What About Pre PFI Listings?

[Go60Guy]

I have a LookSmart listing that pre-dates Pay For Inclusion. Will it be dropped? I believe it would qualify for a Zeal.Com listing if I took the stupid quiz and submitted it. Should I consider doing that?

[tlacaelel]

I would wait on Zeal. I've read elsewhere that if your site exists PAID in LookSmart that the Zeal system will not allow (unpaid) submissions of that site to be published.

Anyway, the situation is still developing so don't make any rash moves. Don't activate your account and don't cancel your listing. We'll just wait to see if a mountain of pressure forces LS to cave in on this.

(I'm not at all certain, but I think this whole strong-arm product "launch" may be an attempt to cause people to sign up en-masse for CPC "Featured Listings". I suspect that both of old "Submit" listings and new "Small Business Listings" are still paid-inclusion directory submissions, and that they will continue to show up as Directory Listings after the CPC Featured Listings, on MSN and LookSmart. We'll have to see about this.)

- - -

I have received messages for two of my customers sites saying that "TRAFFIC TO YOUR LISTINGS HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY PAUSED" and that I must activate and set a monthly budget $$$ ($150 and $375) in order to continue "driving valuable traffic from the LookSmart Network" (Hah!)

**** LOOKSMART'S CEO SAYS... ****

In the last two days, I have exchanged several messages with LookSmart's CEO (Evan Thornley) and am awaiting an answer to my most recent question: "Will pre-existing listings be dropped if the owner does not activate their new Small Business Listings CPC-account?".

I gave him a laundry list of my criticisms of LookSmart's new product "strategy" ("Let's act like Bill Gates and pick our customer's wallets because we can") and their product "launch" (more like a bomb being dropped on their customers than a rocket being launched).

Mr. Thornley said this in an email yesterday:

<snip> Please see: [webmasterworld.com...] </snip>

So I have asked some followup questions and will relate the answers in this forum. Mr. Thornley did respond within hours to each of my messages.

I strongly advised him (and several other LS execs I cc'd) to read this forum, and also the forums at searchengineforums.com and ihelpyouservices.com in order to understand the raging disgust and discontent about LookSmart. Please try to keep your rants constructive so that they might be heard and understood for what their content and meaning, and not ignored for abusive vocabulary.

LookSmart must have their head in the sand if they don't realize that in a few short weeks they have instantly alienated their entire unpaid industry sales force (SEO consultants and web developers who promote LookSmart submissions to their customers).

Like all of you on this forum, I am awaiting some answers. I will certainly post any further developments about my correspondence with LS.

(edited by: Brett_Tabke)

[Brett_Tabke]

Welcome to the forums. Thanks for the post. If you could summerize the email, that would be fine.