[Ed. - Having some trouble with formatting this post... apologies for the way it looks.]
It takes an awful lot to truly peeve me. (And let me say this early... this post is entirely the opinion of its writer and not that of Stokefire or Thingnamer.com)
AutoBlog (currently residing at 216.246.0.205 for some reason - and yes, I removed the link) has done it. I don't think I've ever seen such a poorly named company that lies to its prospects and engages in shady business practices (like sending me spam
.) Until now.
First, I'll take on the name: AutoBlog.
Why is this a lousy name? Try these on for size:
AutoBlog sounds like someplace you'd go to get your vehicle-information fix. Oh wait...
it is a blog about that kind of stuff. A very popular one at that.
It could also be something that people new to blogging would use to make creating a blog easier.
The name is already in use in the technology market (as seen above) and these blokes just stole it, so if anyone looks for the product they'll find the "real" site, and not these guys.
But there's more! What sort of shady business practices is this company involved in? How about these (taken from their web page):
They say "Autoblog automaticaly posts your site to more than 2 million websites!" and then a few lines later say "Advertising using Autoblog is 100% SPAM FREE advertising! You will never be accused of spamming."
- I would like to officially state that AutoBlog Spammed my blog with something called an Automatic Post that I can only assume was put there by their own product. The three posts linked directly to their sales page. Perhaps there are another 1,999,999 other sites that were given this valuable information as well...
- If this isn't SPAM then I'm not sure what is... Unless they think SPAM is only SPAM when sent via email or sold in rectangular metal containers.
They say "Your ads stay visible for a long time - daily re-submissions are not required!"
- But they fail to mention that tools such as Akismet can block out nearly 100% of the posts their product submits. Thingnamer.com never showed any of the SPAM posts they attempted to put on our site.
- Technically the latter part of this statement is correct...
They say "No matter if you are professional advertiser or new to online advertising - AutoBlog is suitable for everyone."
- ...that wants to be slammed with complaints and get their site removed from their hosts.
They say "Every 2 week [sic] you will receive an updated list of over 100,000 TESTED URL's [sic] to add to the software."
- ...but they don't tell you what they test it for - and it obviously isn't to see if your posts actually get through since I'm gettin' hit with it.
The owner of the copyright for the website (listed as "Trusted Articles") appears not to have ever built a real website. The
support@trustedarticles.com email belongs to trustedarticles.com - whose only web page is the one the copyright is listed on. Which calls iteslf AutoBlog, of course... and translates the name into an IP address as soon as you enter the page.
- Perhaps this isn't shady, but it's a little strange.
Still interested in buying the service? Great! Just use your PayPal account and send payment to the following very trustworthy sounding email address:
newmegaleads@gmail.com
- Why aren't we paying sales@trustedarticles.com... especially since theres a "Free 2 week trial, cancel at any time?" Gmail is effectively anonymous.
And when you buy the service for the list price through PayPal you see the following information:
"Note:
Your subscription will automatically renew at the rates stated above unless you cancel prior to the end of the billing period." ...interesting, eh? Especially since we're not told ahead of time how to cancel.There are a few lessons here, but the majority have nothing to do with naming:
- Naming: Don't use confusing or popular names. Unlike me, most people won't take the time to figure out what the heck you mean, and just like me everyone that knows the popular name will be upset with you for stealing it.
- Branding: If you're going to start a business (shady or not) at least put in the effort to appear legitimate.
- SPAMMING: In case y'all haven't learned by now... it is a bad idea to SPAM a site specializing in naming and branding. It certainly won't help you win business.
And if anyone is still reading - here's some random information you may be interested in. (I do not suggest that you attempt to take matters into your own hands by using this information to contact someone to get the SPAMMING stopped.)
The host information for AutoBlog is
here (the site itself was registered anonymously.) The administrative contact is
alex.k@hostforweb.com (312) 343-4678, or perhaps
scsupport@servercentral.net (312) 829-1111.
This guy may or may not be the man that runs the service. I'm pretty sure he isn't, since
this press release says the guy is American.
Slugsite has some interesting information and shares my opinion of AutoBlog. Nice to see that I'm not alone.
And whatever you do I would certainly not advise that you purchase their own service to send out SPAM that links back to their website and points out that their product does, in fact, qualify as spam. That would be mean. And besides... you'll probably end up being billed for eternity.
