Re: Search400 blackmail? Webwasher banners!

Yes, sounds like BM to me but banners suck anyway.  

I use and recommend Web Washer as an add-in to my browser that eliminates
banner ads from browsing completely.  I never see them so I don't know if
they are there or not.  BTW, my browser runs faster too.  Greatest thing
since sliced bread but doesn't make advertisers happy.

Free Webwasher can be downloaded from:

http://www.siemens.de/servers/wwash/wwash_us.htm

Jerry

At 03:10 PM 12/15/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>I'd be interested in any other software vendors opinion of this item
>received from Search400. Bear in mind that our company is a search400
>customer - we place banner ads with them. Does this not sound like a
>form of blackmail?
>
>>Search400.com has had vendors approach us about buying search keywords
>>that are their competitors' company name or product name.  Here's a
>>fictional example --  Microsoft might buy the keywords "IBM" and
>>"AS/400" so that all user searches on these terms will result in a
>>Microsoft banner above Web results relevant to IBM and AS/400. 
>
>>This is not an uncommon occurrance on other search engines.  For
>>example, Yahoo regularly sells keyword banners associated with company
>>names to either the company or their competitors.
>
>>Before we begin to accept these orders, we want to offer you the
>>opportunity to lock up the keywords for the name of your company and
>>products.  We've developed a special vendor keyword package where you
>>can buy your company name and three of your company's product names for
>>only $250 per month. This special is effective until December 31st. 
>
>>If you're interested in taking advantage of this special offer please
>>call me or reply to this email.  We will not accept any insertion
>>orders for competitive "keyword" names until January.
>  


Jerry Draper, Trilobyte Software Systems, since 1976
Specializing in connecting PC's, Windows, MAC's, and LAN's to the AS/400
Representing Synapse, Apple, IBM, UDS, Nlynx, MI, Perle, Netsoft, etc.
(415) 457-3431; (415) 258-1658fax; jdraper@wco.com
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