Confucious say: “When in hole, stop digging.” – WebProWorld moderator CBP.
Since publishing my Traffic-Power article just two weeks ago, I’ve received numerous emails and phone calls from grateful Murdok readers. I’ve heard from former customers claiming they were duped, potential customers who are now reconsidering, and even a few concerned WebProWorld members wondering what Traffic-Power has to say for itself.
See what others are saying about Traffic-Power at WebProWorld.
Getting People Banned From Google Really Not That Hard…
I’ll bet Traffic-Power, like any business, wants to be well-known and achieve a reputation in the industry. Well, they’ve got a reputation now, although I’m sure it’s not the reputation they’d expected.
Do a search for Traffic-Power on Google and you’ll get a bunch of anti-Traffic-Power articles and pages. Considering Traffic-Power is a search engine optimization company this doesn’t look good to prospective clients.
Traffic-Power claims to have done nothing wrong yet it has broken many of Google’s Quality Guidelines. Traffic-Power mouseovers, some WebProWorld members say, could be considered “sneaky redirects.” Many people also claim that Traffic-Power creates “doorway” pages disguised as relevant content, although Traffic-Power defends itself by claiming the page content is relevant to visitors.
At least some of the previously mentioned claims seem to be false. Some of the sites do not appear to be banned from Google at all, as the site owners claim, according to WebProWorld moderator “cbp.”
Aaron Chronister of Ticket Solutions believes Traffic-Power is “obviously manipulating search results, no question about it. However, Google seems not to be banning the ones that just use the mouse-over redirect… I think the ones that get banned are using this in combination of hidden links, hidden text, etc…”
Even if Traffic-Power is obeying Google’s rules, its sales tactics are questionable. Sales representatives reportedly cold call customers, promising top ten listings. Refusing the services results in the potential client being greeted by rude behavior. “Well, I guess you don’t want our services and don’t want to be successful. “I’m sure I can find hundreds of others in your industry that wants to become sucessful,” a salesperson told web designer Rich Koi before hanging up on him. How’s that for professionalism?
A Traffic-Power reseller told WebProWorld members the SEO company has been honest with its clients all along. “CUItaliano” said Traffic-Power has changed its ways to be in compliance with Google’s rules. When asked to comment on the sales team, however, CUItaliano only said, “I can’t speak for Traffic-Power’s sales techniques as I don’t work for their sales team. I can tell you that our method is not cold-calling, but instead face-to-face meetings.”
When Google began better enforcing its quality rules, many Traffic-Power clients claimed their sites were dropped from the search engines and only Traffic-Power was to blame. I called Traffic-Power to get the company’s side of the story. After being shuffled back and forth through various departments, I could find no one willing to comment. Finally, I was told that I was being transferred to a technician but after waiting on hold for fifteen minutes I hung up. Employees and resellers have also refused to return my voicemails or emails. So, if Traffic-Power does have anything to say in its own defense, it certainly wasn’t willing to say it to me.
Back at WebProWorld, CUItaliano stated, “I don’t want this to become some type of witch hunt. And I want people to know this isn’t some fly-by-night company. It looks like we [Traffic-Power] caught a snag or ruffled some feathers at Google. OK, we have to deal with it, but to some of you coming off like we’re a bunch of hoaxsters selling ]the secret to eternal life’ just to make a quick-buck, it’s a little unsettling…”
Nevertheless, “the SEO must be accountable for their actions like any other business,” Dave Hawley points out, “if they are to be reputable.”
If you missed the original Traffic-Power Insider Report you can read it here.
You may also join the informative Traffic-Power discussion at WebProWorld, the Murdok e-Business forum.
Brittany Thompson is an administrator for WebProWorld.com and contributes to the Insider Reports with her regular articles and interviews.
