{"id":2798,"date":"2008-05-21T10:38:42","date_gmt":"2008-05-21T17:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2798"},"modified":"2008-06-15T08:14:34","modified_gmt":"2008-06-15T15:14:34","slug":"memo-to-eperkscom-you-idiots-shooting-yourself-in-the-foot-in-public-is-a-poor-way-to-defend-your-reputation-such-as-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2798\/memo-to-eperkscom-you-idiots-shooting-yourself-in-the-foot-in-public-is-a-poor-way-to-defend-your-reputation-such-as-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Memo to ePerks.com: You idiots! Trying to censor a real estate weblogger is a poor way to defend your reputation — such as it is…"},"content":{"rendered":"

[I’m kicking this back up to the top. At the time I wrote this, I thought it might be enough to make the jackasses at ePerks.com<\/a> come to their senses. Apparently not<\/a>. If you are a real estate weblogger, and if you don’t want some sleazoid attorney pulling these stunts on you, you need to set your shoulder beside Vlad Zablotskyy’s and fight<\/strong> for your right to free speech. Let the world know that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. –GSS]<\/em><\/p>\n

 
<\/a>Sleazeball lead vendor ePerks.com<\/a> (corporate motto: “We don’t totally<\/i> suck because we can’t get anything<\/i> right!”) has found a great new way to respond to criticism: Censorship.<\/p>\n

Real estate weblogger Vlad Zablotskyy exposed ePerks to what by BloodhoundBlog standards amounts to very mild scrutiny<\/a>. His posts elicited a number of horror stories from Realtors who had been misused in their dealings with ePerks.<\/p>\n

So far nothing surprising. Lead vendors suck. They persist by virtue of creating an artificial marketing chokepoint, interposing themselves between consumers and the vendors who can satisfy their needs:<\/a><\/p>\n

In the Web 1.0 world, lead vendors snapped up domains and fought hard for dominance on organic and pay-per-click keywords relating to real estate sales, mortgage origination and refinancing. By these means, they harvested contact information from interested parties, which they were then able to sell to Realtors and lenders, often for enormous fees. The lead vendors created an artificial chokepoint by marketing, then charged practitioners a premium to gain access to the consumers trapped at that chokepoint.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is hardly shocking that most of the victims of lead vendors come to hate the scum who run these scams.<\/p>\n

In the long run none of this matters. The Web 2.0 world disintermediates all man-made chokepoints. ePerks.com is one with the dinosaurs<\/a> — and sic semper tyrannosauris!<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

But wait. There’s more. Instead of ignoring criticism on what is (sorry, Vlad) a low-traffic weblog, instead of asking itself “What would David Gibbons do?”<\/a>, instead of engaging the enraged while retooling the chokepoint like Homegain.com’s Louis Cammarosano<\/a>, ePerks.com chose to do the stupidest thing any corporation or government can do in the Web 2.0 world: It sent a <\/a>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[I’m kicking this back up to the top. At the time I wrote this, I thought it might be enough to make the jackasses at ePerks.com come to their senses. Apparently not. If you are a real estate weblogger, and if you don’t want some sleazoid attorney pulling these stunts on you, you need to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,24,5,19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-blogging","7":"category-disintermediation","8":"category-egoism-in-action","9":"category-real-estate","10":"category-technology","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3215,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3215\/is-eperkscoms-ben-behrouzi-infamous-for-trying-to-censor-a-real-estate-weblogger-stealing-content-from-mervyns-and-chevron\/","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":0},"title":"Is ePerks.com’s Ben Behrouzi, infamous for trying to censor a real estate weblogger, stealing content from Mervyns and Chevron?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"At his new web site, BrokerScience.com, Trace Richardson is on a tear. Trace got his teeth into the story of ePerks.com's attempts to silence real estate weblogger Vlad Zablotskyy with a cease and desist letter. Starting with an analysis of how ePerks has managed to achieve an orderly self-destruction, Trace\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3219,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3219\/support-the-vlad-zablotskyy-legal-defense-fund-a-real-estate-weblogger-is-being-throttled-by-corporate-bully-eperkscom-the-free-speech-rights-you-will-be-fighting-for-are-your-own\/","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":1},"title":"Support\u00a0the Vlad Zablotskyy Legal Defense Fund: A real estate weblogger is being throttled by corporate bully ePerks.com. The free speech rights you will be fighting for are your own…","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Update: It seems likely that Vlad's cost to defend himself from this specious claim (if you read the complaint, you will discover that the alleged offense is entirely absent from Exhibit A) is going to start with a $5,000 retainer. It seems unlikely to me that the matter will go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.paypal.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4345,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4345\/once-more-unto-the-breach-for-vlad-and-for-your-right-to-free-speech\/","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":2},"title":"Once more unto the breach for Vlad — and for your right to free speech","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The good news is that Vlad Zablotskyy is nearing the end of his legal battles with ePerks.com. As you will recall, ePerks sued Vlad to try to compel him to squelch criticism of the lead vendor. That bad news is that Vlad has had to take a night job to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.paypal.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6445,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/6445\/a-premium-appeal-for-vlad-zablotskyy-if-youll-give-200-to-his-defense-fund-well-give-you-a-set-of-bloodhoundblog-unchained-dvds\/","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":3},"title":"A premium appeal for Vlad Zablotskyy: If you’ll give $200 to his defense fund, we’ll give you a set of BloodhoundBlog Unchained DVDs","author":"Greg Swann","date":"January 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the biggest stories we followed in 2008 was Vlad Zablotskyy's legal battle with ePerks.com. The fight ended in a settlement, about which it were better for me to say nothing, but it suffices to say that ePerks has filed for bankruptcy. Working together, we raised a ton of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egoism in Action"","block_context":{"text":"Egoism in Action","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/egoism-in-action\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.paypal.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3236,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3236\/dont-hang-vlad-zablotskyy-out-to-dry-making-a-donation-to-his-legal-defense-fund-is-what-matters-most-right-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":4},"title":"Don’t hang Vlad Zablotskyy out to dry: Making a donation to his legal defense fund is what matters most right now","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's what doesn't matter:ePerks.com and its sleazy attorney are trying to slime the webloggers who have come to Vlad Zablotskyy's defense -- but it doesn't matter. Andy Beard and others are trying to push this story viral in the world outside the RE.net -- but that's ultimately beside the point.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.paypal.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3412,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3412\/bearing-the-sacred-mantle-of-insolence-in-the-parliament-of-whores-win-a-free-set-of-bloodhoundblog-unchained-dvds-in-the-just-exactly-how-dumb-are-you-realtor-scam-of-the-week-contest\/","url_meta":{"origin":2798,"position":5},"title":"Bearing the sacred mantle of insolence in the Parliament of Whores: Win one of two free sets of BloodhoundBlog Unchained DVDs in “The just-exactly-how-dumb-are-you Realtor-scam of the week” contest!","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: What's the difference between cows and Realtors? A: When they get the urge to be milked, cows don't fly to trade shows at their own expense, wandering from booth to booth with their udders out.Well. I certainly feel vindicated. The RSSPieces clusterfrolic is further proof of the advice I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}