I just came across all of this and noticed a bit of a trend in the pro-TP/1P comments: "sour grapes."
Somebody needs a thesaurus i think.
Web Advertising Info.com : Traffic Power & 1P Launch Fake SEO Forums
Fake SEO Forum?
Probably didn't think people would notice them about a week after they created their absolutely fake forum, but I did. Web-Advertising-Info = complete garbage... Web-Advertising-Info.com
It is a fake forum set up to push Traffic Power / 1P SEO services. These are the same SEO services that have got many webmasters banned from the search engines.
Web-Advertising-Info.com Forum Facts:
- Only list two category sources of seo news (one of which being me)
- Individually review a bunch of seo websites...as the seo forum categories (not normal)
- Say that I cold called them offering SEO services...based on how much time I spend reading books and posting in forums and stuff... I don't have time to cold call people. In fact I have even called a bunch of other SEOs asking if I could refer people to them...and even yesterday refered away a repeat client sell to a friend.
- They reviewed both of my sites as two of about 14 categories
- Only have categories of sites that have bashed (gave honest feedback out the services of) Traffic Power AND
- Give positive reviews of Traffic Power AND 1P
- Their forum is premoderated. When someone tried leaving a message they couldn't.
- No way that many negative things have been randomly said about me in less than a week in an honest premoderated forum with less than 100 posts.
- Can you say scam?
Avoid that forum like the plague.
Web-Advertising-Info.com Forum Screenshot:
This image of the forum which promotes 1P & Traffic Power shows how they used two of my site names as their categories (to bash me) and also use one of their categories to promote Traffic Power.
Traffic Power & 1P: Using Deceptive Marketing
The fact that they would go to these lengths to try to market their services shows a few things:
- They are pathetic.
- Their services must not be worth using.
- I was gonna let it slide, but this "SEO forum" went overboard. When Traffic Power cold called me asking to help me promote my website the site they wanted to promote this online shopping mall (look at how bad that site is and see for yourself the bad sites and naive webmasters they are actively trying to work for). The site is complete garbage. I made it before I knew anything about the web, marketing, or SEO. Now I use that site as bait site to see what kind of bad stuff there is on the web.
- Traffic power is still the only SEO company that has cold called me and they have also cold called multiple friends of mine.
- On September 23rd Traffic Power cold called another friend of mine. Here is the email he sent me about the cold call:
guess who I just got off the phone with? A rep from trafficpower!!! She says that paying $3000 will allow me to refer clients to 1p.com and I get like 40% of the service cost. I told her if she is any good, then she should work for herself. I will be in touch with her to see if she has any skill. Just for shits and giggles, I asked her what it would take for her to work for me full time. She said $1000/week. I laughed. She must be getting crumbs over there. If she's worth anything, she's worth ppc management. She seems bright
..but she works for crumbs in SEO.
More Placing this Bogus 1P / Traffic Power SEO Forum in Perspective
If you look at the links page on their site:
http://www.web-advertising-info.com/links.php
The second through fifth links on that page point into a site that promotes my ebook on every page of their website and gives it a glowing review.
More Fake SEO Forums Promoting 1P & Traffic Power
Andy Beal just spotted
seo-talk.net &
seo-forum.net
Later someone else noticed
seo-professional-forum.com
All the fake SEO forums promote the same garbage as the other forum I found. On seo-forum.net they ran a poll for my ebook (what real premoderated poles do you know that would use the following language and options)
- It was a waste of money.
- Aaron Wall's writes like a preschooler.
- If this were a real book, I'd wipe my ass with the pages!
The goal of this "clever" advertising bit is to try to make all SEO forums look deceptive and sneaky so that Traffic Power, 1P, and similar companies who had been complained about can be at a level bar with respectable SEO firms.
Basically it is a "our name is in the tank so we want to ruin yours too" type of game...kinda like how politics works. There is something overtly transparent about their forums that would likely turn off any site visitors. They could not have possibly been any more transparent.
Andy Beal has more info about the comment moderation of the fake SEO forums...apparently whoever made the forums was so foolish that they ping Feedster with the hidden moderated comments. Andy has a few of them posted on his blog.
Further Reading on 1P / Traffic Power SEO Services:
- Traffic Power @ Traffic Power Sucks (which is listed in the Allegedly Unethical Firms and Consumer Complaints sections of the Open Directory Project)
- Traffic Power @ JimWorld
- Traffic Power@ Mark Carey
- Traffic Power @ SEO Consultants Directory
- Traffic Power @ SEW Forums
- Traffic Power @ SEO Book.com
- 1P is the new name for Traffic Power @ SEO Book.com
Published: September 30, 2004
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Comments
I just noticed over at the seo-forum.net they have a member with the name of "cbp". There is a "cbp" over at WebProWorld who moderates there. He is also a DMOZ editor. I do not buy into this being one in the same person -- this cbp is really trumping up the bu!!sh!t.
All of the domains are run through a place called Secure WhoIs, Inc. which seems to look like anonymous domain registrations. Just another sign that there is something to hide and it is not on the up and up, because there is no business name out there.
The thing is that most of what is going on here is bordering on slander Aaron. We know that it is all being faked, so there should be some legal avenue to pursue here -- don't you think?
The list of names on their "hitlist" is very curious. Tons of big names in there. One stands out as NOT being what I would call a big name at all (GoS). This has got me kind of thinking in another direction -- as in, it may not be 1P or TP doing this at all. But rather, somebody who has an axe to grind for other reasons. They are just using 1P and TP as a front for something else to come.
>"The thing is that most of what is going on here is bordering on slander Aaron. We know that it is all being faked, so there should be some legal avenue to pursue here -- don't you think?"
Usually companies doing stuff like that are desperate and about to go under...Usually they have no money to sue them for. It is not something normal or good companies would do.
Not sure if it is Traffic Power or 1P...I believe it to be at first glance, but it could be done by someone else. Perhaps we can have the hosts give us the account information real quick or just get the sites turned off? More on that later...
>"Not sure if it is Traffic Power or 1P...I believe it to be at first glance, but it could be done by someone else."
After looking closer at one of the sites, it probably not what I was thinking before. More than likely to be TP/1P.
Yea I would see if you could get that info -- and publish the name(s) all over the net. Sueing (like you said) may be like squeezing blood out of a turnip. But you would have the satisfaction of doing to them, as they are trying to do to you.
O my god....are these people desperate or what? Just reading the seo-forum.net and can't believe the crap in it.
Good post, Aaron. Obviously you are not likely to back down just because a pack of low-lives decides to call you names. There is plenty of room for honest critique of one another in this industry, but mudslinging for spite because you got your hand caught in the cookie jar? How low can they sink?
I don't care if you seem to take a few different positions on the SEM industry, Aaron. Your perspectives are interesting, you don't sugar-coat things, and you are paying attention, so I say it's a positive contribution. Keep it up.
Reading further I see they're just attacking well-known SEM experts with grade-school level taunts. Juvenile would be an understatement.
Tony
Take a look at this...
http://www.seo-forum.net/board/viewtopic.php?t=67
Every post is about 3 minutes apart on the same day, posted by people who all joined the day before... and this all happens to be their first post. Wow... a true example of Darwinism in action, in more ways than one.
Traffic Power has made my last 3+ months a living hell.
When I first got banned they lied to me then they lied again and finally they lied some more.
My experience when I first got banned can be viewed here http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=365207
3 months later I am not even close to having the search engine positioning I had pre-TP.
These people are the scum of the search engine community.
Melissa Springer
SovereignFunding.net
SovereignFunding.com
PhilC
>> The list of names on their "hitlist" is very curious. Tons of big names in there. One stands out as NOT being what I would call a big name at all (GoS).
I disagree. Geeks On Steroids, or to be more precise, "Janeth", is very well known in the search engine business. There aren't many people who are better known.
contracted with traffic power 7 months ago and
nothing happened, i mean nothing. they change contact person 5 time and said they were working
on placement-----------I charged back on my credit card-------------------DF
Sue Gray
You can BUY traffic to your site and expect a high conversion rate. It just depends how targeted your traffic is and where you get it from! You need to join an innovative affiliate network. Ok before the hackles rise and people start to think I'm one of those advertisers out to scam using a forum as my scamming weapon - please let me say that NO i don't work for the network I am about to promote. I signed up to their publisher program because I was looking for affiliates to send traffic to my site. I found an innovative network who delivers on their promises. That's something to write home about because hey, that doesn't happen often. I have included the affiliate network's name at the end of this post so that the moderators can blot it out if they deem it inappropriate. It’s called [edited by aaron: since I don't know them they aren't getting a free comment plug on my site.].
John
Can you provide a list of credible forums. I currently participate is Search Engine Watch.
John
Hi John
>Can you provide a list of credible forums
My opinion is just my opinion of course, but I did my best to give my opinion on many many forums here: SEO Forums
They are definitely the type to do that. We are a cigars website and they contacted us through cold calling. We signed up with them and upon finding out that they were unethical, stopped all activities with them. We filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and encourage others to do the same.
I am a 1p.com client, and my business has exploded. First Place has over 14000 websites they promote. KeywordRanking.com has a whopping 55clients, while SEO, INC is boasting 44 clients. All these negative blogs sound like sour grapes to me. You can't afford the placement or have a terrible conversion rate -- neither one is their fault. Using their service is the BEST business decision I have ever made.
>I am a 1p.com client, and my business has exploded.
Probably more like imploded if we can learn anything from comments from past traffic power / 1P clients.
>First Place has over 14000 websites they promote.
Thats it? With all the people traffic power / 1P cold call I would expect more than that. A real shame they are no good at search engine optimization AND cold calling.
>KeywordRanking.com has a whopping 55clients, while SEO, INC is boasting 44 clients.
The fact that those numbers are so far off from the truth makes it obvious you are either gullible, and / or you are trying to lie. Also, those search engine optimization services have nothing to do with to do with 1P / Traffic Power.
Why mention them? That is like me telling you I have 37 dogs. Completely irrelevant to the topic at hand, and a lie.
As shown in the fake search engine placment forums 1p / traffic power created, it is not beyond them to use fake testimonials.
Just wondering if you work for 1p / traffic power there Jennifer?
>All these negative blogs sound like sour grapes to me. You can't afford the placement or have a terrible conversion rate -- neither one is their fault.
Are you smoking crack? Last I checked this site was page 1 Google for "seo".
I have made enough money to where it is not one of my primary concerns. I have donated thousands to charity and stuffed a bit in the stock market as well.
Debt free and care free over here :)
>Using their service is the BEST business decision I have ever made.
If you are a legitimate traffic power / 1p customer and wanted people to believe you, I would expected you to leave an email address or REAL URL. You did neither. That makes me think you are another bogus ploy by the fine folks at traffic power / 1P.
Your blatent lies hurt their credibility far more than my comments do. If you are going to try to scam at least try to use a bit of intelligence.
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