Facebook still doing sweet FA to check AD’s
It looks like facebook is still full of the get rich quick ads from various places, the most annoying is they are using graphics from ads they say have been banned before.
Another thing I hate is the scam of saying they are from the same city as the viewers trying to establish a trust relationship.
“
A Quick Overview
This is Paul Steinbach from Wellington, New Zealand. This is my story on how I learned how to make a killing on the internet. I originally bought a product for $75 and they're now giving it away for free (you just have to pay shipping & handling for like 2 bucks or something pathetic).
“
Or is it Paul Steinbach from JavaScript ?
“
This is Paul Steinbach from <script language="JavaScript" src="http://j.maxmind.com/app/geoip.js"></script>
<script language="JavaScript">document.write(geoip_city());</script>, <script language="JavaScript">document.write(geoip_country_name());</script>. This is my story on how I learned how to make a killing on the internet.
“
The amazing thing is people must still be falling for this rubbish. If you really must get the “google money tree kit “ or the “internet payday kit” I am pretty sure you can get them of rapidshare , they even say the kit is free and your credit card is only for shipping so you’re not stealing it. Downloading off a place rapid share is really saving their time and some trees so every one wins 
flop.co.nz Review / Rant
The most difficult part of this review was actually finding the site after running across it earlier, I had given up after 20 minutes of googling only to find it again advertising on facebook.
After clicking on the facebook ad I was presented with a nice red screen for around 30 seconds while I waited for the most engaging and dynamic flash based site to load. Oh cant wait ...
Then suddenly flop.co.nz in all its awesomeness loads. I would have been very proud of this site if I had of built it, if I was 12 and it was 1992.
The navibar icon is simply a small blue arrow that gives you no indication of what it does untill you click it.
You have no idea of the prices of the items untill you click them.
You cannot highlight any text to do reasearch.
There is a nice banner which reads "You can use the same username and password to shop flop and 735pm !" wtf is 735pm? why didnt you link to it ?
The big pixeld cammo background is insanly distracting.
When you click the flop icon every thing dissaperes. Why ? People may accidentally click this and not realise how to get every thing back so there only option is to leave the site.
If I was to change the site I would dump the flash , the only reason I can think of to use flash is to provide rich interactive sites , clearly they missed the boat here and while I am not a coder I think all the features they have can be renderd in html with some scriptaculous. Feature wise they should consider inplementing rss feeds and maybe a mailer, while they may reduce daily page hits it makes my life easier when you tell me what bargins you have in my morning email and rss checking. Rather than expecting me to check your site every day.
I would also suggest hiring a company that specialises in desgin to come up with something more unique than 9 squares.
Service wise , well I dont know becouse I will never oder a thing from a site like this despite how safe you tell me it is.
How much news are you getting from websites?
Above is a highlighted screen shot from nz herald. RED = external ads like adsense and other cpc or cpi stuff , green is the actual content. Without too may metrics It would be fair to say the page contains less than 25% of what you requested.
get rich quick scams
So what with all the dodgy ads on facebook at the moment , the google money tree , the make $50 an hour rubbish?
So I clicked on this add and was sent to this page
At first look it appears there was some effort put into this page, next I note the guy is from Wellington (hey I am from Wellington too , maybe I can get rich as well) but on closer inspection I see address bar indicates this is a New Zealand specific page ...
So i check out the properties of the guys picture
hey, its hosted from another site .. lets check out that site
wow the exact same site but now we have a united kingdom url and Tom has shifted..
also on another note I love the comments
Whopper Virgins.. wtf
Whoppervirgins is a promo from Burger King where they have traveled the world to find people who never ate a burger before and recorded their reactions to eating a big mac and a whopper.
Bonus points to BK for the social media links at the end of the video.
Should Telecom put down ferrit?
For the last few years I have watched Telecom pump thousands of dollars into marketing for ferrit.co.nz as the online shopping hub in new Zealand. The problem I see with ferrit is
1. Character they have for it comes across as some creepy, paedophile, lazy jerk so no one really wants to relate to him.
2. The site layout is an explosion of images and links, lacks colour and focus points.
3. A lot of the site content resides under the break and the site's banners and header consume the first half of the page.
4. The retailer fees and commission terms are complex and expensive.
These are just a few of the problems I see with the site. I also find the business model confusing are they a gateway to the brick and mortar shops ? no..
Are they a online mall ? yes kind of but they don’t seem to give retailers a virtual shop.
Do they really offer a good product comparison feature ? not really.
Does their search work ? not very well. The refine search option is nice but easy to miss, a spell checker would be good too.
I guess ferrit is shaping up to be a site to go when you don’t know what to buy, probably a good option for finding gifts but that’s about it.
My guess is they will try again this x-mas season try a change in direction yet again . or they can give me a call to help fix it up
Find stuff thats like other stuff..
So , say you like some band but becouse you have been listening to it on your Ipod for the last month you are getting pretty sick of it. Thats where tastekid comes in, no its not some cannibal-pedofile playground, its a search engine that recomends other things you may like based on your search terms.
Invade New Zealand #1
As seen on The Gruen Transfer. Where they put two advertising firms against each other to create a mock advert for an item that is seemingly impossible to sell.
Viral marketing glossary
I found this little gem of viral marketing definitions. its really suprising how some definitions come out of specific websites like the digg effect.
This blog sounds really interesting. But Tom let me ask you this. Are you 100% sure that we’ll make money right off the bat if we sign up for this free package? I proceeded to the page where I could sign up for the package, and it’s requesting my credit card information! How much would I have to pay?
Johnny, I happen to live in Wellington too. If you would like to sit down with me and discuss how I make money off Google, I’m more than happy to do so. Also, the credit card request is for shipping and handling fees, and the total only comes to $1 USD.
This sounds like a huge scam!!
At first, when I saw something like this, I wouldn’t believe it. I was just like you. But look at it this way, what’s there to lose? That $1 which might somehow fall out of your pockets while you’re running after the bus? Scott, trust me, and trust the people who’s have already became one of the most successful Google Merchants!
Tom! I received the package! This is just great! I spent 3 days reviewing all the materials and I’m planning to get started right now! If I have further questions I’ll email you. Thanks for all your help Tom!