Forum Moderators: buckworks
I posted on 20th July I was going to try out the service - well, I did, but to be honest completely forgot to post my experiences of it. However, someone stickied me about it, so i thought i'd add my feelings. The original thread is now closed, hence the new thread.
It's not so simple to say it did or didn't work, because on the site I tried it, there are people from various time zones, and so for a large amount of people it was always 'yesterday' on the date checked - especially as it was often quite a few hours in the day even on Pacific time before the icon was updated.
And for some of the customers I spoke with, they weren't happy that it hadnt been checked that day. I think by bringing the issue of safety up by having a huge logo and then saying essentially it hadnt been checked that day was worse than not checking it at all.
however, I know that some US customers were very happy to see it, so it's by no means a definite no.
Where I think the service would be vastly improved is to go from every day to every four hours or so - and display that time (and in the relevant time zone if possible) on the icon. If that was brought in, I'd sign up again straight away.
If one of these services like Hacker Safe became a household name for security I think it would be more helpful. Like if they advertised to consumers telling people what their certification meant because very few non-retail people even know probably.
By the way, thanks for taking the time to post up your findings.
Jim
if you're going to bring up security issues, you have to then completely reassure customers, which is why I think you need more information to show WHY it is safe, and that's why a frequent check of every three/four hours, and with the precise time of the check displayed. That information is available to the subscriber of scanalert, but if it was displayed to the customer, I think that would be much more reassuring.
it's actually something Microsoft could probably get into with little difficulty and would assist with their desired image of security consciousness.
thanks also for following up - we could all probably do more of that...
from the sound of it, you haven't stuck with scanalert. did you just do a 30 day trial? was there any change at all in your conversion rate?
i have read a couple of studies that showed double digit increases in conversion rate - obviously you didn't experience that or you would have stayed with the program...
i just started my 30 day trial this week - will endeavor to report back... for now, based on 2 day's data, my conversion rate is up 7%
it's actually something Microsoft could probably get into with little difficulty and would assist with their desired image of security consciousness.
ie. if your conversion rate was 2%, a double digit increase would be 2.1% not 10%.
Personally, I think having a real address (no PO #) and a Toll Free number would have a far greater impact on Trust, than those Trust seals.
yes, a 10% increase in conversion rate would be from 2.0% up to 2.2%
ScanAlert is just another company set out to sell air and brainwash people into thinking their service is something neccissary when it isn't.
The sad part is the webmasters that are shelling out the cash for this when they can make a little button themselves for free. Same results.
Please don't buy into junk like this. You are only helping to spread FUD. It only confuses people and misleads them as it does not gaurantee any protection.
He's like, "Don't you work on the web? How come you don't know about that?"
My response is, "I'm not a merchant, it's not an issue I deal with."
Although not a merchant, I am an internet consumer. I purchase everything from baby shoes to several thousand dollars worth of window treatments. The number one thing that makes me feel better about shopping anywhere is when there's a physical address and phone number.
If I'm walking down a lonely street at night, I start to miss the cops. When I'm shopping online, I never miss HackerSafe. As a consumer, I don't miss them when they're not around.
They're trying to turn that around with the TrustWatch thing. The ScanAlert site is up to a PR 8 because of all the sites linking back to them with their HackerSafe logo. Many of the top merchants participate in their scheme.
I told him that I never said I did or I didn't and I have no comment on the matter because I do not discuss my security with strangers. :)
Anyway, I don't have to meet PCI compliance and I suggest others to read the requirents for having to meet that compliance before believing ScanAlert salesmen.
I think I will start advertising "Identity Theft Free Website" buttons for $2400 a year. That is the latest buzzword that clueless company executives would shell out some cash for. :)
