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Flogs: The Newest Epidemic to Hit the People Search Industry

Blogs are a great way to stay abreast of many issues by hearing from people from all over the world. As more and more people turn to blogs to get their news, seedy companies are turning these vessels of free speech into forums for free advertising. With the people search industry taking off due to numerous factors including better search technology and more economical services, companies with loose morals are publishing more fake people search blogs than ever before.

Due to their design sophistication and what appears to be legitimate news content, it is often difficult to tell if you are viewing a “real” people search blog or a fake blog or “flog”, masquerading as a legitimate news source. Therefore, People Search News has provided a list of guidelines to help you determine if what you are reading is unique, educational and original content or merely a forum for stealth advertising.

Title: Generic blog titles may be an indicator that you are viewing a flog. Blogs titled “Background Check” or “Free Background Checks” seem to be rather poor choices of titles. Additionally, titles such as “Los Angeles People Search” or “Florida People Search” are trying to cash in on local supporters and should be viewed with much scrutiny. However, to flog companies, these titles are a dream come true because they show up in search engines. Therefore, try to stick to blogs with titles that appear to be a little more thought out like “Dave’s Background Check Blog” or “Class of ’58, Elk Grove High School Blog.”

Link Mania: If the blog that you are viewing is completely filled with links to spam sites like “free background checks”, “find anyone, instantly” or other such blatant advertising, then you may have stumbled upon a flog. It is one thing to have advertising on a blog as blog owners need money too. However, when a blog is more links than actual articles, you know you have a problem.

Identifying Information: If you spent countless hours making something perfect, wouldn’t you want others to know you did it? Apparently, the answer is “no way” for most flog owners. Most quality blogs will have their owner’s biographical and contact information proudly displayed on their sites. Conversely, most flogs will have little or no descriptive or contact information on the flog’s owners. This lack of personal identification with their blog shows that the typical flog owner really doesn’t want to be involved with the blog community.

Design: If you are viewing a blog that seems to have been put together in a matter of minutes, you probably are viewing a flog. Most blog owners take pride in customizing their blog designs and try to make them as esthetically pleasing as possible. That said, flog owners are not concerned with the appearance of a blog but rather if it shows up well on search engines and converts on sales. Thus, a flog may contain the phrase “free people search” hundreds of times on a single page if it is getting the flog owner results.

Article Content: Well crafted, topical articles are not suitable for flogs. Neither are relevant clippings from reputable news sources. Article titles such as “Free Criminal Searches” or “Find Classmates, Instantly” need to be avoided by blog readers looking to learn more on people searching. Therefore, if the blog you are reading contains extremely short, poorly written or keyword heavy articles, chances are that you have been “flogged.”

Dec 29, 2006

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