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- Sphinn It!
Went Hot: April 4, 2008 - 8:45 am
Posted By: DavidWallace 279 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://nickwilsdon.com)
Category: SEM Industry
8 Comments
Went Hot: April 4, 2008 - 8:45 am
Posted By: DavidWallace 279 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://nickwilsdon.com)
Category: SEM Industry
8 Comments
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Comments
Thanks for the Sphinn David. I know this topic has been covered already but I thought there were some other points to mention. I have a feeling this topic is going to return with a passion once those reviews are indexed and start appearing in everyone's company SERPs.
The message is clear. If your not doing anything to control the material in your company SERPs already, this is a very good time to start.
It seems to me, all the hubub around this site is from agencies who don't want any negative press about them. There are pretty much reviews out for any topic now, SEM should be no different
@majorbta
Sorry I don't agree. I think people are right to ask for a way of responding to negative feedback. If you look at other professional ratings sites, this is provided (TripAdvisor etc). They also want reviewers to be indentified, which will prevent competitors or ex-employees slandering their company anonomously.
If all this hubub has won those features, I think you'll be thankful later.
Agencies know how easy it is to fake these - heck, a few anonymous proxies, free email accounts, a few dollars for Indian webmasters, and you can review anything - fake positives or outright libel.
I think the problem is the naive way in which this is set about - in fact, it's the attempt by yet another SEO company to center themselves in the SEO world I think grates more.
SEMcompare is an attempt at becoming an industry leader in an industry that refuses to accept leaders, and additionally resents self-interested ways in which some companies attempt to do so.
No matter how nicely people approach this topic, it remains centered on a single company trying to leverage other companies and their reputations for their own business purposes.
Hi everyone,
At this risk of repeating myself, I think it's important for me to point out once again that:
1) We have heard your arguments regarding the ability to respond to the reviews and for the reviewers to be identified.
2) Our developers are already working on addressing both of these issues and a number of others. Very soon, new reviews will be accompanied by the information of the reviewer and all SEM agencies will have the opportunity to respond to those reviews.
@iBrian - we are not an SEO company, so I'm not clear on that particular argument. As for becoming an industry leader, I'm also not clear why that is being portrayed as a negative. Every company out there tries to grow themselves, establish a foothold in the marketplace, and create a useful and well-known service - that's what business is.
As for gaming the system, it's not that simple:
1) We do not accept reviews from free email addresses.
2) All email addresses will soon be verified (working on that feature right now).
3) Valid domain name is required for all reviews.
4) We do have a fraud system in place to monitor for multiple reviews from the same users.
4) All reviews are manually reviewed approved. If we see a spike in any reviews (whether for a single company or different ones) - both positive or negative - we'll catch that and investigate it further.
We'll be adding more checks in the future, as well. But it's not as easy to game the system as you portray it. I'm not saying it's impossible - after all, UGC is UGC, but we're going to be doing everything we can to ensure that we filter as much spam as possible.
As always, we're open to feedback and suggestions. Have a good weekend, everyone!
- Boris
p.s. Something tells me that I'll be spending another late Saturday night responding to Sphinn discussion :)
This is a lead generation site disguised as a consumer site. The site has no credibility given the fact that it is being used to generate leads. Using other companies names and brands to generate leads then selling them to their competitors is not a good business practice. Its a business model that is proably not a smart move when your targets are search enigne marketers.
We are going to witness a lot of stuff like this as people understand how valuable reputation is, and people's extortionistic and greedy side starts to kick in. I can't tell you how many times I've been drinking after a conference and some guy gets a dark twinkle in his eye and says something like "I had this idea about reputation management. It's a little bit twisted, but i think it could work. If we made a bunch of xxx-sucks.com sites about all the companies in an industry, and..." starts to fantasize from there. It makes my skin crawl.
Start building your online identity profile now or fall victim to someone who is planning on creating user-generated content about you for profit!
"But it's not as easy to game the system as you portray it. "
I'm sorry, but your sheer naivety here shows.
Any UGC site admin (ie, forums) knows from experience that email verification has already been faked and automated on a large scale, using email addresses other than traditional free ones.
Bots such as Xrumer have already been built and used extensively in the wild to get past normal UGC anti-spam measures.
You have stated nothing in terms of quality control that hasn't already been cracked for years.
As in the other Sphinn thread, though, there is no reason for the SEM industry to accept your company as an industry leader. That accolade is reserved for those people who earn that position, not those who demand it.