Looking To Monetize Consumer Comments? Here’s A Really Bad Idea For How To Do It
Written by Evan SchumanMay 16th, 2010
With thousands of customer comments being posted on products on many of the largest retail sites, the temptation can be quite strong to try and find a way to monetize that information, beyond merely enjoying stronger product sales.
But one very popular news community—called Topix—tried an impressively horrible idea and got slapped down for it by the attorneys general of 23 states and U.S. territories.
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One Comment | Read Looking To Monetize Consumer Comments? Here’s A Really Bad Idea For How To Do It
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Readers, specifically those who want to comment on a story:
Our Comment SPAM system is getting very aggressive these days and has been blocking legitimate comments. If you post a comment and don't see it appear within 2 hours or so, can you please send a heads-up to customer-service@storefrontbacktalk? Ideally, please include the time you posted the comment. That will allow us to try and hunt for it. Thanks! P.S. We're working on fixing the system, but we don't want to lose any valuable comments in the meantime.
Our Comment SPAM system is getting very aggressive these days and has been blocking legitimate comments. If you post a comment and don't see it appear within 2 hours or so, can you please send a heads-up to customer-service@storefrontbacktalk? Ideally, please include the time you posted the comment. That will allow us to try and hunt for it. Thanks! P.S. We're working on fixing the system, but we don't want to lose any valuable comments in the meantime.
-Ed
May 21st, 2010 at 10:10 am
Why did Topix stop there, with just one level of payment, a $19.99 charge for “priority review”?
A system of tiers could be implemented:
No fee – When you have a chance please look in to this matter and evaluate whether this possibly offending comment can be removed
$19.99 – “priority review” (whatever that means)
$29.99 – I really need this to be removed as soon as possible
$99.99 – GET THIS COMMENT REMOVED IMMEDIATELY! Among other things, my spouse, family and friends really DO NOT need to read spurious allegations of my infidelities, hiring undocumented workers and fixing junior high school basketball games.
A similar system could be implemented in the corporate world. When a sign off on a project plan is needed by a controller or some other muckety muck, and you know that it can’t wait several days for approval, just pay your $100 bucks and get it bumped to the front of the queue. The folks at topix.com are on to something.
On another note, never really looked at Topix.com before, there’s something to the old adage that “any publicity is good publicity”