Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 70

w
70

RICK PETRY

The Weak in Review
and imbue the products with further credibility. But in the age of social networking, spreading this “news” doesn’t end there; in addition to dozens of comments, the “article” has been Tweeted and liked on Facebook, as well as forwarded to other social networking sites, sometimes hundreds of times. Thus, the public unwittingly corroborates the deception and improves the bogus site’s organic search ranking as it relates to the original product, Product X, that web surfers were curious about. Hence, the marketer of the alternative product gets to draft off of the advertising spend and awareness created by its competitor with little to no financial risk. “If someone operates a website that criticizes a product and, in fact, they are affiliated with a competing product, they should clearly and conspicuously disclose that on the website,” comments Greg Sater, an attorney with Venable LLP. “The site should make it clear that it’s a commercial site put up by a competitor or by one affiliated with a competitor.” Sater adds: “The same thing applies to anyone who ‘posts’ something on the site about their purported experience with the product. There should be full transparency, disclosing any material connection to a competing product. The same rules should be followed as in the television broadcast environment.” Many of these parasitic marketers also walk a razor’s edge with their disclaimers, so that it is unclear to the consumer the degree to which they have a conflict of interest. A typical disclaimer might say, “The content on this site is monetized through advertisements and affiliate links through merchants and networks that generate income to this website project. We are not responsible for misuse of any information. We accept free products and offers, but only review a select few we believe are of benefit.” Clear. As. Mud. Comparative advertising has been around forever and should be allowed to continue, but it should not appear as anything other than what it is. Marketers have a difficult enough time trying to innovate and bring their products to market without being subjected to a kind of identity theft where a brand or product’s reputation is held hostage by interlopers out for a fast buck. This is the next battleground to be joined for make no mistake – while it was once the pen that was mightier than the sword, it is now dueling keyboards that will answer the question: Will this persist or cease and desist? Rick Petry is a freelance writer who specializes in direct marketing and is a past chairman of ERA. He can be reached at (503) 740-9065, online at rickpetry.com or on Twitter at http:// twitter.com/thepetrydish.

While the counterfeiting of direct marketed products represents an enormous blight on the industry, there is another deception being regularly perpetuated, and it is this: phony online review sites masquerading as forums for impartial public opinion that are actually competitive advertising. What appear at first blush to be neutral sites are frequently advertorials designed to denigrate the competition and convince the consumer to buy an alternative product the site owner has a financial interest in. With an increasing number of e-commerce sales occurring online, this is a pervasive problem that both the industry and regulators must combat. Here’s how the scheme works: A prospective buyer sees an ad that piques his curiosity, so he goes online to discover what others are saying. The Google algorithm favors sites by the public, for the public, so it will often rank review sites high because it cannot discern whether such content is self-serving or not. For example, when searching for a current successful product we’ll call Product X, right beneath its official link, another appears that says, “Discover the truth about Product X …” Who wouldn’t be curious? The problem is that this “truth” site is nothing more than a landing page that features an opinion piece cloaked as a news story that debunks the benefit claims of Product X and then coyly asks if it is a consumer’s only option to solve the problem within the featured category. The site then just happens to have a link where you can buy an alternative product at a discounted price. These sites will frequently employ the words “As featured on …” accompanied by the logos of trusted news organizations where the product may have been featured or reviewed. While they leave out exactly what was said by those organizations – such as national networks and magazines – they use these wellknown entities to imply endorsement

Rick Petry: Direct Marketing Insights Gleaned from 100 Columns
Since it’s inception in September 2004, Rick Petry has contributed the back-page column of ERA’s Electronic Retailer magazine. Join him from 10:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Thursday, September 13 at the 2012 ERA D2C Convention as he shares observations from covering the industry over the past decade in this lively and entertaining presentation that examines direct marketing’s past, present and future.

electronicRETAILER | September 2012



Electronic Retailer - September 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Electronic Retailer - September 2012

Calendar of Events
Your Association, Your Bottom Line
Industry Reports
FTC Forum
eMarketer Research
IMS Retail Rankings
Jordan Whitney’s Top Categories
Letter from the Chairman
From the Executive’s Desk
All Aboard the D2C Train
Delivering Happiness
What Retailers Really Want
The Customer is Always Right
nuvoH2O Brings Home a Healthier, Cleaner Water Solution via DR
Guest Viewpoint
DRTV
Payment Processing
Legal
Advertiser Spotlight
Bulletin Board
Advertiser Index
Classifieds
Rick Petry
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - cover1
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - cover2
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 3
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 4
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 5
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 6
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Calendar of Events
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Your Association, Your Bottom Line
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 9
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Industry Reports
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 11
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 12
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 13
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 14
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 15
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 16
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 17
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 18
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - FTC Forum
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - eMarketer Research
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 21
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - IMS Retail Rankings
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 23
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Jordan Whitney’s Top Categories
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 25
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Letter from the Chairman
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 27
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 28
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - From the Executive’s Desk
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - All Aboard the D2C Train
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 31
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 32
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 33
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 34
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 35
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Delivering Happiness
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 37
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 38
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 39
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 40
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 41
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - What Retailers Really Want
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 43
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 44
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 45
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 46
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 47
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - The Customer is Always Right
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 49
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 50
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 51
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 52
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - nuvoH2O Brings Home a Healthier, Cleaner Water Solution via DR
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 54
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 55
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 56
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Guest Viewpoint
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 58
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 59
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 60
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - DRTV
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Payment Processing
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 63
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Legal
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 65
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Advertiser Spotlight
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Advertiser Index
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Classifieds
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - 69
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - Rick Petry
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - cover3
Electronic Retailer - September 2012 - cover4
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com