Business directory rip-offs: the Emperor’s Newest Clothes

“If you don’t have anything good to say, then don’t say nuthin’ at all” - Thumper

I’ve had to gag myself tonight.

I’ve seen yet another ‘local online directory’ that’s started up, peddling its wares, inviting people to sign up and advertise their businesses.

The site is a mess. There’s almost nobody signed up on it, and it currently offers no Google visibility to the few who are.

I’m not going to name names, but its one of many. They come in all flavours: online business directories, local ‘portals’, community magazines. They all have one thing in common: they want you to advertise in them, promising increased traffic and Google visibility in return. Some of the big, well-known ones deliver (with varying degrees of success). A lot of smaller, local ones don’t

One such business in this region I’ve heard explicitly offering people increased Google visibility as part of its so called ‘benefits’. I’ve tested its claims backwards and forwards and found that it offers its top paying members NONE.

Another such venture quotes statistics to impress prospects how many people use the internet to buy things - and, of course, to imply that their product offers increased Google visibility. Guess what? It doesn’t.

I’m stopping short of naming these businesses because it’s tantamount to declaring war - and I’m still not sure why it bothers me so much that they do what they do.

In part, it’s because they depend on ignorance to sell their services. But I think the thing that really gets me is that nobody dares announce that the emperor, yet again, is wearing no clothes.

I suspect that if I named those businesses and challenged them, nobody would thank me for doing it. The businesses themselves certainly wouldn’t, nor would the people wasting their money on them. Why?  Because they want to believe in an easy fix.

September 19, 2008 | Filed Under GRRRR!!! 

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