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Matt B
22-04-2002, 16:01/04:01PM
This article was recently posted at Search Engine Guide. I am glad to see that others are not recommending the change. I myself am advising my clients to put their money elsewhere where there is better ROI.

Hopefully this thread can become a repository of links to negative (realistic) evaluations of Look$mart's recent decision.


http://www.searchengineguide.com/kalena/2002/0422_kj1.html

Nice Rant, Kalena


Feel free to post links to your favorite article about Look$mart.
ihelpyou
22-04-2002, 16:30/04:30PM
Yes. They are everywhere now.

I cannot believe the horror stories I am reading all over the net now. How can one company make such a bad PR move as this? Especially a large .com who supposedly has a PR department and who has planned this scam for many months now.

Totally unbelievable.

I have read of sites who activated and received Hundreds of clicks on the very first day but who previously received the same hundreds in a whole month. Unbelievable the amount of "perceived fraud" that seems to be going on.
Matt B
22-04-2002, 16:38/04:38PM
You're telling me. Not only has the handling of this entire change been bad, but it was a bad idea from the start.


Look$ could have easily followed Yahoo's lead in annual charges and could have taken little flack, especially with Yahoo's recent Spam flap. In fact, I think the Look$ move has saved Yahoo from a lot more pain.
tlacaelel
22-04-2002, 18:23/06:23PM
SEO Guy:Feel free to post links to your favorite article about Look$mart.Great suggestion SEO Guy. I have already put up links on www.actdumb.com (http://www.actdumb.com) for 2 new articles and 6 discussion forums, but I'm looking for more.

The 2 new articles are:
1. LookSmart Looks Dumb Again, by Jill Whalen (Traffick.com)
2. LOOKs Can Be Deceiving, by Kalena Jordan (Search Light Newsletter)

The 6 current forums are: ihelpyouservices, searchengineforums, webmasterworld, sitepoint, marketpositiontalk, and googlegroups.

Please everybody post any useful links or articles about the discontent amongst informed LookSmart customers. We need to get the word out and promote the news so this gets the attention it deserves. Thanks!!

LookSmart seems to think that they can just slip this compulsory, expensive, and incompatible offering changeover in under the radar, without drawing too much heat. They are relying on incomplete and poor understanding of this forced upgrade to get people to sign up with knowing what they're getting into. LookSmart is mistaken if they think this will succeed.
Kal
22-04-2002, 19:01/07:01PM
Hi SEO Guy :hi:

Thanks for your comments on my article. I've actually received a surprising amount of positive feedback to it via email already. Seems there are many businesses out there who feel duped by Looksmart and are glad the Directory is copping some negative publicity over their treatment. I'll be including some of the comments in my next newsletter.
ihelpyou
22-04-2002, 19:21/07:21PM
anoder one

http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=53
Matt B
23-04-2002, 10:57/10:57AM
Great to hear Kal,

I think the breaking point for me was a business that we paid to get into the directory the day before they announced the change. Being a new site, they only receive 3-4 referrals a month from Look$. I have asked for a refund, because I cannot justify this company paying $15/mo. for less than a dollar of referrals. As of yet, I haven't heard back.