An online marketer who lured consumers into a bogus work-at-home scheme that charged them hidden fees by masquerading as a Google company has been shut down by the Federal Trade Commission.
Under a settlement agreement with the FTC, the defendants, which did business under names such as "Google Money Tree," "Google Pro," and "Google Treasure Chest," are barred from making misleading or unsupported claims while marketing or selling any product or service, and have been forced to surrender cash and other assets exceeding $3.5 million.
The defendants also are forbidden from marketing products via "negative option" transactions – a classic marketing scheme in which companies use fine print to trick victims into unwittingly agreeing to pay for a product or service for which they are billed on a regular basis until they cancel.
The FTC first took action against the defendants, Infusion Media, Inc., West Coast Internet Media, Inc., Two Warnings, LLC and Two Part Investments, LLC, in July 2009 as part of "Operation Short Change," an ongoing crackdown against scammers taking advantage of the recession to prey upon vulnerable consumers.
By using Google's household name and logo and falsely promising consumers could earn $100,000 in six months, the defendants lured consumers into providing their financial information to pay a small shipping fee for a work-at-home kit, according to the complaint.
What consumers didn't realize, thanks to the fine print, was that purchasing the useless work-at-home kit automatically triggered monthly charges of $72.21 for another product which continued until they took steps to cancel.
The complaint charged that the defendants violated the FTC Act by failing to adequately disclose that consumers would be subjected to monthly charges; by making false or unsupported claims that consumers were likely to earn substantial income; and by falsely claiming they were affiliated with Google Inc.
The defendants also violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E by debiting consumers' bank accounts on a recurring basis without obtaining written authorization, the FTC charged.
The settlement includes a $29.5 million penalty against defendants Jonathan Eborn; Michael McLain Miller; Tony Norton; Infusion Media, Inc.; West Coast Internet Media, Inc.; Two Warnings, LLC; Two Part Investments, LLC; and Platinum Teleservices, Inc. A fourth defendant, Stephanie Burnside, is subject to a $741,900 fine.
The defendants have relinquished cash and other assets including two cars, a boat and a gun collection totaling approximately $3.5 million. The remaining $26 million has been suspended due to the defendants' inability to pay, but the full $29.5 million will be due if it's found the defendants lied about their finances.
An online marketer who lured consumers into a bogus work-at-home scheme that charged them hidden fees by masquerading as a Google company has been shut down by the Federal Trade Commission.
Under a settlement agreement with the FTC, the defendants, which did business under names such as "Google Money Tree," "Google Pro," and "Google Treasure Chest," are barred from making misleading or unsupported claims while marketing or selling any product or service, and have been forced to surrender cash and other assets exceeding $3.5 million.
The defendants also are forbidden from marketing products via "negative option" transactions – a classic marketing scheme in which companies use fine print to trick victims into unwittingly agreeing to pay for a product or service for which they are billed on a regular basis until they cancel.
The FTC first took action against the defendants, Infusion Media, Inc., West Coast Internet Media, Inc., Two Warnings, LLC and Two Part Investments, LLC, in July 2009 as part of "Operation Short Change," an ongoing crackdown against scammers taking advantage of the recession to prey upon vulnerable consumers.
By using Google's household name and logo and falsely promising consumers could earn $100,000 in six months, the defendants lured consumers into providing their financial information to pay a small shipping fee for a work-at-home kit, according to the complaint.
What consumers didn't realize, thanks to the fine print, was that purchasing the useless work-at-home kit automatically triggered monthly charges of $72.21 for another product which continued until they took steps to cancel.
The complaint charged that the defendants violated the FTC Act by failing to adequately disclose that consumers would be subjected to monthly charges; by making false or unsupported claims that consumers were likely to earn substantial income; and by falsely claiming they were affiliated with Google Inc.
The defendants also violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E by debiting consumers' bank accounts on a recurring basis without obtaining written authorization, the FTC charged.
The settlement includes a $29.5 million penalty against defendants Jonathan Eborn; Michael McLain Miller; Tony Norton; Infusion Media, Inc.; West Coast Internet Media, Inc.; Two Warnings, LLC; Two Part Investments, LLC; and Platinum Teleservices, Inc. A fourth defendant, Stephanie Burnside, is subject to a $741,900 fine.
The defendants have relinquished cash and other assets including two cars, a boat and a gun collection totaling approximately $3.5 million. The remaining $26 million has been suspended due to the defendants' inability to pay, but the full $29.5 million will be due if it's found the defendants lied about their finances.
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bench craft company rip off
Pulse <b>News</b> Reader app celebrates VC success by going free
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What is natural search engine optimization (SEO)?
Natural, or Organic, Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It's a process of making your site more search engine friendly by optimizing the entire website design and content. Then the site will be visible in SERPs against optimized keywords or Key phrase.
Why is SEO important?
Search engine optimization is important for a number of reasons including:
- 36% of searchers attribute top organic position with brand quality
- 60% to 70% of all search traffic comes from organic listings
- 90% of organic search traffic is driven from the top five listings
- 62% of searchers view only one page of results before clicking (Jupiter Research)
- Having the No. 1 listing in both organic and paid search can increase click rates by three times
How do natural search differ from paid search?
The primary differences are:
- Paid search can be launched quickly. Natural search generally takes months to show a return.
- Paid search focuses on a large number of keywords. Natural search needs to be focused on a few high-return keywords.
- Paid search is highly measurable. Tracking results on natural search is more difficult (although not impossible).
How much time will it take to see SEO result?
Time is most important factor in SEO life cycle. Once your website cached by search engines, it will take at least 2 weeks to update the results.
Can any one guarantee a #1 ranking in Search Engine?
No. No one can guarantee a #1 placement in SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages), as there are simply too many factors outside our control. In fact, in Google's Information for Webmasters, they recommend that companies beware SEOs that guarantee results.
We are, however, willing and able to make a guarantee as to our SEO ethics.
Will my website stay at the #1 position once my website is placed there?
Search Engine ranking fluctuate frequently. SEO is an on going process. However if your website is maintained by SEO Specialist month to month then it can be stay in top positions.
How long will it take to see results?
This largely depends upon how old the site is. If the site is new, you shouldn't expect to see significant results from Google until the site has been in Google's index for at least six months. Results for new sites can be seen in Yahoo and MSN, generally less than three months.
For sites that have been in existence for a year or more, results from on-page optimization can generally be seen within a few weeks of being placed online.
Google, is highly dependent upon links in its calculation, and prefers links that have been in existence for a long time. As a result, if the market space is competitive, it may take six months or more to see significant results.
What is SEO Copywriting?
In a webpage where the same keyword is repeated again & again, in a way that makes it very difficult to understand what the page is actually trying to say. This is SEO'ed copy.
SEO copywriting is the creation of website copy that includes heavy usage of keywords in hopes to move a page up the search engine rankings. It is generally written to a particular "keyword density", which will supposedly perform well in the search engines.
For search engines with a heavy reliance on on-page factors, such as MSN, or for particularly uncompetitive keywords, SEO copywriting might work, at least to a certain degree. For keywords with any amount of competition on Google and Yahoo, however, it is rarely effective.
What's more, even if the SEO'ed copy works in a search engine, it is rarely effective for the human beings visiting the site.
In addition, SEO copywriting can be very profitable for the SEO firm, as the search engines regularly change their preferred keyword density. This results in more work for the SEO firm as they rewrite the SEO'ed copy, and up charge the client.
We prefer not to use SEO copywriting. We recommend that the targeted keyword be used in the page's copy, but used in a manner that is natural sounding and effective for readers. Our SEO efforts focus on other on-page factors and most importantly - links.
Does this mean copywriting is not important to SEO?
Copywriting is certainly important in SEO. The copy of a website should always be written to maximize the return on marketing dollars. If the visitors to a website do not convert to leads or sales, then the efforts on SEO are wasted.
The copy of a page should focus primarily on effectiveness and conversion rate. Simply use the page's keywords in a natural manner, and optimize the other on-page factors and links.
Also, landing pages can be created to address specific keyword needs that cannot be found on other parts of the site. Each such page must have substantially unique content and not employ deceptive techniques such as redirects, or run the risk of receiving penalties from the search engines.
We offer a full range of copywriting services which can be used in conjunction with either our paid or natural search services.
Do you engage in unethical SEO?
We tend to not see SEO in ethical terms. Notwithstanding potential issues of deception, the way one structures one's webpage is not a concept that should inspire discussions of morality.
There are, however, issues of risk management and tolerance with SEO. Certain techniques might run the risk of being blacklisted by one or more of the search engines. Typically, the more competitive a space is, the more risky the needed techniques are.
As SMO Solutions Search does not work with companies in the truly hypercompetitive space (e.g. gambling and pornography), we have never needed to resort to risky techniques to achieve the rankings our clients demand.
One aspect of SEO that can raise ethical questions is the communication between the SEO firm and the client. Some firms engage in risky techniques without informing the client. That is certainly unethical.
Another area of potentially unethical behavior can be found in firms that provide "SEO" services by building a network of their own sites that drive traffic to the client's site. These are often sold on a per click basis. While this is a viable marketing model, many clients do not realize that the moment they stop paying, the "SEO" they've been buying goes away. In fact, many SEO firms will then turn around and sell this traffic to the former client's competitors.
Apogee Search's SEO practice is built around achieving superior results in the natural listings of the search engines. Baring an algorithm change in the search engine, the traffic does not go away if a client does not continue to engage with Apogee Search (although listings do tend to degrade over time if continue SEO efforts are not made).
Do you offer search engine submission services?
We'll let you in on a secret, assuming a page can be read and indexed by a search engine's search bots; all that is needed to submit to the search engines is a link from a page on another site that is in the Google index.
The automated submission services that you receive constant email spam for are, at best, a waste of money. In many cases, they can actually hurt your site's performance in the search engines, as repetitive submitting of the same site can cause the search engines to invoke a penalty.
How do you select keywords?
Ideally, keywords for natural search are selected by using data from a properly configured and managed paid search campaign. This way, keywords that generate leads and/or sales are certain to be focused on.
Alternatively, detailed analysis can be made on a group of potential keywords to measure their relative search volume and competitiveness, but this data is greatly strengthened with the addition of conversion data from a paid search campaign.
Will you make the changes on my website?
We are not a web design firm, and don't manage the actual pages of your site ourselves. We do, however, make specific, detailed suggestions of changes. And, if you do not have the staff to make the changes yourself, we have a number of web design firms that can do this for you.
What about link rental or purchase?
One of the dirty little secrets of the SEO industry is that many of the people at the top of Google bought their way there through paid links.
Many links can either be bought on a one time basis, or rented month to month. One of the biggest advantages of this is the ability to configure the link exactly how you want it for maximum SEO benefit (begged links often have to be accepted "as is").
Competitive market spaces are likely going to require paid links. We typically recommend either purchasing permanent links or budgeting link rental for at least six months (preferably eight or nine months). Links must "age" before Google allocates them their full benefit.
How do we track the results?
Many SEO firms create their own fuzzy metrics, generally around the idea of "visibility". If a particular key phrase improves from a ranking of 100 to a ranking of 20, they call that a 500% visibility. Rarely do you see such firms concerned about the traffic the rankings bring to your site.
While we certainly monitor rankings in the search engines for our targeted keywords, we are much more concerned with the traffic those rankings generate. And, we are happy to work with you to connect the traffic generated by the search engines to specific leads and sales.
Shankar soma is an experienced SEO, SEM and SMM consultant. He has authored several marketing manuals for small business owners and ecommerce agents. He is a contributing author to several websites and offers advice on dominating Google search results at http://www.shankarsoma.wordpress.com Article Source: |
Denver Broncos <b>News</b>: Horse Tracks - 11/15/10 - Mile High Report
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Pulse <b>News</b> Reader app celebrates VC success by going free
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Debian Project <b>News</b> - October 18th, 2010
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