From FransFranticMarketing Skype Room where the fires of emotion were stoked
It was an interesting session, there is no doubt about that. What
started as an emotional tirade against PayPal, settled into a fairly
reasonable discussion of issues that could be feeding ammunition to
PayPal Acceptable Use Policy.
Examples: How not to please everyone.
Back when I first started, there were billboard ads that were not in
the best acceptance by anyone. There were the hot emotional reactions
to them much like there is to PayPal today.
There was the FFA – host not post advertising platform. To run it,
you created its own one or two-page site. Advertisers using FFAs
soon learned what a poor bargain it was.
Then there were the safe lists. Again, owners set up sites to create
a good reaction to their need to use and support them.
Each of these advertising platforms arose from the one that came
before. From the lack of satisfaction and the fact, improper use
could get you shut down period.
Group mailers came on the scene and they too became an issue of
misuse and spamming.
If you, as a member, were to abuse the privilege and spam, then the
company you represented could be shut down period.
Those were the days when you learned how to become a super great
email writer.
Summary: In each of the above cases, these forms of advertising
were separate entities, each with their own sites and terms of service.
Who was the first Traffic Exchange?
Everyone who dates back to the early times would love you to believe
they were first kids on the block.
Keep this in mind. NONE of them were first.
Traffic Exchanges date back to the beginning of the web and were
primarily used by organizations to share sites between employees.
Viewers would rate pages similar to the current social media idea
of like and not so liked.
Circa 1994 traffic exchanges moved from corporate intranets to the
web. (my first recollections of similar based TEs was in 1999 when
the Late Doug Williams got taken to task over one of his examples of
a TE tied to the intranet model.(if anyone has dates to support this
time and issue, please send them to me?)
The point is, this was the beginning of the change from corporate intranets
to public web.
In 1996 traffic exchanges began to charge for traffic. What that new
roll signified is the change from the original – locating interesting sites
to commercializing traffic exchange sites.
Summary: What is important here, is this may be where Search
engines like Google came in and kept up the finding of interesting
sites and where the trouble with Traffic Exchanges today, still rests in
the concept they went commercial.
Note** the argument in Frans frantic marketing skype room varied on
business models of product vs service and the lack of a physical
product. No part of the arguments realized Traffic Exchanges are
locked in by history as a commercial business model.
NOTE** Historically, eBay relies on Text Links to sell and with multi
billions in sales do very well.
PayPal Assessment as to why they are legal: Paypal will only say it
has physical items they are selling not just advertising they are
providing an item, not a service.
For all intents and purposes here, the eBay business model falls under
the position of commerce.
Summary: eBay uses text ads for and by themselves. Their business
model agrees with the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy. There is one and
one only advertising platform involved.
That simplifies the terms of service, which I am sure eBay attaches to
their business model. If eBay or others such as Pinterest or Facebook,
offer add space as part of their business model, do they have the right
to charge/sell that space to you and I for a fee? Certainly. That is the
normal part of a commercial business model.
I have a question that needs investigating – Does the advertising
platform fall under the category of a service or product? Or is it a
product only when used to determine a true commercial business
model?
Why does Google Adsense disallow the use of Adsense on Traffic
exchanges?
Back to the way The TE Industry has changed …
On comes auto surfs. This practice splits the TE business model as it
is mainly used to inflate the total number of site hits where the traffic
exchange model is to increase their site visit ratio.
Now with all of the above-mentioned advertising platforms, what
becomes of the true Traffic Exchange advertising platform when
owners decide to incorporate more than one specific acceptable form?
Of course, that is the privilege of the owner to do whatever they wish
with the Traffic Exchange, mailer etc etc.
However, choices also bring you under legal statute and that means
PayPal if that is your current payment processor [or any other payment
processor for that matter].
It is their right to determine if you fit into the qualifications of their
mandate. Thus emotional reaction will not suffice to clear any
limitations they set upon your business.
It will take a stout heart and a determined path to clean up the
attitude of trying to please all markets and settle into one you are
quite capable and prepared to work.
Good Luck
Fran
© 2016, Fran Klasinski. All rights reserved. on republishing any parts of this post, you must supply a link to the original post
