Category: Web 2.0

  • When folks representing the RSPCA ask you to game Google

    rspca

    So anyone who knows me knows I hate email.. I even had an email from someone who spammed this blog recently who (and I’m not making this up) complained that having had second thoughts, he couldn’t delete his spam comment.

    I probably should publish those emails at some stage, but some dopey prick promoting Sri Lankan dating isn’t all that interesting in the big picture of things.

    What is interesting is when a company using the RSPCA name asks you to remove a link to help their SEO ranking with Google.

    I’ll note in advance: it’s not the RSPCA direct, but the company they use (and use their name, so guilt by association) to sell insurance.

    Here’s the fun first email, cut and pasted into pure text…because you know Google loves that shit, particularly when they’re looking for folks who are trying to game their Google ranking 😉

    RSPCA WebMaster [email protected]
    4 Feb (8 days ago)

    Hi,

    We have recently received a notification from Google stating that our website has unnatural links pointing towards it. This has negatively impacted our search engine rankings and as a result, we are trying to tidy things up. Our website url is www.rspcapetinsurance.org.au, which is part of the Hollard Australia Group.

    We have found links pointing to our website from the following pages:

    http://www.4aus.com/6330/free-pet-insurance-information-pack/

    We appreciate this is inconvenient and isn’t a reflection on your website at all, but if you are able to remove the links, we would really appreciate it and would be very grateful.

    We look forward to hearing from you.

    Hollard Financial Services
    P: 02 9253 6600
    F: 02 9253 6699
    58 Norwest Blvd?Bella Vista NSW 2153 Australia
    www.hollard.com.au
    www.rspcapetinsurance.org.au
    Team Spirited | Results Driven | Customer Focused

     

    Damn, an insurance company representing the RSPCA (be it that they are a kill shelter, another post, another day) is wanting me to help them game Google by removing an actual link to an actual offer they have up… because they reckon falsely that it’s bad for their Google ranking. Well fuck me 🙂

    But wait…here’s today’s email (12/2)

    Hi,

    We would like to follow up on the link removal request we sent you last week.

    We appreciate your time is important and so apologise for any inconvenience.

    If you could please take a moment to remove the links as requested in the email below we would be extremely grateful.

    If you have already removed the links and emailed us about it, then we thank you for your cooperation and please ignore this email.

    If you have any questions please just reply to this email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

    Otherwise we look forward to hearing from you.

    Best regards,

    Hollard Financial Services
    P: 02 9253 6600
    F: 02 9253 6699
    58 Norwest Blvd?Bella Vista NSW 2153 Australia
    www.hollard.com.au
    www.rspcapetinsurance.org.au
    Team Spirited | Results Driven | Customer Focused?

    Dear RSPCA, do you as an organisation support Google manipulation and fraud?

    Decent question given your associated company is running around trying to game their Google results using your name.

    Food for thought 🙂

  • Newly Launched Blogs: My Response

    problogger

    I honestly didn’t wake up a week ago and decide to take shots at my former business partner Darren Rowse: we can/ do disagree on a range of things (in a good way..indeed I valued him as a business partner way back then, working through different ideas is the BEST way to get the BEST out of your business ) but I have to take umbrage with another of his posts.

    No offense (I know that’s cliched) but honestly Darren, none meant.

    This post: How Much Content Should I Have Ready to Go When I Launch a Blog? and it’s recommendations are…well, let’s just say I disagree 😉

    To tl;dr his post, Darren recommends that you have 3-5 posts published, 5-10 posts ready to publish and 20+ blog post ideas “brainstormed.”

    Sorry, but seriously this is balls.

    Here’s my comment on the post (with one typo fixed) and explanation to follow:

    Sorry Darren to disagree again but 3-5 doesn’t go close.

    But that given, depends on your launch strategy.

    If you simply launch with no publicity, no contacting people, PR etc yeah 3-5 is all very well and good.

    But lets pretend that you can actually get decent attention with your launch…I know you certainly could. People come in (in a spike, be it small/M/L) to check out your new site.

    Do you really want to present them 3-5 posts or 20 or even 100 posts that highlight the full range of topics/ subtopics you want to cover?

    The key with ANY good launch is like catching a fish: once you get them interested you want to hook them into reading the site. 3-5 posts doesn’t even come close. At a standard, depending on the site I’d say 10 but more 20+ posts, and depending on the topic possibly more.

    Of note is that Gawker sites use to launch (out of private, ie non-Googlable) with often 100+ posts, that’s because when people come looking they want to cater for them with a variety of options.

    You see a “launch” done right should ALWAYS involve more posts, end of story.

    My analogy in that comment I will repeat again: it’s like catching a fish, once you get the fish (in this case your readers) interested you want to permanently hook them, and you need a variety of bait to do so.

    Unless your blog is about Llama farming in far eastern Peru, or a similar extraordinarily niche topic, your bait (your content) has to be more than 3-5 posts when you launch, end of story.

    A proper launch (and I note this in the comment above) should include publicity. That might be something as simple as emailing everyone you know, but it may include press releases, ad campaigns, and a full blown PR campaign.

    If you do it properly it should result in some sort of surge of new readers (might be 100, might be 10,000… I’ve experienced both.) The key here is to turn those one off “I’ve read you’ve launched a site and am checking it out” readers into long term readers.

    20 is a figure I’ve used, but even anything up to 100 helps. The key to ANY good launch is to get the new traffic to come back, and 3-5 posts isn’t a lot to offer. 20+ posts, particularly if your topic isn’t uber niche is the way to go: the theory is to offer content (bait) to as many people coming to your site as possible, and you can’t do that in 3-5 posts. 20+ posts you can.

    Give your launch customers bait, give them a full range of content you intend to offer at launch that you expect to deliver full term. Given as many people as you can a reason to read your blog on a regular basis.

    I mentioned in the comment at Problogger the way Gawker use to launch their sites: I don’t think an individual blogger should go that far, but likewise Nick Denton knows his stuff, and that’s why he launches blogs the way he does. You don’t have to believe me, but you can look at one of the best and see how the serious pros do it.

  • To Catch a Thief, the Thifty Sue Edition

    scum

    I’m all for a more liberal version of copyright, but where a site steals every single post you write at 4aus.com, even when you work your arse off for it to find those offers…well, that’s a different kettle of fish.

    Let me introduce to you “Thrifty Sue.”

    And before you say “there is no proof” look at the picture above. The watermark was intentionally placed once I realized they were copying all of the free stuff from 4aus.com to try to catch them copying our text and pictures.

    Suffice to say, they were caught in the act.

    It gets worse: the site claims the following:

    We are a family of 9, yes, you heard me right, and we actually have 7 children. I’m sure that you probably want to ask “How do you do it?” Well that’s what I’m here to talk about. With a large family such as ours, we realized early on that we needed to figure out a way to make sure we were still getting all the necessities and not breaking the bank in the process.

    Balls.

    I’ve done the research on the site, and every single free offer they’ve done for weeks copies 4aus.com. They even copy the language, but change it near the end.

    You know the thing that disgusted me more is when I found that they are working affiliate pumping via CheckMyStats a company I work with.

    So basically a company I work with is promoting a site that steals all my content with a few changes, but promotes others via an affilaite offer.

    I guess there is no honour amongst thieves.

    UPDATE

    I’ve now sent a DMCA notice to their host.

    I’m not fond of the DMCA in the US, but if you’re going to copy me, at least make an effort to not make it so blatent 🙂

  • Apparently 4aus.com is being confused for Roger David

    The alternative title was going to be “this guy is a f&*kstick” but I try to keep the blog PG 🙂

    2 points:

    • you don’t need “authorization” under Australian law to give away tickets…unless it’s a game of chance, then you need registration in some states…noting though that you still don’t need “authorisation” from the company offering the tickets. The use of logos etc is still subject to copyright law, but the use of the name is not as it’s a factual statement.
    • this guy seems to think that 4aus.com is Roger David and that somehow us linking to a perfectly legal competition is us running it. He clearly either hasn’t read the site and this is automated, or he is retarded.

    While a more formal cease and desist can certainly be sent, I am hopeful that will not be necessary and that you will voluntarily comply with the following request:

    The Roger David Coachella ticket giveaway is unauthorized, violates the terms of sale for festival passes, and violates our trademark, copyright, and other intellectual property rights.

    Please remove ALL references to “Coachella” and the Roger David ticket promotion from your promotional emails, flyers, and from any other locations on your blog, website, facebook, twitter, and other social networking accounts.

    Please confirm that the requested changes to your promotional materials have been made.

    Many thanks for your anticipated cooperation.

    Jason Bernstein
    Associate Counsel
    AEG Live
    5750 Wilshire Blvd.
    Suite 501
    Los Angeles, CA 90036
    Tel:  323-930-7155
    Fax: 323-930-5785

  • Charlotte Dawson is a Bully

    I did find interesting that Charlotte Dawson has become a hero amongst the mainstream media for “getting back” a person on Twitter who dared say something negative about her.

    To put this in perceptive: as of today, the person who dared say something bad to Charlotte has lost her job.

    Yep, when Charlotte doesn’t like someone, she goes the bully and pings their employee in an attempt to get them sacked.

    And according to the latest news: Charlotte “bully” Dawson managed to get that person sacked.

    The sickness here is that Charlotte Dawson is apparently a member of an anti-bully group. Indeed, she’s apparently a person who advocated against bullying.

    So how does one explain that Charlotte Dawson disagreed with a Twitter comment then got someone sacked from their job????

    Charlotte Dawson is a bully herself. Her actions show it.

    It’s one thing to disagree with someone on Twitter, it’s another matter to go out of your way to find their details and complain to their boss.

    If you have an issue with people, you take it up with them.

    If you’re Charlotte Dawson you get someone sacked by taking it further than personal and taking it further because you are sad and pathetic.

  • I’m looking for a writing gig

    I’m looking for a writing gig.

    I shouldn’t at this point need one, but unfortunately after some serious real life drama, most of the funds from the sale of The Inquisitr are gone. I can’t say much legally, other than pick your partner closely, and never give them access to your money.

    The sites I’m running are going well, but are not yet making enough money, and I’m running out of money to support them.

    If you know a decent gig, here’s my pitch: I’m ex-TechCrunch, b5media, Blog Herald, and The Inquisitr, I’m good at what I do, and I know how to deliver traffic to your site.

    Hell, I started blogging in 2002 and founded the first ever blog about blogging. I was a founder of b5media as well…when it comes to blogging I know my game.

    If you know anyone who is looking, please let me know. If you own a blog and are looking for a writer who WILL make headlines and traffic, doubly let me know.

    thx
    Duncan.

  • Trying Out Pinterest

    So far I’ve managed to post a picture of a cat 🙂

  • Nichenet announces the launch of lifestyle site fortytwotimes

    MELBOURNE, Australia, January 26 (AEST) – Web content development company Nichenet Pty Ltd today announced the launch of its latest online property fortytwotimes.com.

    The new site is named after the late, great Douglas Adams, who famously wrote that “the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything” is 42.

    fortytwotimes aims to write about life as we know it, from science through to tech, lifestyle, entertainment and travel, and the site aims to ultimately deliver “a good read.”

    The site is edited by Duncan Riley, who has a long history in online publishing, having previously published The Blog Herald and The Inquisitr, written for TechCrunch, and was a co-founder of blogging network b5media.

    Most recently he spent years developing The Inquisitr before selling it.

    “There are many sites that aim to target a broad audience, but many of them lack when it comes to intelligence” said Duncan Riley in a statement.

    “fortytwotimes aims to be a great read; a mix of interesting stuff, from science, tech, entertainment, life and even travel. We aim to deliver a site that is sticky because it is interesting, not just to a few, but because we deliver a broad range of posts that will appeal to many.”

    ENDS

    Contact
    Duncan Riley
    e: [email protected]
    t: +61 412844237