Blog Optimization Blog

The following spam email message has been going out for a few years. It was a scam in the past and it's a scam now. NEVER do business with anyone that sends SPAM. Always check into something that doesn't seem right. If you have not heard about them before, don't assume it legitimate. And don't waste your money on useless offers that warn about a "Final Notice", but don't use a company email address.

An Internet company that doesn't have a web site and expects you to send the order in via postal mail! Can this be anything more than a scam for those too unaware to know better...?
=========================================

Subject: Domain Notification: rod delany This is your Final Notice of Domain Listing
From: Domain Srvcs <domsevs9883d@gmail.com>

DOMAIN LISTING CENTER

8171 Yonge St. Suite# 149
Thornhill, ON L3T 2C6
Canada

NOTICE

(Please make necessary changes)
ATT:  rod delany
ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACT
rod delany
rod@scammedeasily.org
340 louis blvd ste 7756
houston, tx
76234,  us
www.scammedeasily.org

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES:
Premium Package

ANNUAL WEBSITE SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSION
FROM MARCH 1,2008 THRU MARCH 1,2009
TOTAL

$75.00
$75.00

SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES:

        . Custom keyword research
        . Optimized title and meta tags
        . Submission to 900 search engines and directories
        . safe follow-up re-submissions every 3 months
        . Helpful professional support

THIS IS NOT A BILL.  This is a solicitation.  You are under no obligation to pay the amount(s) stated unless you accept this offer.

Domain Name

www.scammedeasily.org

Amount

Requested Reply

February 22nd,2008

THIS NOTICE IS A SOLICITATION AND A RECEIPT OF PAYMENT WILL CONFIRM YOUR ANNUAL SUBMISSION
*100% SATISFACTION IS GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK

Please select the number of years you would like to signup for
[ ] 1 Year  ..........  $75
[ ] 2 Years ..........  $85
[ ] 5 Years ..........  $185 (Recommended)
[ ] 10 Years ..........  $295 (Best Value, Most Recommended - and you don't have to worry about renewing for a while!)

If you have other domains you may list them below (please send a separate check for each domain and write your domain name on the memo section of the check)
Other domain(s) __________________ , __________________ , __________________

Total $ _______

________________________________
Signature

________________________________
Date

Payment by Check or Money Order
Print and mail a copy of this order form along with a check or money order to the address listed below:
Domain Listing Center Inc.
8171 Yonge St. Suite# 149
Thornhill, ON L3T 2C6
Canada


By accepting this offer, you agree not to hold DLC liable for any part. Note that THIS IS NOT A BILL. This is a solicitation. You are under no obligation to pay the amounts stated unless you accept this offer. The information in this letter contains confidential and/or legally privileged information from the notification processing department of the Domain Listing Center Inc.

This information is intended only for the use of the individual(s) named above. Email domainlistingcenter@hotmail.com if you do not want to receive further updates from DLC. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents for this letter is strictly prohibited.

* 100% satisfaction guaranteed, you may request a refund within 30 days if your are not satisfied with our services.

# posted by (hris @ 7:12 AM 0 comments

I'm doing some testing of one domain over at http://www.WhyPark.com. I thought I should give them a fair test and not just judge them on the basis of the fee they charge. One the one hand, paying $100 to park up to 100 domains is not cheap, especially if your domains are junk and are not getting any traffic. Even if WhyPark is great, it's going to take some time to get some traffic and earn some money. Still, paying for a hosting account that will let you put up 100 sites and all the time it's going to take is not trivial. But that's not what this post is about.

Tonight I got a comment on one of my blogs and it was a spam comment. They found my post about WhyPark and I guess they didn't like it, because they made a somewhat cryptic comment to the effect that Instant Website was better. So, after I deleted the spam and posted a reply, I went over to IW and thought I would give it a try. I opened an account and set up a test using a domain they provided: 

http://wally.nordfish.nowiw.com/

I don't know how long that will stay up, and I decided to not do a screenshot. But I'll tell you that while their site may actually be effective, they look like crap and I would be embarrassed to say one was mine...! At first they don't seem too bad, but they take what looks like magazine articles on good topics, and then put other spam crap in dim faded text in every other paragraph. Do a search for a topic that has nothing to do with the site and then look at the articles. It looks like a site of a a mad person, or some of the really old spam content sites we used to see on GEOCITIES and TRIPOD years ago.

Here's a partial list of sites to look at so you can get a better idea:

appetizer.co.za
arcon.co.za
badcreditloans.net.cn
badcreditservices.co.uk
broadband-high-speed-internet.com
chunky.co.za
commercialloan.net.cn
creditguide.org.uk
dentistry.co.za
guy.co.za
ins.co.za
lifeliberty.co.za
mygoals.co.za
nanoiphone.org.uk
propertyguide.ws
redfly.co.za
sacouple.co.za
simpleloan.eu
stayout.co.za
there.co.za
uncle.co.za
univision.co.za
website-hosting-servers.com

I don't know, I guess it's worth a try if you think it's for you. I guess you have set your DNS to point to their site before you can get a "credit" and setup your site for real. So it doesn't seem to cost anything, they have some ads on the site that are theirs and that is how they expect to make money. They might make more if they just buy a lot of cheap domains and make sites for themselves...

# posted by (hris @ 8:13 PM 0 comments

I was just granted a free trial account at WhyPark.com for one domain. There has been some discussion on Namepros.com about this service that you pay about $100 dollars for and that allows you to set up as many as 100 domains. As an alternative to domain parking there system allows you to enter in some information including some ad network code like AdSense, and quickly set up something like a web site that pulls in articles that are on the topics for keywords that you choose.

For my test, I selected the domain http://www.music-download-universe.com that has been parked for several months and earned perhaps a dollar. I choose this domain name because it does get a lot of traffic, so I won't have to wait, but also because it gets few clicks and those clicks pay very little.

The setup is about the same as a parking page where they provide you with options to customize your parking pages. Unlike parking, there did not seem to be any defaults, so if you have a lot of domains you are going to be spending time getting each domain name set up. The good news is that each site should not take you long one you get started. They include a tool to help you find keyword for you domain and it looks like the data may be coming from WordTracker, but I could not tell. The search terms have numbers so you can see what it popular. I added "free music downloads" and a few other related phrases.

Then there are two areas where you can enter in your ad network code. I added normal AdSense at first and then after thinking about it I pulled that out and replaced it with the AdSense for referrals. This works much the same, but I think there are more interesting ads and many of them can pay you a LOT more than normal AdSense. I picked some categories for music/entertainment and consumer electronics.

I may experiment with this and see just what I can get away with in the manner of creative coding such as links and iframes... Since you just pay for the service once, I don't think WP will care unless you create sites that look trashy or broken, or cause problems for their servers.

You can choose a number of domain templates and customize one as well. You can also add new pages. I will see how the basic setup goes and then consider doing more work on my site. You will find they sites look much like what we are used to from Made For AdSense (MFA) sites, so adding a contact, about, and other pages could "round out" the site so it really looks like a site. One of my suggestions will be to WP that they offer pre-configured pages like an about and contact page for users to make this easier. I would like to create one page of content for an about page and then have that as a default that I can edit on a site by site basis.

Winding up for now, there was on feature that was something I just suggested on the forums the other day. When domainers buy and sell domains, there doesn't seem to be any way to easily transfer the domain within a parking service. You must contact support and have them verify you are now the owner of the domain and then you can set it up under your account. It would be a big plus to be able to transfer the domain parking page set up to the new owner so they can easily maintain the current earnings. WhyPark has this option now for site owners. Yes, you do have to open an account with WhyPark, but at least you don't have to re-create all the settings and start from scratch. I would like to see WP charge the new domain owner $1 for the transfer of the domain name to their account. That way they would not be forced to pay the full fee for something they may not really want, but there would be some incentive for them to leave the domain with WP which may not provide much income, does provide continued advertising for their system.

# posted by (hris @ 2:24 PM 0 comments

CitizenHawk, Inc. is sending out emails to domainers that they feel are infringing on the trademarks of some companies. Domainers that get emails from them are upset in part because they come on so strong and are demanding that the domainer turn over the domain to Citizen Hawk. Many domainers think this is a scam since they are being asked to turn over their domains.

While not exactly a scam, it seems to be a service that may or may not be legal. Unless the Squawker has been authorized to act in the behalf of the trademark holder, they may not have any right to do what they are doing.

On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with  providing a service that goes after those that may be abusing a trademark.

My concern is that there are some cases where a trademark may be involved but no abuse is taking place, such as a domain like Xboxforums.org. If a site is not doing things that should be considered abuse, will they still be targeted? My advice to companies is to go easy on those that may be loyal and good customers at first. You can always get tough later on if you find real signs of abuse and infringement.

Frankly, I could see this area ripe for a different kind of service that provided not only a policing service, but also one that offers education as well. Many new domainers start buying domains and do not realize that they may be potentially infringing on a trademark. After all, if you find some valuable land that no one owns, but that they could have staked a claim in and didn't, it doesn't seem likely that they are interested in it.

Ebay had the right approach last year when they sent out thousands of emails to people that registered different variations of the word "ebay". Rather than pay a lawyer to get all nasty, they simply notified people that they were being put on notice and that they should not use, sell, or renew any domain with their trademark. The implication was that if the advice was not followed, they would come after you and you were not going to like the encounter...

www,citizenhawk.com

# posted by (hris @ 7:48 PM 0 comments

Excelloz announces new banner advertising for Hotels and other members of the Hospitality industry.

(PRWEB) January 28, 2008 -- The increasing hotel demand to advertise on Excelloz these last couple of months has put New Banner Advertising at a steady increase.

This advertising oportunity will give not only the hotel but also Resort, Boutique Hotel, Guest House, Bed & Breakfast, Appartment, Condominium, House, Villa and any one else in the Hospitality Industry, a new extensive exposure on the World Wide Web with competitive rates.

Potentiality targeting your customers by advertising your Hotel on all pages, selected countries or the Monthly New Letter is definitly an advantage with the possibility to change or add new hotel information any time.

Excelloz.com currently offers around 20,000 worldwide hotels with original content, hotel reviews and travel guides for each country with Lowest cost in comparison to similar websites. "We continually update our hotel and travel information, which ensures repeat visits and bookmarking by readers." An Excelloz Manager explains that this is one of the keys to success especially on the Internet where users are always searching for helpful and updated information before travel.

How Banner Ads work:

Few packages are available, from a hotel that does not exciste on Excelloz data to the luxury 5 star hotel. Starting Packages will be at $69.

For the basic "Hotel Ads", the advertisement will be:

- Addition of the hotel to the Excelloz database system
- Creation of 4 pages: Hotel, Reviews, Travel Guide & Image
- Show the hotel overview, hotel rooms, location & hotel facilities contents
- Show 15 Hotel images
- Show the GPS Hotel Map via Google
- Show the Taxi Print Out Page for the Customer
- Show the tariff Online
- Drive Traffic and reservations to your hotel.
- Free Banner Design
- Free 50,000 Banner (Size: 200x60) Impressions on every hotels page of your hotel City.
- Hotel content text unlimited
- Allowed to change Hotel Information and tariff anytime

For the Advertisement/Country Selected Package, the advertisement will be:

The advertisement will appear:
Country Page (Size: 200x60) - All Countries
City Page (Size: 200x60) - All Cities
Hotels Page (Size: 200x60) - All Hotels
Rates: (Banner Design - FREE)
300,000 Impressions/Month - $499
100,000 Impressions/Month - $250
50,000 Impressions/Month - $199

Minimum purchase - 3 months
Run to only one Country Selected with all cities & Hotels of this country.
Banner will be served by our ad software (Max of 4 advertisers).
Access to ad software online control panel statistics.
Weekly statistics report will be sent to advertiser's email address.
Allowed to change promotional banner anytime.


For the Unlimited Advertisement Package, the advertisement will be:

The advertisement will appear:
Index Page (Size: 403x60)
Continent Page (Size: 200x60) - All Continent
Country Page (Size: 200x60) - All Countries
City Page (Size: 200x60) - All Hotels
Hotels Page (Size: 200x60) - All Hotels
News Letter (Size: 403x60) - 200,000 emails/Month

Rates: $2,500 per month (Banner Design - FREE)

Banner will be served by our ad software (Only 1 advertiser - No Random banner)
Access to ad software online control panel statistics.
Weekly statistics report will be sent to advertiser's email address.
Allowed to change promotional banner anytime.

Value to the Advertiser:
Your Advertisement will target your business to the world with Low cost, permanence and effective results.

Great exposure, High internet presence, Immediate interactivity (anytime of the day), Lowest cost in comparison to similar websites, Cost effective direct marketing campaigns, Ability to select suitable packages to suit your needs

Press Contact: Brit Barnett
Company Name: Excelloz
Phone: +66-819831204
Website: http://www.excelloz.com

# posted by (hris @ 9:02 PM 0 comments