*** Here Is A List Of Some Of The Best Domain Name Resources Available ***NEW YORK, NY – Usually when you read an article in Google News, you expect it to give you some good advice, especially when it is a reputable news website. That’s not what happened today when Google News led me to question whether or not I was even on a real news website. Rather than focusing so much on cleaning up Facebook and Twitter, maybe Google should check their own inclusion practices.
The article is on CBS News Detroit and it is called “6 Best Practices for Choosing A Domain Name For Your Small Business Website” and was published January 29, 2018. Although the site still lacks a secure certificate, it is in fact registered at MarkMonitor, Inc. to CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group so it’s authentic. I was also able to find the same exact article published the same date and time on CBS News Minnesota, so it appears they are syndicating it across their entire network.
The article which certainly blurs the lines between news and sponsored content includes the following in its closing:
A high-level domain extension [.com, .net or .org – rather than ‘dot-dance’ or dot-ca] is not more powerful than a specific extension. The choice depends on the business’s branding, audience, and business plan. It is best to choose the one that reflects the needs of the company’s marketing strategy.
How horrible; I can’t find advertorial disclosures anywhere so I guess this is supposed to be what CBS considers ‘real news’ and/or ‘smart small business advice’.
Who planted this article?
Is this what level news companies are stooping to? Sounds like a cleverly placed misinformation piece to me. Either that or someone who is giving small business advice has no idea what they are talking about. Who said operators are not out there marketing their new gTLDs? Seems like the powerful forces are indeed at work.
Dot dance? Wonderful, just what a startup small business needs in an already crowded marketplace; bad advice.
Sure; that will start their small business off on the right foot. I think Donald Trump is onto something here with all his talk about Fake News. The article, which is also accompanied by a very questionable video by “Inform”, suggests two out of three domain name registrars I’ve never even heard of and also appears to be some sort of lower quality multi-media advertisement disguised as news.
I wonder who at CBS News is behind the decision to allow planted news on their web site. Who the marketer behind this message? Did CBS host this on their evening edition? I bet they skipped it. CBS News is risking their entire publication being removed and/or banned from Google News, as it probably should be if they push this junk content.
Not Smart.
Be careful what you read out there, it’s a jungle.
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a ‘how to’ book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy brand Searchen Networks®
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