Fortune Favors The Bold

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merlin:

brianvan:

THIS IS EXACTLY THE SORT OF USEFUL COMMERCIAL INFORMATION THAT YOU SHOULD PAY FOR, AND NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT DOING SO. You’re paying, say, $2 to get research information about a FOUR HUNDRED DOLLAR APPLIANCE? You’re rich enough for the appliance, but you would complain about that $2? $2 is less than the cost of a plate to wash. $2 is less than the price of dish soap and a sponge to wash your drool-encrusted dishes by hand.

You know, you’re right, Brian Van. It’s really arrogant to complain about people gaming google for selfish reasons, Brian Van. People should pay serious dough to receive information in a clear and transparent way, Brian Van.

As you know, Brian Van, having a Page Rank 7 site takes serious link-building and keyword development, Brian Van.

I owe you an amends, Brian Van. I’ll PayPal you for the education.

(tags: Brian Van, Consumer Reports, cheap viagra, humility, Brian Van)

Hah! That was more like a schooling in SEO. You just reminded me to (get out the ruler and) check my own… and, OH GOD, it’s only a 2 for my sad personal website! It was once a 5, when I’d been a frequent Gawker commenter… and this blog is a 4, which makes me no less depressed… yes, yours is bigger, Merlin.

The original response wasn’t targeted toward you; I know you didn’t write the article. Also, my contempt was over-the-top. To be honest, I often think the same way about Google, and how information that is readily available should not be buried under mounds of e-commerce junk, and it would behoove us to think about how to penalize search-engine abusers the way we prevent marketers from going too far in meatspace (love that word). But it is very true that well-managed information systems have a cost, and we should be mindful of that cost when we use them; therefore, modest fees for information should be something we appreciate, not revile. (especially in this case, when the cost of the appliance is 8 magnitudes greater than the cost of the professional product research)