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I have been using press releases over the past several months to highlight some major changes that are happening in my company. I have used PrWeb a couple of times as well as Transworldnews. I am also looking into using other services such as prlog.org, eworldwire.com and www.fprc.info.

PrWeb definitely positions itself as the premium service. They charge $200 per release, which is certainly premium and much more than the other services. They do offer a lot of features and have positioned themselves as the authority.

But when I used them to put out a press release regarding the launch of our new website, the release was immediately scraped by PR-USA, a service out of Bulgaria that specializes in scraping (stealing) content and attributing it to themselves. And they are good at scraping (effective, but they suck). Their scraped press release stole the show on Google and the PRweb release was nowhere to be found.

No one has control over Google and I didn’t expect PRweb to flick a switch and make the scraper site go away. But I did talk to their customer service team to raise the issue, especially since one of the main points of the release was “Made in the USA.” A press release from Bulgaria doesn’t exactly help.

PrWeb customer service was apologetic and very nice and suggested I put in a ticket with their product management team to elevate the concern. So I did. The response back was amazing. The product management team didn’t even acknowledge the problem and gave me a bit of a sarcastic reply. Hmmm…a defensive product management team that won’t admit mistakes…sounds familiar.

Here’s part of Chris’ reply from PrWeb:

Again, if your goal is to get your release far and wide on the Internet, then other organizations finding your press release and reposting it is a good practice for you. It just gives you more exposure. If for whatever reason that is not your goal, then perhaps you may want to reconsider posting them on the World Wide Web.

He said, “World Wide Web”.

Gee, thanks Chris. As a seasoned snarkmaster myself, I wasn’t amused. I ended up calling Chris “smarty pants” in my reply and that’s when the management stepped in and offered a sincere reply to my original concerns (i.e. - they’re getting scraped and they don’t like it). Perhaps I will use PRweb again in the future, but for now I can’t justify the expense. Just because something costs more doesn’t mean it comes with higher quality.

I knew there were smiley faced spiders in Hawaii and other exotic places, but I didn’t know we had them in Georgia. This little guy was about 3 mm wide. Just after I shot this picture he pounced on a flea beetle. I wish I had been shooting video.

I made a really long post about this last week and my Internets went down and my post was lost. Recreating that post is already making me ache so this will likely be considerably shorter.

Back in a previous post, I brought up the fact that Google was rewarding off-topic link bait as if it were legitimate content and that has caused poor, low quality websites to get a higher ranking. My argument was that being silly or provocative ALONE should not have a positive effect on search engines toward the ranking of your site. Apparently Google is going to take a deeper look at how they reward, or punish, ‘deceptive’ link bait.

Just to clarify, I really love the tools that Marketleap offers and it was easy for me to link to them because they add value. Rex Swain has an awesome http header reader that I use, so he deserves quality links. However, people who make fun of FT 2.0 clowns or make ingratiating, off-top videos that have nothing to do with their website, should not get a Google bump as a result.

Think about it, everyone has been to a garage and seen the calendars with the women in bikinis. Well, if you grew up in Tennessee you have. At any rate, a picture of Tricia Helfer sitting on a Chevy Nova will not make a better car, although it will look much nicer. If Consumer Reports were to give the Chevy Nova a higher performance rating based on the attractiveness of Ms. Helfer, then one would certainly question the quality of the Consumer Reports rating system. In the same respect, Google should not reward websites for off-topic gimmicks that merely make someone look.

Maybe they’re catching on.

Many people that I know would totally disagree with me, but I think baseball is the perfect sport. There is no clock, for one. No one player can make the team win - it takes the whole team. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes it rains. And as “slow” as some people say the game is, the actual action of the game is extremely fast. As someone who has had the stitches of a baseball branded into his skin on more than one occassion, I can say this is true with absolute certainty.

It is a rare moment when a ‘no hitter’ is achieved at any level. It is hard enough to pitch a full game. Pitching a full game and not allowing a hit is an incredible feat. When it happens in the Majors, it is very rare indeed. But when it is achieved by a cancer survivor, it becomes inspirational.

Having had two close friends recently diagnosed with cancer, it is a constant reminder that life is very fragile. It is great to see people not only survive this horrible disease, but to thrive in spite of it. Way to go, Mr. Lester!

After reading this story, (thanks M) I realize I should have invented this sooner.

“He told officers he had an itch on his back and grabbed the first thing he could get a hold of, which was a revolver,” Lt. Dean said. “The gun went off.”