Background Check Sites: Background Check 'Em!
Had occasion to take a look at a couple of background check sites and ran across enough for about six blog entries. But start here on this odd-looking page that calls itself "Consumer Guide To Background Checks." In the middle of the top of the page under the headline "As Seen On" are a collection of logos from well-known mainstream media outlets, credible with a capital C, New York Times, CNN, the whole bit. Now go to the very bottom of the page.
See the fine, tiny print in light grey, so close to white it almost can't be read? Here's what it says: " 'As Seen On' logos and trademarks are owned by their respective companies. These companies have published articles about background check-related topics that may or may not have referenced Consumer-Guide.To or our reviews herein." So we already know where the creators of this ad are coming from. Why do I care about it? Type "background check" into Google and this page will come up as the second or third sponsored link on top of the organic results, or sometimes as the second sponsored link over to the right, calling itself a consumer guide.
We haven't even talked about the sites the ad is plugging yet.
One is CourtRecords.org. I'm not going to link to it because you shouldn't use it. Nobody should. We decided to test it, and after typing in a little personal info, were tantalized with the possibilities of what records we may have been able to pull up. ("Check Who's In the System Instantly,") the site says above the form. But, to go further, you have to cough up $35, for which you are assigned a number of "points" (we were given six), which you can then spend on searches. So we did one simple search of Department of Motor Vehicle records, and turned up nothing -- despite the fact our test subject is a license-carrying NY State driver. Guess what? That search used up five of the six points, leaving not enough points to do anything. So we used all the "customer feedback" and "contact us" points on the site, saying we were dissatisfied with the results. Of course, we never heard back. Do a WHOIS and you'll find the trail stops at a Stockholm ISP.
As for the other two sites the ad plugs, we'll talk about them later.
Everyone from the media organizations mentioned at the top of this bogus "consumer guide," to the legitimate background check sites on the Web, to the people who oversee Google ads, should be hopping mad, and this bogus consumer guide should be blasted into pixel dust.