Technical Tidbits™

Posts Tagged ‘bloggers’

If you didn’t read anything about the new FTC regulations that Bill Mitchell and I discussed on the BlogTalk radio show, I thought I’d discuss it here and provide you with a  link to more information.

Called: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising(16 CFR Part 255) the new rule addresses endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers.

In short, disclose any monetary gain, or lack thereof, or get fined.

According to the press release on the FTC website:

Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

However, that’s not where it stops either. For the interest of time, I’ve provided the link to the actual CFR guideline text at the end of this article so you can read it further.  And if you’re an Internet marketer of any sort, I suggest you do!

That all being said, too bad the FTC doesn’t go after BIG corporations like Microsft! First of all, the market online. Secondly, they make claims of how wonderful their user experience is. All bull and false advertising!

And what about other major corporations and advertisers? Or is this just aimed at the little guy?

I’m not going to even get started. This about information and not a rant. You read the guidelines, decide for yourself, and feel free to comment here!

Text of the notice (This link requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

AND HERE’S A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF WHAT I WAS JUST ASKING!

I went to Adobe to get a copy of the link to get the free reader and this is what I see!

You can download the Free PoS (Piece of Sh#t) McAfee Security Scanner compliments of Adobe. Are they getting compensated for featuring McAfee and including it as an additional download? If so, why isn’t there a disclosure?

And to the folks at Adobe, WTF? Don’t you make ENOUGH profit on the sale of your software - which is HIGHLY overpriced to begin with and excludes small companies like ours from buying it – that you have to pimp McAfee’s miserable software?

UnFEAKING believable!

DISCLAIMER: MICE Training, Technology & Education and Debbie Mahler received no financial gain nor compensation for any information in this blog post. Nor does it represent an endorsement of the FTC and its rules.

Note to Wordpress Plug-in creators: Can we get a plug-in that automatically posts a disclaimer at the end of each blog post? I think we’re going to need one! Let me know when you’ve created it!

I know, an odd title, isn’t it? But you’ll see why soon.

I must also add a caveat: This post does contain adult language!

Did you see the movie ‘Network‘? The one where the new anchor loses it on the air, throws his television out the window, and screams, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Yeah, THAT movie!

Well, I know how the Anchorman feels.

Yesterday, while researching this continuing Botnet issue, I came across a very interesting press release on DoubleClick’s web site. But before I share I that with you, let me digress for a moment.

Remember the big to-do about Google partnering with Yahoo? Remember Microsoft (M$) whinning and complaining about the ’supposed unfair advantage and monopoly’ a partnership between Google and Yahoo would create? Whaa, whaa, whaa! Poor Microsoft!

Then recently, the headlines hit the blogosphere that Google was hours away from being named a monopoly by the U.S. Department of Justice when Google backed off.

Now that I’ve refreshed your memory, fast forward to my noting a press release on DoubleClick’s web site yesterday.

Pop Quiz!

1. Who owns DoubleClick?
2. Who owns and created Silverlight?
3. Who is serving video ads to Silverlight?

Answer Key:

1. Who owns DoubleClick?  Google
2. Who owns and created Silverlight?  Microsoft
3. Who is serving video ads to Silverlight?  Google owned DoubleClick

Now, doesn’t that seem like someone is sleeping with the enemy?

Read it yourself here: http://www.doubleclick.com/about/news_details.aspx?id=1406&linkidentifier=id&itemid=1406

You see folks, what I’ve come to realize is that all this media spin and “woe is me” from Microsoft is nothing more than Microsoft crying wolf. And why? $$$MONEY$$$

What’s that saying? “Money talks, bulls#&t walks?”

It’s okay for Microsoft Silverlight to run Google-owned DoubleClick ads because Microsoft is making money!

It’s NOT okay for Google to partner with Yahoo because Microsoft ISN’T making money!

And why won’t Google, DoubleClick, Yahoo, Right Media, and all the rest of the online advertising companies do something about malware being pushed through their ads? Because they are COLLECTING  MONEY from the advertisers! And because to put a procedure in place to screen those ads and protect visitors, would COST  them MONEY!

Small companies like ours make nothing on the research we do, and practically nothing on the small amount of ads we do run on our site.

Hell, the top day of our Google adsense at the peak of this botnet issue earned us a whopping 27 cents! Whoo Hoo! I’ll take that to the bank as soon as Google decides it adds up to $100 in any given month – READ: I won’t hold my breath waiting.

The truth of the matter is my friends, that we are being fed a HUGE plate of Corporate BS with a side of lies.

Microsoft cares less about Google’s unfair competition with Yahoo. It wants Yahoo for the ad generating revenue it can earn under Yahoo’s name. And why? Because Microsoft’s name can’t earn it!

I could find better search results reading the sediment in my septic tank (like tea leaf reading only grosser) than find anything from Live or MSN Search.

Microsoft knows their search is useless! So they want Yahoo’s name to hide behind so they can rake in the advertising dough.

And if I’m right with my prediction about the upcoming botnet from hell, all the advertising companies will make a fortune from it!

Think about it!

They’ll collect revenue from the advertisers wanting to push the malware. (What better way to deliver an Internet Weapon of Mass Destruction (IWMD) then through ads that are on nearly every single web site!)

Then, they’ll collect a fortune off the adwords related to this new malware and the fix being searched for as millions of broken, infected PCs go online to search for help.

And the botnet creators will make a fortune off the information it gets from every single infected computer and compromised corporate network! (And if you have yet to read the report about this underground economy, please pick up the report here: The Online Shadow Economy.  My paranoia is based on real facts!)

The only people not getting rich off this whole scam are the poor shmucks at the bottom of this food chain. The small companies, small bloggers, and the average Internet users. The very same ones who have to pay for the damage because Corporate A**holes don’t give a s#&t about us!

It’s days like this that I wonder why the h@ll I even bother!

But then, I get an additional reader, or a new subscriber. Perhaps a few new comments posted, and I have hope again. I have hope that there are others like me still out there that are paying attention. Vigilantly watching to maintain the integrity of the Internet.

And YOU make it all worthwhile!

So, for those of you – like me – who want to prepare for what might be coming, I’m going to teach you over the next several posts how to prepare to protect yourself. I think we might be able to avoid the impending damage if we cover our assets, so to speak.

Tomorrow, we will learn how to block the ad servers. Yes, I know, I’m cutting off my 27 cents in revenue by teaching you how to do this. But you never know. If I’m correct in my line of thinking and research, we just might get a legitimate sponsor for this blog! Or maybe someone will donate or buy something from us! You never know! It could happen!

So tune in tomorrow! We’re going to play Medieval Europe and secure the castles!

It doesn’t matter what OS or what browser you’re using. We’ll cover them all!

Oh! I should note however, that so far, our research is showing the Ubuntu (Linux) has not been affected by any of this!