Ignorant opportunist
Last week I commented on this article at Biz-community, daily news site for the local business industry.
In a nutshell, the advertorial boasted three new .com internet directories to be launched, aimed at the SA market, namely: SouthAfricanHolidayResorts.com, SouthAfricanWebsites.com and SABusinesses.com.
They start off by drawing a comparison between themselves and their competitors, saying "there are hundreds of "Directories" on the Internet, but they all make the same mistake, which is trying to sell advertising". To my knowledge, majority of online directories do not charge for listings. Furthermore, for the second half of the article they ironically make mention of 120 000 banner ads which they're selling on each site.
They then claimed to have spent "3 years and R3 million on research" and immediately went on to share this exclusive research with the public in the form of 6 bullet points, which as it turns out are the most basic search usability rules, of which some I'm even willing to debate.
I can't help but think this is just another ignorant, greedy businessman seeing the web as the perfect business opportunity. Which it is, but not when you're selling a product that sounds better if it were documented in a pile of ash.
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2 Comments
Thanks for your feedback Cheryl, three years late… what took you so long?
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06 April 2006
Cheryl08:02 am
When making strong comments such as these, perhaps you should do a little research first – unless it is the derogatory remarks that your readers thrive on – then you have done well.
Just to set the record straight – all listings on these directories are FREE OF CHARGE. There is advertising space available for those who want their listing to stand out and increase more awareness than the other listings. This is not unlike directories in print form – there are free listings and paid for advertising as well.