After buying Auction2Post I was pretty darn satisfied with my purchase. The support is great and the plugin in the best on the market. However as I outlined in my review of the plugin I felt it could use a countdown timer to be of real use. I didn’t like the idea of my content going stale and having to maintain that part, so I came up with a solution. Introducing the Auction2Post Jquery Countdown Timer.

Preview

Auction2Post Jquery Countdown Timer

This sniplet of code will display a simple countdown of how much time is left in the auction. This not only adds value to your site, but it also adds urgency for the buyer. This code is made to work right out of the box by just adding a couple blocks of code, however I have taken it to the next level for the advanced users out there. This code now supports custom display text and will even redirect the user to a specified URL if the auction has ended! I hope you enjoy it!

Basic Installation

To use this hack you need Auction2Post, Jquery and Jquery Countdown Plugin. Once you have these three plugins installed drop each of these code blocks somewhere inside your single.php template or within any wordpress loop. I am no PHP wizard so if anyone sees anything for improvement I am open to thoughts.

PHP Code Block

<?php
// Get the Ebay End Time
$key = 'a2pEndTime';
$time_array =	get_post_custom_values($key);
$endtime = $time_array[0];
 
//2009-06-25T05:16:57.000Z - Ebay Time
//new Date(year, mth - 1, day, hr, min, sec) - Needed Format		
//Split Ebay Time into Useable Pieces	
$year = substr($endtime,0,4);
$mth = substr($endtime,5,2);
$day = substr($endtime,8,2);
$hr = substr($endtime,11,2);
$min = substr($endtime,14,2);
$sec = substr($endtime,17,2);
 
//Setup for Display Text
$key = 'a2pExpireText';
$expire_array =	get_post_custom_values($key);
$text = addslashes($expire_array[0]);
// Check to see if we have custom text
	if(strlen($text) > 0){
		$expiryText = 'expiryText: \'' . $text . '\',';
	} else { // if not use the default
		$text = '<div class="ended">This Auction has Ended!</div>';
		$expiryText = 'expiryText: \'' . $text . '\',';
	}
 
//Setup for Redirect
$key = 'a2pURLRedirect';
$redirect_array = get_post_custom_values($key);
$redirect = $redirect_array[0];
// Check to see if we have a redirect
	if(strlen($redirect) > 0){
		$expiryUrl = 'expiryUrl: \'' . $redirect . '\'';
	}
?>

JS Code Block

<script language="javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
	var auctionEnd = new Date();
	auctionEnd = new Date(<?=$year?>, <?=$mth?> -1, <?=$day?>, <?=$hr?> - 5, <?=$min?>, <?=$sec?>);
	var shortly = null; //used for styling your css of ".ended" switch auctionEnd with shortly on the line below to test.
	$('#defaultCountdown').countdown({until: auctionEnd,
			 alwaysExpire: 'true',
			 layout: 'This Auctions Ends in <span>{dn} {dl}, {hn} {hl}, {mn} {ml}, and {sn} {sl}</span>',
			 <?=$expiryText?>
			 <?=$expiryUrl?>
			 }); 
});
</script>

Display the Counter

To display the counter simply paste the following div where you need it within your template.

<div id="defaultCountdown"></div>

Advanced Use

As outlined within the Auction2Post videos, you can set custom fields for each auction campaign you set up.

If you want to make use of the advanced features such as redirect or custom text to be displayed when the auction ends you need to setup each campaign to include the corresponding custom tags. (screenshot below)

a2pURLRedirect

This custom field is used in conjunction with a redirect URL. This was the most requested improvement on the Auction2Post Forums. Essentially this will redirect the user if the auction has been completed. This isn’t the cleanest redirect because it waits until the DOM is loaded instead of passing a php header. As I said I’m no PHP/Wizard but I couldn’t get it to pull the post variables outside the loop when working with thesis. If someone wants to mod this I’ll be happy to update it here.

Note: If you don’t want to use this feature, just leave it blank.

To Use this feature enter it into the Auction2Post go to the custom template section and scroll down to Custom Fields and enter the following information into the corresponding fields.

Key

a2pURLRedirect

Value

http://www.bing.com

a2pExpireText

Essentially this field was coded out of necessity. I wanted to display a specialized message based on which campaign the auction was within when it ended. In my testing this works with providing a url and encoding it into JavaScript.

To use this feature enter the information into the Auction2Post custom fields like you did in the area before.

Key

a2pExpireText

Key

<div class="ended">This Auction Has Ended! View More <a href="http://www.bing.com">Auctions Here</a>.</div>

Closing

All in all, I hope this code is of use, however I offer no warranty with it and if breaks your site I take no responsibility. I am always open to improvements so feel free to shout it out in the comments or reach me via the contact form.

As many of you know I have been building niche sites for years with a lot of success, particularly in the automotive industry, but somehow I have always strayed from the eBay monetization plan. I think it was laziness, stubbornness, and other excuses because I definitely knew about it and how great ebay has worked for some of my friends.

Past eBay Success

Finally over this past week I was talking to a friend and he was ranting about having amazing success with the eBay Partner Network with PHPBay sites for about a week to 15 days after launch when suddenly they would get “nuked.” He seemed very frustrated and asked me to look at it.

PHPBay Footprint

My friend has been consistently been pulling in $xxx monthly though eBay partner network over the past year and a half working with PHPBay. He has noticed that it has been increasingly hard to get his sites indexed. Though I have never used PHPBay, I took a look at his site and after a quick peek at his code and a quick Google search it was apparent he had a footprint problem. Lets face it PHPBay has 1,000s of users and the majority of them are newbies using the basic template so you can bet Google has figured out which sites are generated via PHPBay.

This poses a problem, if you want to continue to be profitable in the eBay business you need to get away from this footprint. This means writing your own code to interact with the eBay API.

How to Eliminate this Footprint

If you want to eliminate this nasty footprint without programming this leaves you with virtually no options until now! Enter Auction2Post. This unique plug-in goes above and beyond the plug-ins that are currently offered.

Originally when I saw the Auction2Post WordPress plug-in I was a bit skeptical. I was really torn on what to do. Build my own software using the eBay API and invest 40+ hours figure it out or buy a $79 product which might already do what I needed. Finally I decided for $79 is the same as about 2 hours of my time. So I jumped in and bought it.

Auction2Post – the Perfect eBay Plugin

Boy am I glad I went with Auction2Post. This plug-in does everything and more than I would have built for myself. Even better it completely blows PHPBay out of the water in nearly every aspect and it just is still in the 1st product release!

See PHPBay has quite a few limitations but its biggest limitation is its FOOTPRINT! There are thousands of users using PHPBay to develop eBay based sites and you bet Google has figured this out. Go ahead use PHPBay, I don’t care get your site nuked like what my friend experienced.

Auction2Post – Key Features

The key point where Auction2Post stands out is it actually uses the API to pull all of the information from relevant eBay items and builds WordPress posts based on a template YOU DEFINE! On top of that, it caches the images, to help reduce your foot print! The use of template tags allows new users to advanced users to make very dynamic websites. (Available Template Tags Below)

This gives you ultimate flexibility when it comes to designing your site the way you want. Auction2Post was built with customization in mind. Want to use a magazine theme? You can do that with Auction2Post because it utilizes WordPress custom fields! Want to display auctions in your sidebar, do it with custom fields. This feature alone brings Auction2Post to the forefront of the pack. (Custom Tag Area Screenshot Below)

Finally, Auction2Post features an automation system! That’s right, not only do you get content that makes you money but it will populate automatically. Set It and Forget It! Auction2Post will continue to deliver you with high quality niche specific content, this on top of all the other features makes Auction2Post an amazing software investment. (Screenshot Below)

Potential Improvements

Though the Auction2Post plugin is nearly a perfect dream for an advanced user there are a few things I would like to see included. The first of which is a countdown timer to display how much time is left in the auction.

Next I would like to see a feature which used a widget to pull auctions into your sidebar. That would be great for a basic user.

Finally I would like to see auto-formatting of eBay auctions. The template system is great, but it could use a couple improvements like the ability to add images throughout the content and not just above it or below it. The good news it this is planned for the next version!

Future Upgrades

Though there is room for improvement, I am positive the Auction2Post team will continue to upgrade this plugin to make it even better than it currently is. All future upgrades are included with your purchase which is great. So if I was using PHPBay and having any success I would get in on the ground floor with Auction2Post and loose the footprint. Best of all you can use the plugin on unlimited domains!

Outstanding Support

Finally Auction2Post has a stellar support team which you can always reach on the forums or via AIM. Raido does a great job helping new users get the plugin integrated into their site.

Closing

All in all, I would highly recommend the Auction2Post plugin to anyone who is interested in using the Ebay Partner Network to make money. It is the best longterm solution from both an SEO perspective and a customization perspective.

If you have tried the plugin, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

The majority of this post was written while my insomniac mind continues to mull over the MerchantCircle case. After about 45 minutes of laying in bed, sleepless I decided I might as well get my thoughts out here.

Wrong URL?

To be honest I find it puzzling how the wrong URL to many of these listings. Taking MerchantCircle’s words as truth this points to Google Algorithm. Mike Bluementhal has outlined several times how Google has been attributing the wrong URL to business. These examples point out that Google still has a large amount of tweaking to do to the Local search algorithm. Which is a major reason I am so interested in local search.

Thinking Like a Search Engine

Now when I think of SEO in general, I try to think like a search engine. In the case of attributing a website to a business, what is nearly 1 fool proof way to find out if a website belongs to a company? Well after reading Rose’s comment on Mike Bluementhals blog, it jumped out at me, The Copyright phrase.

I’m not sure if this has been discussed but if you look at nearly all websites on the web, most have copyrights. Well in the case of the MerchantCircle registered business domains, each website had a copyright symbol associated with the business name. Get that? Not just the domain name but the business name. This coupled with a nice amount of link juice and other sites from each local area linking to the domain may have attributed to “Google’s Confusion” in assigning the wrong domain to the business listing.

Thoughts?

Now I know this isn’t fool proof, and yes it could be gamed, but it would make sense. People want to claim their work and so do businesses. It is an interesting theory I would love to get some opinions on. Ideas?

Merchant Circle Instant Website

After BTS commented that these sites may have been generated via MerchantCircle’s "Instant Website" service. I began to probe deeper into my Merchant Circle account. At first I was lead to believe maybe these websites were legitimately requested by the owners, but something didn’t smell right. After all this search query shows there are about 76,100 of these sites. Merchant Circle would have to have one hell of a conversion rate. So I began researching the "Instant Website Service."

It turns out Merchant Circle indeed does have a service in which it offers to create a website. (pricing below)

The Instant Website product is merely an extension of Merchant Circle business listing. Which the consumer has control over via the MerchantCircle account management panel. However if you read the TOS (full TOS Here) closely you will see the specific terms which apply to the "Instant Website Product" are rather intense in a few areas:

• "180 day minimum commitment period. Other cancellation and editing fees may apply."
• "Merchant further understands that this product is intended as a complementary extension of their MerchantCircle listing page."
• " Any requests to transfer a domain name provisioned for the Instant Website product is subject to a $199 transfer fee."
• " Merchant further understands that MerchantCircle is the registered owner on record of each domain name and makes possible the merchant’s ongoing usage of the domain name for the duration of the merchant’s subscription period."
• "Other cancellation and editing fees may apply."

Understanding the TOS

So if I follow these terms correctly, every Merchant who uses the Instant website agrees:

• MerchantCircle Owns the domain.
• That all links will point back to the MerchantCircle site.
• To use the domain outside of MerchantCircle they must pay a hefty fine.
• They must keep the service for 6 months and if they want to cancel they may have to pay extra.

<sarcasm>Sounds like a real deal. Where do I sign up?</sarcasm>

Here is where it gets Hairy – Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole

Convinced that most sane users of MerchantCircle wouldn’t sign up for a service like I this I continued to probe deeper. As I continued to dig deeper into the search query posted at the top of the page you will find some interesting examples of "Questionable Practices." With the help of Mike Bluementhal these examples were uncovered:

Art and Faux San Jose

Earlier today Mike Blumenthal Pointed out this example in his post "What is Merchant Circle Up to Now." MerchantCircle now claims the Google OneBox for the query of the business name Art and Faux San Jose. The domain is registered to MerchantCircle however, the owner never signed up for the "Instant Website Product."

Terry Don’s Plumbing LLC

As a business owner myself, I would hate to see my competitors advertised on a domain with my company name in it. Check out the Terry Don’s Plumbing LLC search query. You will see that Merchant Circle claims not only the top 2 spots for this domain, but the top 3. In visiting www.terrydonsplumbingllc.com (nope not linking there) you will see that though Terry Don’s is listed as the first "Featured Result" his competitors are featured there as well. In trying to contact this business I was unsuccessful, however if they did purchase the Instant Website product I would be very surprised. When I called to contact them I got a call center. Guess you can’t always speak to the plumber, so I left a message.

Artistry by Athena

This case isn’t as extreme however the business owner never authorized the purchase of this domain. Query: Artistry by Athena. You will see that though MerchantCircle does not hold the top result it does however hold the 2nd result. Above Artistry by Athena’s real site.

So what is MerchantCircle up to?

It seems MerchantCircle has begun the charge on localized domain names. I.E."GenericBusinessLocalArea.com" while catching other business names in the crossfire (we’ll assume that). These locale related domains will be ever more valuable as Google continues to integrate local search results into universal search. The best part is MerchantCircle has user generated content to populate these domains quickly. As far as ranking MerchantCircle has interlinked each domain with other businesses in their locale along with each MerchantCircle.com business listing. This strategy has allowed their websites to quickly gain authority. In many examples these domains have little to no external links except from other MerchantCircle sites.

What is the Impact?

Well the affected businesses aren’t limited to the three examples listed above. The search query at the top of this post shows about 76,100 results. Now how many of those has MerchantCircle also claimed domains for without business owners permission. The next question is how will MerchantCircle use these domains. Will they use them for any other purposes besides increasing local traffic and rankings such as, trying to sell the business owners the domains at a hefty premium? It will be interesting to see.

So What About the Businesses in the Crossfire?

Well this is really a question as to whether Merchant Circle is CyberSquatting or not. It seems in that they may be in some of the cases listed above. However I am not a legal expert nor do I claim to be, but if I would Terry Don’s Plumbing I would be furious and would definitely be contacting my attorney. The sad part is that many businesses have little idea of what Local SEO entails. Furthermore, I’d bet that many don’t even know MerchantCircle is closing in on their rankings

What Can Small and Medium Businesses Do to Protect Themselves?

If you are a small to medium business and haven’t registered with Google’s Local Business Center do it now! It doesn’t take long and it is a vital step to protecting yourself against false claims on your business name. I don’t care if you don’t have a website yet, just do it. Down the road I may post a quick how-to video.

Commenter BTS

To Commenter BTS who posted on my last post, it seems that you also commented on MerchantCircle Creates Instant Websites. Does BTS stand for Ben Smith owner of Merchant Circle? Interestingly enough the ip address of the commenter points to California. I wonder… Either way I invite MerchantCircle to comment.

Thoughts, Comments, Opinions?

Have an opinion I’d love to here your thoughts on this. Let the locale domain name landrush begin – if it hasn’t already started.

Updated:

I have followed up on this post with Instant Websites and Merchant Circle Questionable Practices. Check it out.

This post outlines the finer points of the MerchantCircle issue in much better detail.

Original Post – Below

Anyone who plays in local search optimization for very long is familiar with Merchant Circle. They are an SEO powerhouse whose intentions are typically less than 100% pure. Unfortunately this pattern of shady business decision has taken on a new form.

In 2007, Sugarrae wrote a post on how Merchant Circle offered little-to-no value to end users and consumers. Within her post she wrote:

“So, basically, Merchant Circle is doing their best to rank in the search engines with the sole goal being to charge businesses to control their listing, but providing no end experience or value to the user?”

It seems she was more right than she may have known at the time.

Widespread Hijacking of Business Domains

Today while checking on some of my client’s listing I noticed something peculiar. Happening in the SERPS, for example visit this search: Rutt of Los Altos.

This is not my client, however my client’s site follows the same pattern.

Rutt of Los Altos is a cabinetry business based in Los Altos, California. Their real web site is www.ruttoflosaltos.com. However this site has not been submitted to the Google Local Business Center. So it seems someone has taken it upon themselves to register www.ruttoflosaltos.net and submit it to the Google Local Business Center. This is known as hijacking – when you register a business that isn’t yours in the Local Business Center. Once registered you can point the listing to any domain you wish via the LBC or via a redirect.

Who’s Behind this? – Merchant Circle That’s Who

A quick search of the whois records reveals (to the left) Merchant Circle as the culprit. Now lets take a look at the real web site versus the Merchant Circle Hijacked Domain. (below)

Where is this information coming from?

When you visit the Merchant Circle hijacked domain, you will notice it reflects exactly what is on the Merchant Circle Listing of Rutt of Los Altos. Except for the link to the Main Web site (which would have been nice). Further more all of the links on the site link back to the Merchant Circle Web site Check the comparison pictures below.

My Web sites? You Mean other Merchant Circle Web sites?

Finally you will notice that Merchant Circle has also listed the Hijacked Domain within “My Web sites” section of the Merchant Circle Listing adding insult to injury.

Implications from a Local Search Perspective

In the picture above you will see that Rutt of Los Altos is a real business and it has numerous citations on other sites ranging from Internet Yellow Pages to other local San Jose related sites. However, all of these situations have been applied to the Merchant Circle Hijacked Listing. Gives Google enough support to rank the Hijacked Map Listing in the SERPS higher than the real listing because the information has essentially been confirmed as “legitimate.” For more information on how Local Business Citations Work visit David Mihm’s Blog or Mike Blumenthal’s blog. They both are local Search experts and explain how citations work very clearly.

What Does this Mean for the Business Owner?

From my understanding it will be very difficult for the actual business owner to reclaim their listing once the Merchant Circle listing has been confirmed. (I would love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments.) However what is apparent is that Merchant Circle is now in control of many business listings within the Google Local Business Center. How will Merchant Circle use this? This still remains to be seen, however one this is for certain, if past actions are any representation of future actions, local business owners who are affected may have one hell of a time getting their listing back. It wouldn’t shock me if Merchant Circle even tried to charge business owners to access their own listings. I do however wonder how this ties in to the recent “Confirm Your Listing” emails I have been receiving. – More on that Later.

75,000+ Businesses Affected – Cybersquatting?

A quick search of “Powered by Merchant circle ” -”Merchant circle Marketing Advisor” -site:merchantcircle.com reveals there are about 75,700 businesses affected by this. I am not a legal expert nor do I claim to be (in fact I know very little about this subject so feel free to chime in), but from what I understand this is pretty much the definition of CyberSquatting or NameJacking since Merchant Circle is showing ads on the hijacked domain, thus profiting from the domain name. Furthermore there is a high probability that Merchant Circle may charge business owners for future access to these sites. From my perspective it the actions taken by MerchantCircle seem reckless and shortsighted. It is apparent that is move has been made to garner control of more organic search traffic and to boost MerchantCircle’s rankings, allowing them to continue to outrank many business who’s domains they have yet to hijack.

What Can Local Businesses Do to Protect Themselves?

If you own a small-to-medium sized business I highly suggest you register your business with the Google Local Business Center. It takes about 15 minutes if you activate by phone and you will have control of your listing. It would not surprise me if more companies begin to try and monopolize listings within the Google local business center in the near future. Get your business registered before it gets hijacked.

My Experience

Just to reconfirm, I do not work with Rutt of Los Altos, but I do have several listings exhibiting the same issues. In my case I never requested this service nor do I want this service applied to my listings. My listings have been listed with MerchantCircle for over a year now and we originally listed with them because the site pushed some serious link juice along with some additional exposure.

Add Your Thoughts Below

Have you had your listing hijacked? Thoughts on CyberSquatting? Let me know I want to hear what you have to say.

To-Do

Throughout my life, I have always set goals to meet specific objectives. In my experience it is a lot easier to hit a target you can actually see. So over the past few weeks I have begun brainstorming (on paper), there is just soo much I want to do, so I might as well have a copy of it. Sometimes your brain just gets cluttered, paper really helps me clear my head.

Flexibility

Currently I have the flexibility of working online, this is something I treasure. I am able to make my hours and best of all I am working for myself. Currently my company Gwun Real Estate Marketing allows me to do this while attending college, it truly has been a dream. I have also launched another internet company last summer which generates Auto Loan leads. Overall the venture has been great. My web design skills have improved drastically since 2007 when I first started blogging over at added traffic. Essentially I have realized that I want to keep this flexibility because it allows me to plan my work around my life, instead of the other way around. I foresee this being a trend for at least a few more years unless an amazing job flies my way.

Future Goals

Throughout college, I have grown a lot in nearly every aspect of my life. From business to personal to everything in between, I have begun to realize that I really enjoy working with others instead of just sitting behind a computer. After all there is a balance to everything so who knows, someday I see myself speaking or doing consulting, or ideally both.

More Posts

I hope to be here more often. We’ll see what happens. I will have a lot more time on my hands once I graduate, after all with 17 credit hours my life is pretty hectic with just that. Who knows, three more weeks
until my final spring semester is finished! Just one class this summer!

There was no doubt in my mind, that flash was the problem. Her site was indexed but only the landing page. Google and the other search engines had no idea what her site was about, because they cannot view flash. In order to fix this problem I needed to convince her that it was her “flashy” flash site that was causing her issues.

After much debate we ran into 3 key issues:

• Image protection
• Clean user interface
• Easy to Update

However there was also a draw back,her site used a proprietary templating system which had an associated monthly fee. I suggested that we move to WordPress to manage her website.

I explained that is easy to use and fairly straight forward. This would help her cut out her monthly cost and allow her to easily update the site.

To help resolve the clean user interface issue we purchased a wordpress template known as W-PhotoStudio from a template site. This theme was fairly easy to implement (needed php and css knowledge).

Finally we are left with one key point remaining. She wanted to protect her images from her previous clients. In the past there have been issues with her clients “stealing” the photos from her website and printing them. To help combat this we implemented a Jquery Plugin which would protect the images by covering them with clear 1×1 pixel. This will help people prevent people with little knowledge from stealing photos.

To help further protect her images I set up a Photoshop action to water mark her images with her logo. That way if someone stole her image and printed it at least her logo would still be present.

Over all the project was a success!

Feel free to check the site out, and if you need any Tampa Wedding Photography done please call Susan. She is great to work with.