True.com Gets Publicity, but Is it Worth the Price?
I’ve been reading press releases from True.com for months now about True.com’s attempts to get states to pass laws requiring Internet dating sites to conduct criminal background checks. Evidently, the plan has yet to succeed, but True.com’s efforts have certainly gotten them press. And as we know, any press is better than no press at all. An article today on News.com by Declan McCullagh sheds more light on the shenanigans.
If you don’t know it already, the Internet dating market is getting fiercely competitive. More than 850 now compete for your business. There’s money to be made from all you singles out there, and the dating sites are trying desperately to come up with a marketing edge that will help each to stand out from the crowd of others.
True.com came up with a dandy plan: compatibility testing (think eHarmony), criminal background checks, and a message on the home page of “Married People will be Prosecuted.” Think “paranoia.” Nothing like scaring people to get them to part with dollars. And nothing wrong with that. It’s a good gimmick. But what I really had problems with is True.com’s using attempts to legislate. McCullagh’s article points out the effects the legislation would have, and it doesn’t sound good to me—and while you are reading the article, take a look at the first comment posted in response—from Dan Vest—related to True.com’s owner Herb Vest perhaps?
True.com, use what you have come up with to tout your site’s advantages, but lay off the attempts to smack other sites through legislation. It’s a cheap trick to get publicity and you know it. It feels slimy, and slimy techniques tend to stick to the initiator.
