29 Nov 2004 | Steve Yaeger said...

It's strange you just posted this. Just last Wednesday my partner, who signed our company up for a SurveyMonkey account, pointed this out to me. We couldn't decide if it was quiet confidence, or just dumb marketing. I'm still not sure. But we did look at some other sites and still chose SurveyMonkey, for what it's worth.

29 Nov 2004 | Jeff said...

It's tough to tell if that's confidence. I want to say it is, but then again, they might just be copying hosting companies (and of course others...) that show competitor's prices and the like. I think it is likely poor marketing though. Just a gut feeling.

29 Nov 2004 | Duj said...

I like the idea. It may be risky marketing, but I think I does convey some confidence. Most people likely browse 3-4 other company sites before they choose anyway. I don't think including your competitors invites customers to go elsewhere. Most people are too busy/lazy to compare them all anyway.

29 Nov 2004 | kelby said...

what a fantastic idea.. still cant figure out why though.

29 Nov 2004 | YoungHistorians said...

I took the time to visit most of the sites on that list, and all have some type of similar "We will beat any competitors price-just email us" quip.

Couldn't there be some potential for hijacking here?

29 Nov 2004 | karl said...

I think it's useful in that, regardless of your visitors seeing it as idiocy or genius, if they -believe you- that those are your competitors, you've at least framed the conversation and provided them with a list that you'd like to see in their cost/benefit chart when they compare you -vs- the competition.

29 Nov 2004 | Michael Spina said...

That's a good point. It puts them in control (at least to some extent) of your comparison shopping.

29 Nov 2004 | Sigh... said...

But they make me do all of the comparison work.

29 Nov 2004 | Bill Brown said...

Isn't this what Progressive Insurance has been doing for years?

29 Nov 2004 | Charlie said...

Naming consultants 100 Monkeys (now Igor, I think) did this years ago. It struck me as genius then. I'm still impressed with it. I don't know if Igor does it or not.

I liked "100 Monkeys" more than "Igor" (as a name) anyway.

30 Nov 2004 | Justin French said...

I think it's a great start, but like "Sigh...", they could go a few steps further and do all the comparisons for me in some kind of chart. Not only would I be impressed with their honesty and confidence, I'd also save myself a truckload of time. I'd do a quick check of their facts, and sign-up immediately. Great stuff.

03 Dec 2004 | bf said...

from a usability standpoint, yes, they could do more. but i think this is a fairly used technique intended to improve a site's search engine ranking. The idea being that Google looks favorably on links to related sites (your site is a source of information and not just a place to sell your services), and you can assume that your potential clients are going to find most of these other sites with or with out your links.

So, if I want to create an online survey, I might start with what Google lists first.

Poor marketing? nope.