Since we’re heading into a long weekend and some of us will have a little extra time to spend relaxing, I thought I’d share an eye popping story from the NY Times I recently happened upon that was published last November. It’s an entertaining read that’s well worth spending 20 minutes on, and the premise of the column is counter intuitive to a principle we have come to find acceptable in driving traffic to an ecommerce site and building consumer loyalty.
Here’s the gist. Quality customer service has become an integral part of enterprise ecommerce, and large online retailers regularly sound the trumpet when it comes to high marks in customer satisfaction. So why is it that one business owner would embrace severe verbal attacks and a heavy dose of intimidation bordering on violent threats as his approach to customer service? Because it earned him great page rank in Google.
Besides being a fascinating story, this article highlights the fact that it’s hard not only for consumers to identify bad sites who conduct shady business, but it’s also difficult for search engines to distinguish between genuine and malicious retailers.
I’m not sure if you’ll think the same way, but by the time I was finished reading I couldn’t help but believe that the unconventional business man from the story had not only succeeded in manipulating customers and a major search engine to improve his page rank, but that he maybe even duped the NY Times in order to get some press. I’ll let you decide.
Enjoy the long weekend.
—Jared—
Jared Matkin is a staff writer for HotWax Media with a background in PR, Branding and Marketing. He’s also a light-hearted and an opinionated character who will join other HotWax Media employees and advisers in periodically posting his thoughts on topics ranging from enterprise eCommerce to business and technology.
