Security Cadets

February 14th, 2008 by AndyAtHull

OK, yesterday evening someone contacted us about something which concerned them. Especially yesterday of all days, valentine’s day, where a lot of money was to be earned.

… I want you to remember that before you move on. As it will play a part later on …

I will be focusing on 123greetings.com. This site is known to be bad for sometime now. SiteAdvisor classes it as a red/bad site and it’s not high on my choice of sites to go when it comes to online cards. In fact it’s no where to be seen on my choice list.

But imagine that you are a user with no computer experience. Go “uhhh” when you and your friends talk about a pop-up blocker and essentially haven’t got a clue when you hear the words “microsoft windows“. Essentially you wouldn’t know what WinFixer is or other rogues are either by that point.

Well imagine then how you go surfing online, because you want to send your loved one an e-Card as it’s valentine’s day. Nothing wrong with that at all. But then you get bombarded with pop-ups, flashing images and general stupid things you don’t want. Namely pop-ups for WinFixer. You’re so angry, you contact the site in question and get the following reply:

“… our business model requires that we generate revenue through the use of pop-up/pop-under advertising. Eventually our pop-up ads will go the way of other technologies that are no longer useful, but at this time they are the only way we can employ the people to make the cards in order to give them away free. Please visit our advertisers in order to keep our cards free.”

… and also …

“… as you find these pop-ups irritating, I suggest that you to use the software of your choice to block the pop-ups and make your card sending experience more enjoyable.”

So as we find these irritating and damn right annoying, we should all use software to block pop-ups? What about individuals below the age of eighteen who may not have a clue what this is? Or the elderly? Would you expect everyone to know this? Unlikely.

I have no problem with the use of adverts as long as they are clean and don’t scam computer users, or come popping-up as often as Rambo. However the adverts we encountered are not clean and certainly annoy the crap out of you. Even when I tested this myself, we had a whole lot of WinFixer adverts pop-up.

Going back to there being a lot of money to be earned on valentine’s day. The site in question is number one on Google for cards about yesterday’s occasion. So the potential revenue they went on about above will be a bucket full with extra visitors.

But that still doesn’t justify what the reply stated. To just “happily inform that complaining users should install a pop-up blocker“. Lazy tactics.

We’re waiting a reply from the site to see if they wish to clear things up. I’m not holding my breath though.

What does this highlight? Well the response from them highlights that revenue speaks louder than customers concerns. No matter who you are or how educated you think you are, telling you that “you need to get a pop-up blocker” is an easier solution to them rather than to investigate the offending advert. But we’ll keep an eye on this.

Has this been a concern of yours? What to get it of your chest? Chat about it here.

Update – 16th of Feb 2008 : An email has been received. Also, it appears that the script for WinFixer has been removed

General, Security | 2 Comments »