Ben Edelman, researcher, attorney, and assistant professor at Harvard University recently published a paper that blasts a well-known marketing firm for their antics. The company C-NetMedia is being blasted by Edelman for deceptive marketing and business, as well as offering worthless software. (Please note that C-NetMedia is in no way partnered or related to the news portal CNet.)
Ben Edelman, researcher, attorney, and assistant professor at Harvard University recently published a paper that blasts a well-known marketing firm for their antics. The company C-NetMedia is being blasted by Edelman for deceptive marketing and business, as well as offering worthless software. (IMG: B. Edelman / J. Anderson)
“Some C-NetMedia products are marketed using practices, keywords, labels, and layouts that falsely suggest they come from security industry leaders. This suggestion comes from both the actions of C-Net itself, as well as from the actions of C-Net's marketing partners,” Edelman says in his report.
Starting with a simple search for “Spybot,” the established sanity saving Malware remover, Edelman points out what some will notice right off in the sponsored links; C-NetMedia has the first three spots. “…the top three ads each specifically mention "Spybot" -- the first two, in directory names; the third, in its domain name. Furthermore, all three ads also include the distinctive and original phrase "Search & Destroy" that specifically describes the genuine Spybot product. Yet in fact each of these three ads takes users to the unrelated site spywarebot.com,” he says.
Going so far as to mimic keywords and site design, it appears that C-NetMedia and their affiliates go all out in order to trick users into installing their worthless software.
“Some C-NetMedia sites give users the false impression that they are bona fide informational sites rather than commercial advertisements. For example, Remover.org presents itself as a general-purpose Spyware information site, but Remover.org actually promotes only one product -- C-Net's "AntiSpyware For Windows." Furthermore, Remover.org claims to have "one goal and one purpose: to win the war on spyware" -- suggesting a non-commercial purpose, when in fact Remover charges a fee for its removal program. The totality of these practices suggests that a user at Remover.org may reasonably think he is viewing an ordinary informational site and/or a source of unbiased reviews, when in fact the site is a C-Net advertisement.”
Giving a solid ending to his report, the article from Edelman points out some ways to punish C-NetMedia, “Google and other search engines could block the widespread deceptive ads from C-NetMedia and its marketing partners,” he said.
Edelman adds that, “Microsoft could withdraw its Certified for Windows Vista certification on the basis of C-NetMedia's violations of various ASC rules, as cited above. Anticipating this kind of harmful marketing practices, Microsoft's certification rules provide ample basis for excluding C-Net on the basis of its deceptive advertising.”
Shady marketing companies and their affiliates poisoning search results is nothing new. However, reading a detailed report on the subject and reading it from a lawyer’s prospective is. The article is well thought out, even going so far as to block the classic defense where the marketer shifts blame to affiliate marketing as a shield. “Furthermore, these affiliates act for C-Net's benefit, and C-Net has the right and ability to monitor them, to oversee their activities, and to limit their efforts as it sees fit. Finally, FTC litigation confirms that companies can be liable for the actions of their affiliates and marketing partners,” he says.
The information, and cited case law is interesting to read. Catch the whole article here:http://www.benedelman.org/news/021408-1.html
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