Comments on: A Consumer Generated Media Nightmare: When A Gripe Site Is Manipulated By A Competitor

by: name

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:22:57 +0000

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by: Brand Reputation Problems? Consumer Generated Media Isn’t Going Away Anytime Soon…

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:41:46 +0000

[…] The flow of consumer generated media (CGM) is unstoppable. Blogs, video sites, message boards and review sites like Yelp, Insider Pages, Kudzu, and Epinions are shaping brand reputation and there is no turning back. […]

by: Eddie H

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:33:43 +0000

PS…really loved your article about gripe sites being manipulated by competitors. Really sinks in when I think about how the greatest online tobacco website ever was brought down.

by: Eddie H

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:30:14 +0000

I was wronged by paypal a couple years ago and ever since, I have been promoting www.paypalsucks.com . I’m not sure if I would care if they advertised other online payment processors to make themselves money. Apparently, though, from what I can see, they subscribe to your philosophy about NOT advertising other online processors as they condemn paypal. I guess I picked the right gripe site to promote. As long as paypal continues to try to rob people, I’ll continue to promote this gripe site.

by: Tom Crandall

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:44:47 +0000

x501,

Thanks for your comments. The majority of gripe sites are indeed legit. PayPal has a very controversial record in terms of freezing accounts and levying penalties, and I can be included in the list of those that are owed money by PayPal.

However, any commercial use of a gripe site, such as serving ads to generate revenue, is vulnerable to dissolution.

by: x501

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:18:44 +0000

I found this whole commentary very interesting. As the publisher and owner of http://www.Screw-PayPal.com, I don’t like the idea that gripe sites are set up for the intended purpose of “creating news” that may be negative to a certain company and then steering visitors to other companies (when those companies are behind the whole gripe site in the first place).

Screw-PayPal.com was created because I was screwed by PayPal. I created it because there are real legal and consumer issues that are associated with the use of the PayPal service. I believe, not only based on my experiences, that people should avoid PayPal. I offer concrete evidence to support this.

That being said, I have a right to advertise as well. Why? If I really believe that PayPal is a service to be avoided, I have a duty to offer legitimate alternatives. However, this makes up less than 10% of my advertising. In the section where I write extensivly about PayPal alternatives (reviews and detailed descriptions of such services), I provide NO LINKS to these services that end up making the website money, nor do I post any advertisements on these pages which discuss all the various other services. My goal to educated people about PayPal — not make obscene amounts of money.

I hope that others who feel they need to create a gripe site stay honest and focus on why they are creating the site — and worry about making money a little bit less. It’s fair to create a gripe site and put some ads up, but only to generate a little money to cover your expenses and improve on the website.

by: LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION® » Blog Archive » Get a gripe

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:00:27 +0000

[…] Tom Crandall considers “When A Gripe Site Is Manipulated By A Competitor” — and gets a crack expert opinion in there. Says Tom: I believe we are entering a very dark period of the web, folks. The vitriol and deceit of political players and media in the U.S. is trickling down to the culture of business. In my work I have identified and helped prosecute businesses that fabricate consumer generated media and promote malicious falsehoods against competitors in the guise of an abused customer or industry expert. Some of them are dumb enough to put publish links to their competing sites. […]