Technology Blog

… or are they?

Are they so powerful, and so believable that people get suckered into the ultimate April Fool’s prank by the biggest search engine company in the world?

I’ll admit, I was almost suckered in. But when my friend showed me the link to GMail’s paper service I cracked up.

Yeah ok Google, you’re funny.

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/paper/more.html

Google’s Free broadband service

I do wonder… how long will these links have a PR that’s higher than 0?

In any case, happy April Fool’s Day.

Spam spam spam, and more spam!

I’ve seen this ad several times now: “I got scammed 37 times!” So naturally, I’m curious, I click.

Only to be lead to one of those typical one page spreads that have a link to ‘find out the truth to money making programs’, along with an opt-in email newsletter, not to mention 2 links to other one page ads to programs/tips on how to make thousands of dollars, and assurances that these are not scams, and 100% satisfaction guaranteed (if of course, you legitimately do all the steps they suggest, over a 90 day commitment).

Did I mention that these are the typical “act now and we’ll give you this program for 49.95, a full $100 off the full price” ads? Did I also mention that both links from this “info” page, just like this info page has similar popups? oh, and of course, there’s testimonials, and while I didn’t look any further, I’m sure one of more of these links has a link to an image of an “actual paycheck”.

I once got suckered into a scam like this supposed “none-scam” is, and low and behold, I was linked to a website with information alright… information that’s already free for anyone who’s curious: how to place ads and make money on Adsense.

But what gets me frustrated is the way this guy chooses to get people interested. His claims of being scammed in the past, get people interested in his story, and somehow, you the reader should feel sorry for him, identify with him, and therefore, trust that he’s giving you real information without any kind of direct benefit to himself.

That’s marketing.

It also sucks.

Why not be a little more upfront and honest about it? Do what I do, and countless others do: provide honest opinions, on sponsored blogs. Yeah, there’s advertisements. Absolutely… just look to your right, and you’ll see my Adsense banner. I’m not going to white wash this and say I’m not getting compensated because I am. (ok, this is not something I’m going to say 99% of time as blatantly as I’m stating in this blog).

But seriously folks. I want to be a respected as a surfer and possible marketer. I know that information, good solid information isn’t always free. But is the dress up really necessary? His whole schtick is: he’s been scammed 33 or 35 times, but he wants to show you 2 *true* programs that he’s making money on. uh huh. Ok, that makes you even more believable dude, thanks.

The other thing that bothered me was, his leads you into the page by saying, hey, don’t trust the get rich quick schemes, go with the one of the two programs that I recommend, they don’t make you as much money as quickly, but they work. (I’m paraphrasing here)

Well, I don’t know about you, but when one of the programs bragged about making $50,000 in one month, that screamed SCAM to me. Right there and then.

Is it impossible to make $50,000 in a month on ad placements on the net? No, in fact it’s very possible. (have I personally done it? No) Do I think that it’s possible within their 8 week guarantee? Highly unlikely.

As far as I’m concerned. I just got scammed. Scammed for reading spam.

And no, I’m not going to link to this guy’s website. Not directly anyway. You might find it on an adsense ad to this page, you might not. I leave it up to you to search for this site and judge for yourself.

Feel free to come back and tell me if I’m off base with my general discontent for his antics.

Yes folks, by now, I’m sure there’s tons of blogs writing about The USB Absinthe Spoon Do a search on technorati, do a search on google, you’ll find it. But my fascination with this started thanks to a simple link share with a friend of mine on MSN.

This really struck my funny bone. And no, I wasn’t chasing little green fairies at the time, I swear. But having experienced a little absinthe ritual fun both in europe when I travelled there last fall, to recently when I returned I couldn’t but laugh at this gizmo, gadget, or… hoax?

There’s some speculation that this fantastical gadget is nothing more than an email grab. Create a buzz about a fake product, collect some email addresses while you’re at it. The makers of this supposed gadget “didn’t know” that the response would be so positive and so global. The deal was (and is), for you to write to them on their site, as to why you think you deserve a prototype of the USB Absinthe Spoon.

I couldn’t resist. I wrote. My comment was somewhere in the 400th mark. My reasoning for “needing” an absinthe spoon was simple: I’m left handed.

In any case, this is a fun little buzz that I’m following. I sure hope they make big bucks regardless of whether this product is real or not.