Question

Topic: SEO/SEM

Directory Website Confusion

Posted by lstevens on 6/18/2012 at 9:44 AM ET 125 Points
I work with 193 independent retailers in the home furnishings industry. One of my retailers contacted me last week very concerned that another website was showing up with his store's information in a Google search. After digging a bit we discovered that the pretender website was set up as a quasi-directory listing site.
The directory website is owned by one of the major providers of websites in the furniture industry, but the "home page" for the directory doesn't resolve (furnishingnetwork.com) when you try to go directly there. This company has directory websites in every state, as well as many fully-developed independent websites.
My problem is not that my retailer is showing up on a directory website, but that a "Contact Us" page in the directory for my unaffiliated retailer shows up in search results. (furnishingnetwork.com/NoahsHomeFurnishings/ContactUs) The link for the page doesn't resolve when clicked on, but its presence in the search results has confused at least one customer. Any recommendations? Should my retailer send a cease and desist letter?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 6/18/2012 at 10:50 AM Accepted
    You might want to get professional legal advice on this (I am not a lawyer and this post is not and should not be viewed as legal advice). A "C and D" letter might not be a bad idea. With copies sent to the site's ISP, and possibly to their domain registration agent. This way, the TOS of these third party sites might also help you resolve the issue in your favor. Do a "WHOIS" look-up on the domain and you ought to be able to find out the name of the ISP and the domain registration site. Comb through their TOS and see how the site in question might be in violation. Thus-armed, you're in a stronger position to dictate terms.
  • Posted by lstevens on 6/18/2012 at 11:40 AM Author
    Thanks to both of. you. I have submitted a problem report to the parent company website, but our next steps will be determined by their response. I have the impressions that the development got a bit ahead of itself tapping the wrong database to build the pages, and they are now trying to correct.
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