Got a call from someone who shall remain nameless, worried about his big-money transaction with a company called Prestige Who's Who Registries, which has a nice looking Web site saying the company is based in lovely Ronkonkoma, N.Y., out on Lawng Oyland not far from where yours truly used to live, a little mousehole on the grounds of Old Westbury Gardens. A quick Google search turned up one Web site labeling Prestige a scam, and another tying it to Expedite Media Group, about which the Spamhaus Project has to say this.

Back to the nice-looking Prestige site. Less here than meets the eye? The stock quotes button on the main navigation just takes you to Yahoo! Finance. That seems a little strange -- is that meant to make Prestige look like it's listed on a stock exchange? The brief 'about us' page says you can self nominate to the directory. On the 'contact us' page there's an address and phone number, so I called Prestige, but the number wouldn't connect, and the address on the Web site doesn't match the phone company listing's address -- I checked with the operator.
So without saying anything negative at all about Prestige Who's Who Registries, and not counting on a couple of labor-of-love Web sites (Spamhaus excepted), I say to our caller: Do you really want to spend hundreds of dollars (yep) for a biographical entry in a directory that allows basically anyone to sign up? And what about that fee? If a directory wants to celebrate what a great person you are, and offer up your greatness to the world, perhaps to help you network and land a corner office gig, shouldn't they be selling the book to Fortune 500 companies as opposed to charging you? (That's how most professional directories work). You're better off donating $400 to the Red Cross or one of the legitimate funds for Hurricane Katrina victims.
Bottom line: Do basic homework before parting with big $$$, whether you're buying something off the Web or in the real world. A five-minute search on your favorite engine might turn up something that makes you think twice. If the Web site posts a phone number (only the reputable ones do), call it. You can thank me later.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check out the online shopping site PriceGrabber, which has created a sort of online pledge campaign against pop-up ads and spyware:

Pop-Up Free Code of Conduct

1. You do not serve pop-up or pop-under advertising on any of your Web sites.
2. You do not offer services that install hidden, ad-supported programs onto users' computers on any of your sites.
3. You do not knowingly work with companies who engage in advertising through spyware, hidden ad-supported downloads or similar ad activities, to drive users to any of your Web sites.

Sites that agree to do this can download a logo and display it on their site. We at WebWatch applaud and support this sort of thing, though we do caution that these kinds of logo/seal of approval campaigns have a major vulnerability: they can be faked. Just ask TRUSTe or QuackWatch. That's the major reason we (and Consumer Reports in its 75-year history) have been reluctant to do seals. The other big problem is that you have to police them -- anybody remember Web Trader UK? Actually, the Web Trader brand appears to have re-surfaced under the aegis of a U.K. branch of the Direct Marketing Association.

Meanwhile, we'll ask PriceGrabber itself to join competitors BizRate and Shopping.com to take the Consumer Reports WebWatch pledge.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)