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  1. #1

    Bentaxis.com - uncreative and tasteless advertising...

    Searching for the word 'MCHost' on Google.com:
    http://www.google.ca/search?q=mchost

    The little green box on the right side

    Looking for MCHost?
    Better than MCHost! Host unlimited
    websites, private label, free trial
    www.bentaxis.com
    Does advertising get anything more tasteless than this? Writing 'i am better than my competitor' in public ads? Watch out, your hosting company could be next
    Marc Wyss - marc@mchost.com
    MCHost Inc - Experts in Private Label Reseller Plans
    http://www.mchost.com

  2. #2
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    Re: Bentaxis.com - uncreative and tasteless advertising...

    Originally posted by Kiwi
    Snip
    I would see it as a complement
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  3. #3
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    Thats pretty bad really - a quick complaint to Google by MCHost would get that ad removed I am sure
    Andrew McMaster
    http://www.FindMyHosting.com
    Compare Prices, Consumer Reviews, Help, Guides and More.

  4. #4
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    Found the same thing recently:

    http://www.google.ca/search?q=plesk

  5. #5
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    Originally posted by Editor
    Found the same thing recently:

    http://www.google.ca/search?q=plesk
    Someone should give them a lesson on business ethics. And a lesson on English...

    "Better then Plesk..."


    Vito
    DemoDemo.com - Flash tutorials since 2002
    DemoWolf.com - 5,300+ Flash tutorials for hosting companies, incl. Voice tutorials

  6. #6
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    Who is going to do a search for "MChost" anyway? Wouldn't you automatically know it's mchost.com?

    I don't know if this should be a shock to anyone. "Our brand is better than this other brand"-type advertising has been around forever.

  7. #7
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    That is soooooooo lame.
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  8. #8
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    Oddly though Marc, had you never mentioned them I'd have never heard of them. Nice bit of free advertising for them there

    Greg Moore
    Former Webhost... now, just a guy.

  9. #9
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    Not quite the same thing, but guess who the sponsored link is at the top of the page when you do a search on "hsphere" in google?


    Vito
    DemoDemo.com - Flash tutorials since 2002
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  10. #10
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    ahaha... I think it's an effective advertising method, just not moral. How many of you actually clicked to find out their site after the little ad?

  11. #11
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    That kind of advertising hasn't been allowed in the UK, although it's common in the US. There used to be adverts, typically for washing powders and the like, saying "we compared our product to Brand X, and found...". There's a story, which may be just that, that a manufacurer then came out and actually called their product Brand X and made a killing, thanks to the free, if seemingly negative, advertising from the other advertisers, as everyone had seen brand X on the tellie
    Real-time intrusion protection and error reporting for PHP sites ioncube24.com
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  12. #12
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    Originally posted by vito
    Not quite the same thing, but guess who the sponsored link is at the top of the page when you do a search on "hsphere" in google?
    Tricky aren't they

    Which is why it's pointless spending even $10 let alone a few thousand on any search engines. We ran with Google once. Waste of time. We have run some banners more recently...the hit registers and takes the visitor straight to some casino.

    The best thing about word of mouth, is it's (usually) not for sale.

    Gary

  13. #13
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    Wow. This kind of advertising is more prevalent than I thought. Do a google search on "cuteftp tutorial"

    http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...teftp+tutorial

    Notice the AdWords ad...


    Vito
    DemoDemo.com - Flash tutorials since 2002
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  14. #14
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    Iinet is first
    Clustered Hosting With Continuous Data Protection (CDP)
    http://www.solidinternet.com
    8 Years of hosting excellence!

  15. #15
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    Kiwi - Did you contact Google to take it down because it's gone now.

    I would have to question the fact that Google would accept the order in the first place. Not sure how those things go it's wrong.

    I also have a question for Kiwi - how many hours per week do you spend hunting this type of stuff down? I know people have made comments about you being kind of anal about finding this type of stuff but I do understand it from your point of view. You worked hard to build your business and you don't want anyone stealing your design or using your business name to further their own business. If you take an aggressive stand on this type of behavior, perhaps you can control it.

    I know atleast once a month I get am email from either Macromedia or Microsoft saying a client is either is reporting inaccurate news or has a file they shouldn't. They are protecting their interests, and I think an efficiently run business owner willl do this.

    The one thing that concerns me about having resellers is that most times they ask you if they can use parts of your site for their own (text I am speaking of). If they are lucky and are successful, they move on - and they take their site with them...which is actually part of your site. Or some resellers have multiple reseller plans and again, they may use part of your site with their other entity. In that aspect alone, if you host resellers you need to be sharp.

  16. #16
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    I don't think google will take down the ads since
    Google is doing the same thing.
    A search on overture come up with an google ad word links on top.

    http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...ent&q=overture

  17. #17
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    Originally posted by Myacen
    Iinet is first
    Geez, there has got to be something seriously wrong with Google's Page Rank system. How does Iinet beat out cuteftp.com?? They both have a PR of 4. Cuteftp.com only has a PR of 4 on cuteftp product search??

    I guess when people say they have a hard time figuring out Google's algorithms, they're not kidding...

    Vito
    DemoDemo.com - Flash tutorials since 2002
    DemoWolf.com - 5,300+ Flash tutorials for hosting companies, incl. Voice tutorials

  18. #18
    Kiwi - Did you contact Google to take it down because it's gone now.
    It's still there for me.

    I also doubt Google will take it down-- After all, there is no violation.

  19. #19
    Geez, there has got to be something seriously wrong with Google's Page Rank system. How does Iinet beat out cuteftp.com?? They both have a PR of 4. Cuteftp.com only has a PR of 4 on cuteftp product search??
    What are you using to calculate the PR?

  20. #20

    It's still there

    This is quite common with google. I do sort of have to echo Greg's comment on your post only giving them additional free advertising. Do I personally find this type of advertising tasteful? No. However, it happens and I just let it go. Much like the web site rip-offs. Although, for them, there is software to prevent that from happening.

  21. #21
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    Originally posted by progex


    What are you using to calculate the PR?
    http://toolbar.google.com/


    Vito
    DemoDemo.com - Flash tutorials since 2002
    DemoWolf.com - 5,300+ Flash tutorials for hosting companies, incl. Voice tutorials

  22. #22
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    I see it's still there. I was not at my normal computer where I have Google preferences set up. Once I enabled the preferences, it came right up.

  23. #23
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    Originally posted by vito
    Wow. This kind of advertising is more prevalent than I thought.
    I don't see that putting up an adwords item saying that an ftp product is faster than something else is necessarily bad. The adWords team also review adverts, and will withdraw it if it doesn't meet their guidelines.

    It's not attacking the named product, but just saying that you're alegedly faster. If you are then that's potentially doing the person visiting the link a favour. Saying that they're the 'fastest' or 'premiere' tool might be less contentious though, and fastest doesn't necessarily mean better.

    We often get testimonials to say that we're better than our main competitor, and some of those go on our site, but being British, and as a token gesture, I take out the name of the competitor. I do feel that we owe it to our potential customers and that it's the right thing to do to provide them with testimonials of peoples impressions, even if those comments draw comparisons with other peoples products.
    Last edited by phpa; 12-08-2002 at 11:59 AM.

  24. #24
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    Actually, what I'm referring to more is riding the coat-tails of the popularity of a competitor. In other words, you're using the opportunity of someone's search for a competitor to promote your site.

    Vito
    DemoDemo.com - Flash tutorials since 2002
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  25. #25
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    Actually, what I'm referring to more is riding the coat-tails of the popularity of a competitor. In other words, you're using the opportunity of someone's search for a competitor to promote your site.
    Fair point. I'd feel uneasy about that too and wouldn't do it personally, although the advertiser rightly wants to target people who are looking, in this case, for ftp products. If when everyone thinks of ftp they think 'yukon ftp', then having 'yukon ftp' as one of the search phrases seems fair game if you're someone trying to break into the market, along with 'best ftp client', 'free ftp client' etc.

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