Instant Websites and Merchant Circle Questionable Practices

Over the weekend I wrote how Merchant Circle was up to something shady. After doing more research it seems the rabbit hole goes deeper than expected.

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.

Tagged as: Ethics, Local, MerchantCircle, SEO, Shady