Early this week I began to notice the URLs of the ripoffreport.com have changed.  I covered The Ripoff Report in my post “Black Hat Social Media:  What’s Wrong with The Communications Decency Act“.  I examined the URL changes and it appears that Ed Madgeson has hired an SEO.  The changes are search engine friendly URLs which have the following structure:  /%BusinessCategory%/%BusinessName%/%ComplaintTitle%/ .  They are supported by search engine friendly redirects (301’s) from the old URLs to the new ones.  The URL changes do not appear to be simply the result of software changes; they are very well thought out.  Google seems to think so as well.

The URL changes are likely just an attempt to garner more search volume and rank higher on the company names under which reports are filed.  Google, however, seems to have missed this change as they are reindexing pages from The RipOff Report that were currently removed from their index pursuant to legal demands.  We know this because our phone has been ringing.

My question is do these purposeful URL rewrites and the SEO specific redirects around them put the site outside of the safe harbors of The Communications Decency Act?  I guess we’ll have to wait for someone to test the waters.

Since its completion, The Dallas Cowboys Stadium has hosted several events including large music concerts and world class soccer games. There is no doubt that the fan reaction to the experience is overwhelmingly positive. Still, the airwaves of Dallas have had a negative buzz with regards to homeowners and retailers whose businesses are in the general vicinity of the stadium as its arrival has changed their worlds forever. That was until I heard a marketer get smart and take advantage of the situation. That marketer was Pam Dawson of Lincoln Square Mall in Arlington, TX.

When I was given tickets to the Chelsea game at The Dallas Cowboys Stadium, I remember my thoughts as we made our way to our parking lot just outside the stadium that was made possible by a very expensive pass that was part of the package I was given. Watching people walking to the stadium for over a mile I thought, “These poor people.” Well, on any given game day, I AM THAT PERSON TOO as it isn’t often I get free box seats to a sporting event! After my experience, I really began to pay attention to the news as people complained about the price of parking for the new stadium and the local retailers began to voice concerns over what the stadium’s traffic did to their Sunday business. Pam Dawson looked at both of these situations and did something about it to create a win-win situation.

With parking fees of $75 at Dallas Cowboys parking lots and $25 city owned lots being located up to 1 1/2 miles from the stadium, Pam Dawson created an offer for customers of The Lincoln Square Mall that is a 5 minute walk from the stadium. Spend $40 at the mall, leave the receipts on your dashboard, and you can park your car in their lot for the game. Now $40 is the midpoint between the two parking alternatives outside the stadium but the consumer gets something for their money. A family can now eat before the game at food court prices versus paying the price of a hot dog at Jerry World and buy a few other things for home or personal needs. The offer has been so well received that it was picked up by NPR locally and has created word of mouth marketing.

I am sure that Pam Dawson has no where near the marketing budget that Jerry Jones does; yet, she has leveled the playing field a The Dallas Cowboys Stadium by being a smart marketer.  If you are headed to the new stadium on game day, take Pam up on her offer.  View A Map to Lincon Square Mall