Comments on: Are Alexa.com Ads by Pulse360-Kanoodle Violating FTC Truth in Advertising?

By: Are Alexa.com Ads by Pulse360-Kanoodle Violating FTC Truth in Advertising? | IT News

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:49:47 +0000

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By: Adam Alfia

Adam Alfia — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:36:45 +0000

It seems to me like these advertisements are in clear violation of the FTC rules. Falsely linking testimonials based on a visitor’s geography gives a false sense of reputability to a given product/organization since people will take the word of a ‘local’ as opposed to a faceless ‘national’ testimonial. That in and of itself is deplorable.

By: Wheels

Wheels — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:03:13 +0000

I can’t believe between the Kaboodle advertising company and a net giant company like Alexa they don;t see what is wrong with this.

Every day big companies get worse and worse because they can get away with it. It’s a sad situation.

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Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:12:17 +0000

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Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:31:11 +0000

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Are Alexa.com Ads by Pulse360-Kanoodle Violating FTC Truth in … — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:06:15 +0000

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By: BlackHatMagic

BlackHatMagic — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:20:56 +0000

Only stupid Americans care about what the FTC has to say.

By: Ezra Ranier

Ezra Ranier — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:58:59 +0000

I agree with Adam. In advertising if you give testimonials from people who don’t exist it isn’t right. The sad part is that these companies may get fined by the FTC but they will make enough money to pay off the fines and keep on doing it. They are taking a page from the telemarketers handbook.

By: Kirstin

Kirstin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:16:21 +0000

All I have to say is this practise is very shady indeed.

By: btheiler

btheiler — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:07:12 +0000

I wonder how this is going to be handled when it comes to internet marketing, as a lot of bloggers do reviews of products that they have never bought or had in their possession in order to get a commission. Some of the review are really independent; but a lot of them are not.

By: Hasan

Hasan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:07:34 +0000

I think that the FTC, if it really does anything, will have more of a bark than a bite on this issue. While I do believe there could and should be more uniform disclosure with online author/vendor relationships, I have no faith whatsoever in the FTC’s ability to fairly monitor the situation, let alone police it.

As a consumer, the Internet gives me all the tools I need for a multiplicity of opinions. If a book review on a blog linked to Amazon seems too rosy, what’s to stop me from Googling a 2nd or 300th opinion?

Why do we want our government treating us all like helpless infants? Whatever happened to “Buyer Beware”? An ounce of personal responsibility is worth a pound of ham-fisted regulations.

By: Roshi

Roshi — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:19:11 +0000

Yes advertising should be kept under a watch. It should not be overdone and if it is done excessively then it is violation of FTC. Nice post and thanks for providing the info.

By: Harry S

Harry S — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:49:45 +0000

FTC is just like a the list of some rules & that is for organising all the ad business under the laws ,if the Alexa & Kooo….. are overhearing these rules so in my point of view they will face a lot of problem if it gets proved!So for me only i want to say is to just wait & watch the whole show!

By: blackpool

blackpool — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 12:08:44 +0000

i love a good rant and this is a good one about alexa ads, brilliant dave.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:09:26 +0000

i am by far no expert here, but it’s not that hard to tell if somethings not right… it’s simply revolting to hear companies thinking they’re above the law just because they can… something oughta be done to teach these companies a lesson… :)

By: Aditya

Aditya — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:26:53 +0000

True, they can catch our location and display the ads accordingly. It is so annoying. I wish there was a way to prevent these ads from displaying.

By: Susana

Susana — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:45:02 +0000

it is a very shame ful topic for the Alexa that they could do this after all i can not believe on it because the Alexa is really really a great firm so if it would have done this then it is a black mark for it!they should realize it!

By: Elyse

Elyse — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:36:23 +0000

Nice to know I am not alone in finding these ads offensive! I didn’t know how these ads worked until I googled pulse 360 and found affiliatebestprograms.com and read all your comments. AT&T webmail uses Pulse 360 and I have contacted customer support several times asking how I can opt-out of their annoying, intrusive, offensive & fraudulent ads. Since I pay for my email service, I want the right to opt-out of this kind of advertising! After reading the comments from others, I am wondering if filing a complaint with the FTC would help.

By: Pralni stroj

Pralni stroj — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:37:41 +0000

To the average consumer:
So, the local ad makes you buy more? Not the price and good/bad product. Then your wife should make shopping decisions :)

By: Roy

Roy — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:55:09 +0000

Hmmm. Very interesting comments by Dave. I ran across this post while doing deep research on Kanoodle/Pluse 360. If you think this type of advertising is questionable, try PPC advertising. Be careful, however, do NOT sign up for automatic funds deposit.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:46:02 +0000

Alexa has always had questionable behaviors. This really doesn’t surprise me.

–bobby

By: Zav

Zav — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:26:47 +0000

I just saw the same photos touting that the people in them are from my town. These people have been flagrantly violating the law every time a page displays since at least July. It’s October now. These businesses need to be disbanded and the people who run them put in jail.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:49:56 +0000

No disrespect intended, but this is typical facile internet rhetoric. If you want to make a difference, make a call to action here and get people to actually report a complaint to the FTC or make a complaint yourself (if you haven’t already). These companies get away with this baloney because people everywhere let them get away with it. It’s consensus gentium. It’s permission by apathy.