I got curious so I went back through my old email archive.
What happened was, in 2006 they started hitting me over and over with semi-automated emails on one of my cleaner blogs, begging me to join their affiliate program and blog about their product. Here's the actual blunt email I sent them after the first time they didn't take "no" for an answer:
Quote:
Serena, I've already responded to a similar pitch from your Mr. Tosch.
Bottom line -- upon trying to visit your site, I find a flash-based site -- strike one -- and can proceed no further without hitting a download button -- strike two -- from a company with no particular positive reputation -- strike three, you're out.
Nobody in their right mind allows unknown downloads, and I'm surely not going to try myself nor recommend that my readers do so. Especially when there aren't some big obvious links where people can read about your company, about the features of the site, and learn why they might want to risk the download. (The tiny little links in invisible red-on-black fine print at the bottom of the page don't count, because people can't see them.)
The adult industry is sick with malware. In this industry, you need a highly trusted brand if you want user downloads. The fact that you're apparently not conscious of that -- nor taking steps to reassure potential users -- would make anyone suspicious.
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Apparently that wasn't clear enough for them, because they pitched me again two months later, causing me to write:
Quote:
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I really wish you would remove me from your marketing spam database. This is the third pitch from you guys, but as I've twice explained, your site doesn't meet the basic safety-and-security standards necessary in the modern internet era. Please stop spamming me.
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But anyway, looking at those emails, it's not clear that their actual application was ever in Flash, that seems to have been a false memory on my part. What they had was a slow-loading Flash-based website with no actual text about their product or their company, and you couldn't find out any more until you did the download.