| LED Digest 1927: Should SpamCop be Sacked? |
|
|
|
================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam,led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com ............................................... February 2, 2005 Issue #1927 ............................................... .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Sacking SpamCop ==-- ~ Bill Davison "Recent problems beg for someone in the legal profession to take SpamCop to the cleaners..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== The Google Rankings Thread ==-- ~ Derek Andrews "Yahoo and MSN both seem to be faster at indexing new sites than Google..." ~ Dirk van der Werff "...country returns in Google very much depend on where your site is hosted." --== Dream Affiliate Programs ==-- ~ Michael Martinez "If you're as big as Amazon, you can treat people like dirt and still make money." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== PHP Concerns ==-- ~ Nancy Cardinali ======= NEW ===================================== From: Bill Davison Subject: SpamCop Recent problems and recent internet posts beg for someone in the legal profession to take SpamCop to the cleaners and initiate a thorough spanking and housecleaning. Even their counterparts at CAUCE have flogged their conduct. http://www.politechbot.com/p-04126.html It is now common knowledge that SpamCop has: - transferred ownership - does not accept any challenges to its threats of blacklisting IP addresses Spamcop now refuses to even respond to website owners legitimate challenges to their vigilantism. Many legitimate hosting companies now know that even one obviously bogus complaint can cause their server to be blacklisted and admit are being victimized by Spamcop's terror. This nonsense is adding thousands in costs to legitimate website owners and hosting companies. Although I sincerely want spam eliminated as much as anyone, SpamCop's tactics and usefulness borders on stupidity. Therefore, anyone wanna take these rabid terrorists on - or know where small legitimate businesses can join a class action lawsuit to bring an end to Spamcop's arrogant vigilantism? Bill Davison bizwebpage.com ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Derek Andrews Subject: Google > I have written a demonstration site for my company... > The subsidiary image pages seem impossible to find, > despite the fact that the site appears to be searched > by Google fairly regularly. - James Miller, LED 1926 I think it is just a matter of time. Yahoo and MSN both seem to be faster at indexing new sites than Google which seems to me to be more cyclical that the other two, especially when it comes to indexing backlinks on which its algorithm relies heavily. I did notice that several of your pages have been cached within the last day or so. If the other search engines can index your whole site, then Google should have no problem accessing them either. This doesn't mean to say that you will achieve the same rankings as on those other sites. Derek Andrews, woodturner http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Dirk van der Werff Subject: Country Host & Google Searches Hi .... managed with the help of another site or two to track down why my UK Google results for PLANTS magazine return so badly compared to the results for the International Google returns. It may be of interest to LED'ers. I was told by my host that the site is hosted in London... it turns out that it is hosted in Germany . Which is why on the German Google page (www.google.de) I return top place results for many many terms .. but not in the Uk. I didn't realise that country returns in Google very much depend on where your site is hosted... but it doesn't affect the international Google returns... I shall now return to my host and ask why I was told that my site was hosted in London , but is actually hosted in Germany. Any other feedback on your experiences with international Google returns would be most interesting, and if you return poorly in a country specific Google search engine... just check out where your site is actually hosted... not where your host has told you it is hosted. Dirk van der Werff, Editor / Publisher Plants / Aquilegia Publishing http://www.plants-magazine.com/ dirk, plants-magazine.com ------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Martinez Subject: Dream affiliate In LED Digest 1925, Tom Aman and Ken Evoy took up the issue of backlinking with me. While I could respond to their arguments, this discussion should stay focused on the key issue of what merchants can do to make their affiliate programs more attractive. Someone asked how flexible I am with my criteria for merchants. I am VERY flexible, as I have yet to find a perfect merchant match. As far as linking back goes, in itself that is a minor issue. I pointed out that linking back is one of three things I want: 1) Linking back 2) Allowing me to frame your site 3) Allowing me to link as I wish If you can't live with either option 1 or 2, but you CAN live with option 3, we may do business. Bottom line: Your inflexibility means I don't do business with you. No rationalization or personal research will change that fact. Merchants, in my experience, do best when they listen to their affiliates (and customers) and take action upon what they are told. Simply acknowledging someone's complaint or suggestion makes you look insincere and arrogant. If you're as big as Amazon, you can treat people like dirt and still make money. They do it all the time. But they first had to become big before they could do that. There was a time when it was a pleasure to do business with Amazon. I gave up on them for a few years, and my return to their program last year has not produced any appreciable results. For you smaller-than-amazon merchants, I ask: When someone like me, with thousands of pages of content and thousands of regular monthly visitors, offers to expand your market for you, why should you feel like you're in a position to call the shots? I'll partner with you if there is an opportunity for mutual benefit. I will NOT let you tell me how to run my Web site. In MY book, merchants are a dime a dozen. I will only do business with the flexible merchants, not the guys who quote their research to me and tell me how they are right and I am wrong. I know what I bring to the table. I have found, time and again, that merchants usually don't. FOR EXAMPLE, a few years ago I did a great business with a vendor of Department 56 (tm) collectibles (Department 56 doesn't have an affiliate program -- you have to become an actual reseller). I earned hundreds of dollars in commissions from affiliate links. It was one of the best affiliate arrangement I ever had. And then the merchant lost their contract. I've scoured the Web for another vendor, and one recently turned me down because "Your site doesn't have a large enough user base." That merchant NEVER BOTHERED TO ASK how many users I have. Clearly, they are raking in so much money, hand over fist, they don't need my help. I wish them well. Me, I'd still like to offer Department 56 (tm), Precious Moments (tm), and Hello, Kitty (tm) collectibles to my community of thousands of wives, mothers, daughters, aunts, and sisters who buy these products like there is no tomorrow. For now, I'm stuck with the usual posters and calendars, books and DvDs, and same old stuff everyone else links to. The competition is fierce. In fact, the best merchants are the newer, hungrier ones who are not yet well known, who do offer unique, quality merchandise, and who aren't concerned with how big your site is. Merchants who are willing to listen and be flexible. Guys like me can help propel the hungry, flexible small business to success. I have actually had a significant impact on several small businesses through the years. I know of other people who have had similar influence. I can't break you, but I can help make you. BTW -- someone asked about Calendars.Com. I affiliate with them, but the best time to sell their merchandise is just before Christmas. They advised me, when I first joined their program, not to expect many sales after the annual holiday season (and their stock eventually runs out in the spring). But they did send me a check for my December sales. That was good. Michael Martinez http://www.michael-martinez.com/ ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Nancy Cardinali Subject: PHP & SEO Dear LEDers, Another SEO question. I have been told I can use PHP (and probably other things) to 'hold' things that go on every page in a web site, such as top & bottom navigation, logos... whatever, making changes easier. Assuming this is possible, would this be okay for search engines? If all Navigation is off the page, will the spiders crawl the PHP pages, make the connections and spider all the pages? With Navigation ON the page, you have links which spiders follow, right? Excuse my lack of precise language, but I think (hope) you know what I mean. Nancy Cardinali nancy52,cwo.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains © Copyright 1995-2004 Adam Audette. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The home is the chief school of human virtues." - William Ellery Channing |
