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Afterdawn Allows Fake Websites and Fake Products?

Discussion in 'AfterDawn feedback & suggestions' started by jonga1, Jan 2, 2006.

  1. jonga1

    jonga1 Member

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    Why is Afterdawn allowing FAKE Websites with FAKE products to scam people on their website? I thought Afterdawn came in to help people after the demise of DVD-X-Copy in the US? They are doing a great job, so why allow Fake sites like DVD-Copy-Review.net, EasyDVDX.com and DVDCopyingSoftware.info to advertise on their site? The nerve of DVD-Copy-Review.net to state "Don't be Scammed" when they are the biggest scammer of them all? Their products like DVD Wizard Pro and DVD X Gold do not exist, but merely point someone to downloadable freeware. Yes, AfterDawn needs ad revenue, but there is a serious question here of ethics. Please help get these scammers off AfterDawn.
     
  2. Jeanc1

    Jeanc1 Guest

    Mmmmmmmmmmm ----- looks <<smiles >> am a lucky one -- I never seen those advertisements ! DVD-Copy-Review.net ~~~ is'nt that what it's suppose to be.. a REVIEW site ?
     
  3. creaky

    creaky Moderator Staff Member

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    yeah how about some examples ?
     
  4. sly_61019

    sly_61019 Senior member

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    Ive seen some ads for those software discs that are supposed to let you burn ps2 games/xbox games without a mod (which are scams).
     
  5. Phantom69

    Phantom69 Regular member

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    i have norton antispam, blocks all the ads and also i have the adblock plugin so i can customly block all the ads that norton cant :)
     
  6. dRD

    dRD I hate titles Staff Member

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    Umh, about 98 percent of our ads come via ad networks, mostly from Google AdSense, FastClick, Tribal Fusion and Casale Media and therefor we don't have direct control over the ads. For example, AdSense has tens of thousands of advertisers and their ads are targeted to our pages when the page's content fits to advertisers pre-set criteria. If you see such ad, I recommend contacting Google and telling them that the advertiser is selling illegal/fake products, which usually meansd that Google will close their advertiser account asap.
     
  7. dRD

    dRD I hate titles Staff Member

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    And...

    This is very much incorrect, we've never had anything to do with DXC's development, marketing or anything else for that matter (apart from hosting forums for 321 Studios, which we then "adopted" when they went bust) and our site has existed years and years before DXC was even "born" and continues to live on, despite the fact that 321 Studios went bust 2 years ago.
     
  8. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    This is what I remember,I could be wrong..but this feels right.
    dRD is it not a fact by your joined date 10 Jun 1999 that DVD copy came on board around late 2002.
    i remember i met you and r.moore,mag66,klingon,lawman and meny more in dec2002
     
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2006
  9. dRD

    dRD I hate titles Staff Member

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    ireland: Yes, AfterDawn was launched in June, 1999 (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/96.cfm) and DVD X Copy was released by 321 Studios back in November, 2002 (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/3515.cfm). 321 Studios finally folded in late 2004 (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/5458.cfm).
     
  10. SypherTek

    SypherTek Guest

    is it just me or has the person who actually started this thread... gone a little... quiet
     
  11. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    SypherTek, 1 day is not unusual in not getting a reply as we see that all the time.
     
  12. SypherTek

    SypherTek Guest

    lol my bad i dint look at the start date
     
  13. jonga1

    jonga1 Member

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    Just got back to reading the thread--Not gone, also not to be quiet. In response to Creaky who wanted an example, under the AD posted at the top of Afterdawn's site, labeled DVDCopyingSoftware.Info, it makes it look like they did a review of DVD copying software and judged DVD X Copy Gold V5.0 the best. Well, there is no product DVD X Copy Gold. If one orders it, one gets links to two freeware sites. The download produces DVDFab Decryptor and the other provides DVD Shrink. There is no software company representing DVD X Copy Gold. They hide behind an email sending company Aweber Communications to send out their Welcome to DVD X Copy Gold email and they use another blind agent ClickBank to charge people's credit cards. Need I go on? The same is true for the other ADs hosted by Afterdawn that I listed at the start of this thread. DVD Wizard Pro for $39.95 is another fake software product. Why is the webmaster for Afterdawn telling me to take up this issue with Google. To me, the problem belongs to AfterDawn who is allowing these people to advertise FAKE software products and FAKE Websites to the possible detriment of some of Afterdawn's audience. Doesn't Afterdawn have a fiduciary responsibility to check out the people advertising on their site before letting them do so? In case you have difficulty finding these advertisers, it takes patience to catch them as the ad rotate. I printed copies of all the bogus claims for my credit card company to charge-back the amount I was scammed.
     
  14. jonga1

    jonga1 Member

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    If it is Google I need to file a complaint with, please provide me contact information.
     
  15. dRD

    dRD I hate titles Staff Member

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    jonga1: I take it that you don't know how ad networks operate. Google's AdSense is the service these companies are advertising with, not with us. We don't have any business relationship with companies advertising on ad spots that show "Ads by Google" at the bottom, our business relationship is with Google. Google does the ad sales, matching up the keywords, possible complains about ads and takes its cut and pays us our commission on monthly basis. Basically, simplifying the case, like this:

    1) Company X buys keyword "dvd ripping" from Google and states it is willing to pay $0.01 per click those ads receive. They pre-purchase something like 5000 clicks, paying Google $50 from their credit card.

    2) They set up a text for their ad on Google's advertiser page.

    3) When a page, that carries Google's AdSense ads, has term "dvd ripping" mentioned on it, Google shows up the ads that were matched to that term.

    4) User clicks an ad from company X.

    5) Google automatically reduces $0.01 from that advertiser's advertising account.

    6) At the end of the month, Google sums up how many ads were clicked from AfterDawn.com, reduces their commission from that and sends us a check for the remaining amount.

    Now, the issue is that Google has currently something like 50,000 - 100,000 advertisers and each advertiser can have multiple ads, thus making the likely number of ads being somewhere between half a million and million. Additionally, publishers (like AfterDawn.com) don't have a page where we could pre-screen the ads shown on our pages. We don't even have a page to see which ads have been shown on our site.

    If you see a Google AdSense ad that has false marketing on it, look at the ad -- each ad has "Ads by Google" text, which is a link. Click that text and you will be taken on a page that has a link stating "Send Google your thoughts on the ads you just saw", which allows you do exactly what it states.

    And why virtually all major publishers use Google nowadays? Because their ads wont blink, flash, make sounds and typically provide extremely relevant ads matched up to the content of the site, thus providing much better value for publishers and users alike than regular banners. But sure, due enormous number of advertisers (with "normal" ad agencies, we have had max 200 advertisers at a time, with Google, the number is at least 100x higher), there are always "scammers" involved, spoiling the fun for some of us and therefor it is advisable to contact Google and let them know about companies who condone false marketing.
     
  16. Phantom69

    Phantom69 Regular member

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    hey dRD, aint seen you for ages...

    anyway, i never new thats how it worked <?>....

    well you learn something new every day...
     
  17. McBrat

    McBrat Regular member

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    LMAO...How long have you been using the internet jonga? Did you also fall for the ad for "Thousands of free movies and MP3's Legally"? I think the old adage of "buyer beware" would apply here...and just in case you were considering calling that number where there are hot girls waiting to talk to YOU ... they really aren't!
     
  18. jonga1

    jonga1 Member

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    Petteri, thank you for the enlightening and comprehensive response about how web advertising works. I will go back into the ADs to determine how to provide feedback on each.
    McBrat, I guess not long enough. Again, I fell into the trap thinking that ADs I saw on a competent site like AfterDawn must be OK. I am willing to bring this thread to a close unless someone wants to left open. I apologize if I misunderstood things or offended anyone (except the scammers).
     
  19. 9mmruger1

    9mmruger1 Regular member

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    I certainly enjoyed and learned from this thread. No complaints from me though cause I employ my popup blocker! :)
     
  20. devlin

    devlin Guest

    they were talking about this in the magazine wired january 2006 issue
    it's about pay per click advertising it's big money. the issue covers fraud clicking.

    a company pays $10 to google for anybody clicking on their ad.
    the competitive company (the rival )(the enemy)clicks repeatedly on the ad coasting the other company money. get it

    the article is kinda what this thread is about.
    its not afterdawns fault.
     

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