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gazette
Issue # 207 (11-17-2003)
Pay To Play Is Here To StayMarketing your Web site using the search engines has moved, rather quickly, from "Hit or Miss" Optimization into a much more market driven set of options. Does the ability to paying the engines to get what you want level the playing field, or further divide the big guns from the mom and pops ? |
| Scumbag of the Week |
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I hope that you're enjoying this issue of The Gazette. Savor it it may be your last one. This week's Scumbag has made it abundantly clear that they're out to get anyone that speaks ill of them, to the point where they're suing individuals for "defamation" and using their legal and financial muscles to have any and all detractors shut down. I'm talking about Gator. We've mentioned them in this space before, and we have talked about them ad nauseam on the forums for their business practices. Well, they've gotten my ire up yet again, and I quite simply cannot let them get off that easily.
Gator Corporation is apparently trying to tidy up its image in a number of interesting ways. First, in an effort to "eliminate confusion," they've changed their name to "Claria ... The leader in Online Behavioral Marketing." One can only assume that they're running from their past and the bad reputation and stigma that "Gator" has created for them. That's fine -- companies do that all the time. What they're doing as "Phase II" of their clean-up are the attempts to, and commitment to, forcibly removing all negative press about themselves. They initiated a "libel" suit against a well-known spyware removal software company, which was settled (presumably due to the dollars involved), resulting in the removal of negative pages about Gator from the Web site, and removal of Gator from the list of applications it will remove. This is not the first, nor, do I suspect, will it be the last such lawsuit that they will file to ensure that the Internet is scrubbed clean of anti-Gator texts. The last time I checked, this is America. If a company is engaging in scummy practices, we have the God-given right (or at the very least, a Constitutional right) to disclose that information. There are consumer watch Web sites and publications everywhere that educate consumers. Spyware specific sites, such as our own Scumware.com, exist for the purposes of educating users about what could be infecting their hard drives, how they got there, and how to remove them. This is basic Freedom of Speech where I come from. So long as the claims made are factually backed up, they're completely legal and morally necessary. Suits of this ilk set a potentially dangerous precedent. What if the various security Web sites were sued to stop posting reports about bugs and hacks? Consumers would not be protected, and software companies couldn't react to the reports and get fixes out. I don't like where this is heading one bit. If Gator/Claria wants to eliminate bad press, the way to do it is not to terrorize the writers, but to put out a worthwhile product that garners GOOD press on it's own merits A concept completely lost on this week's scumbags, apparently. I don't want to waste my breath (or this space) prattling on and on about Gator as a software application or their other "ad delivery" products. Whether or not they're truly spyware/scumware is a matter up for public debate, and it has been discussed endlessly. What must be pointed out here is that Claria has decided to legally strong-arm anyone that speaks out against their products. Seems that putting individuals out of business to save their own image is more important than operating under acceptable business practices. Get a life. In my America, you don't get away with this type of garbage. In my America, capitalism rules. Good products and services sell themselves and make their makers a profit. Your product is crap. It would have a user base of ZERO if people knew what it actually does. As it is, the only way you can succeed in a capitalist market is to shove your junk down our throats, and then sue anyone that gripes about it. If you can't compete on a level playing field, and if you're unwilling to exist in an environment where free speech is allowed and encouraged, then you need to do a lot more than just change your name -- you need to change your address. Better yet, just go the Hell away. Nobody will miss you. See you later, anti-Gator: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5095051.html?tag=zdfd.newsfeed PC Pit Stop Forums: http://pcpitstop.ibforums.com/index.php?act=ST&f=9&t=27258& |
Read the Scumbag of the Week section from the Last Issue or in the Following Issue
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