So my phone rang one day last week and, naturally, there was a computer on the other end. But this wasn't a political robo-call trying to confuse me into voting for the wrong candidate. This was a commercial robo-call from a Web site called MerchantCircle, telling me there was a "new review of my service" on the site.
MerchantCircle is an attempt to create a localized Yellow Pages community on a national scale. So if you run a hair salon, you can put a page on MC with a map to your address, information about the salon, photos, testimonials, and ways for potential customers to contact you. Their tagline is
Join the 430,000 businesses across the country who rely on MerchantCircle to prove that their business is trustworthy!
Now as it turns out I do have a MerchantCircle account. In fact, I set up a couple of fictitious MC accounts when I first heard about the service two years ago, then promptly forgot about them. But none of those accounts include my home number. The phone call was about an account in my name set up by MerchantCircle itself, probably based on information culled from the local phone directory. They were trying to drive me to the site to claim my free listing so they could sell my information to advertisers, sign me up for various services, and so on.
When I looked at my account, there were no "new reviews." I can't say I was surprised. In my testing two years ago, MerchantCircle was laughable. In just a couple of hours I discovered how extremely easy it was to a) create a fictional business, b) advertise a business that was clearly in violation of the law, c) claim someone else's legitimate business as your own, d) post your own glowing "customer reviews" on your page, and e) delete the negative ones. Those pages are still up there two years later, by the way.
Trustworthy my arse.
Those robo-calls aren't new, either. Searchblog's John Batelle noted the stink these automated marketing calls caused almost two years ago. MC CEO Ben Smith responded to that blog entry, but didn't stop the calls.
Back then I figured Merchant Circle had so many problems it would die an early death. It didn't seem worth writing about -- until I got the phone call last week, that is. Now I'm ticked off about it. Even if it is a legit business, it uses illegitimate methods to promote itself.
MerchantCircle may not be a scam, in the strict sense of the word. But it serves up sleaze by the bucketful.
Have you been robo-called by MerchantCircle or other Web sites? Post your tales of woe below or email me: cringe (at) infoworld (dot) com. Top swag awaits those with the tastiest tidbits.
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Posted by Robert X. Cringely on May 12, 2008 12:00 PM
