Optin Accelerator – Are You Kidding Me?
Posted by: John The GeekI wasn’t planning on taking a look at Optin Accelerator because I’m not currently in a buying mode. I’m focusing my energies on a couple of specific tasks that I want to accomplish, so I’m not involved with the current frenzy of affiliates pushing this latest be-all-end-all marketing tool.
Well, I got an email from Mike Filsaime which had to do with his Viral Friend Generator software (which I use) and how Optin Accelerator is not only better, but will soon have a plugin that lets the two applications work together. So, I figured I’d go watch the video and see what OA is all about.
OA is a pretty cool idea on the surface of it. Basically, you install it on your web site, point your prospects to it and they are expected to dump their entire contact list into your database. Still a nice idea (for you) because people tend to have lots of contacts and you get maybe a couple hundred potential contacts instead of 3 or 5 or whatever you’ve set up your Tell-A-Friend page to ask for.
So, what’s wrong with this picture? First of all, this idea isn’t new, it’s been around at least 6 months in the form of another very similar application called UltraRefer. Obviously, this dude has done a much better job of public relations/marketing than the UltraRefer folks. More power to him and too bad for them.
I have a lot more problem with the basic concept of somebody coming to my web site and giving up their entire contact list to plug my site. Why? Because they have to give me their email user ID and password so my site, via Optin Accelerator, can go download all their contacts! Are you kidding me? People are really that naive and/or stupid?
Maybe I’m just getting to be a cranky old computer geek, but it just amazes me that somebody would give up their ID and password to a site the owner of which they don’t know from Adam. Not only that, they’re going to spam their entire contact base with news of my site/product? Even the most naive can’t believe that everybody on their contact list will be as excited about it as they are. At least with Viral Friend Generator, and similar applications, the user has to actually decide whether the people she’s referring will give a rat’s keister about what she’s referring.
It’s one thing when a site like MySpace is doing it, although there’s certainly the potential for abuse there, too, but when anybody can pay $97, grab a copy of OA, put it up on a web page, tweak the page a tad to save off the ID and password, not to mention all those email addresses, and use them for whatever purpose they wish, it’s enough to give even a modestly paranoid computer pro like myself heart palpitations. This is exactly the kind of thing amateurs do in their blithe ignorance of black hat thinking. Just because it doesn’t occur to the authors of these applications that it might be used for less than honorable purposes doesn’t mean someone else won’t think of it.
I hope the authors and promoters of OA make a ton of money. They’re going to need it to defend the lawsuits that are sure to occur when someone does take their product and use it with malice.
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4 Responses to “Optin Accelerator – Are You Kidding Me?”
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March 13th, 2008 at 3:00 am
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Jason Whitmen
March 16th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Not to mention you can get very similar functionality from a freely available product.
March 21st, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Hey John,
I actually found you from the product review and you bring up some great points. Many will read the sales page and watch the video and say…”That’s the tool I need to make it in the Internet Marketing world.”
But to your point, people giving out their info is crazy. In addition to all the spam that it is going to create. If I add my friends to this, I’ll get a lot of nasty emails from them.
People should read your thoughts. They are good points.
Greg
March 19th, 2009 at 9:55 am
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