere to get some templates like the ones he uses?
  • I have no problem with the ad itself. If you're buying something online that promises to make you money you should definitely read the fine print before you purchase.

    As the saying goes, "you can not con an honest man." People looking to make a quick buck are usually the ones who fall victim to the scams the most.
  • This template has been one of the hidden "gems" of the underscene now for a while, and yes, it DOES convert. It's all psychology my friends....
  • The site has changed.
    For the record, here's what the old page looked like:

Join the discussion

Next Topics on Trending Feed