Search Engine News Discuss Anyone looking into tyBit.com yet? in the vBulletin SEO Tips and SEO Questions forums; I just read an article that sounded very positive for tyBit.com If you were one of the millions of people to scroll by tyBit | Unified Search in the last ...

[ArnyVee]

I just read an article that sounded very positive for tyBit.com

If you were one of the millions of people to scroll by tyBit | Unified Search in the last few months, then you probably know all about “tyBit man,” the unified search method and tyBit’s unheard of commission plan. If you weren’t one of those visitors, you’d better play catch up quickly, because tyBit is revving up to take off fast.

In mid-June, tyBit announced the first production release of the long-anticipated tyBit search engine and toolbar. The innovative new search system is on schedule for a third quarter 2008 release, when partners, affiliates and advertisers will be able to sign up and begin using the application for profit. This release will be the culmination of months and months of steadily increasing buzz, during which tyBit has been tested, researched and further pushed toward the goal of tyBit founder and CEO Clarence Briggs and his top crew of programmers, designers and marketers.

The research staff at tyBit collected both qualitative and quantitative data throughout tyBit’s six months of beta testing, and they’ve reported spectacular growth. In May 2008, tyBit searches hit an all-time high of 3.8 million, up from 3.2 million in April. According to tyBit general manager Kitti Jo Finch, “The site didn't really go live until November 2007, and, in six months, it has achieved double-digit growth in terms of searches and traffic. I think it’s very clear now that we will be a serious player in the search space market.”

One of the many reasons why consumers, Web hosts and competition alike should take tyBit so seriously is because of its highly lucrative PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ad module. “We have 6,000 advertisers using our PPC module in beta alone,” says Finch, who expects to see a serious reaction to the affiliate advertising program once tyBit hits the market. In a lot of ways, tyBit can be likened to an underground rock band. The audience starts out small, but, as word of mouth grows, so does the fame. In the same way, the whole Internet community is slowly catching wind of what’s sure to be an amazing opportunity. And while tyBit may never sell out The Garden, it still might compose the next big hit in the search engine industry.

http://www.opportunityworld.com/Inde...ticle&PID=7441

....sounds good, doesn't it?

[Caddyman]

i just applied to their affiliate program, we will see what happens

[ArnyVee]

Me too.

In the article it states that they should pay out well. We'll see.

[ArnyVee]

Thank you for your recent request to become a tyBit Search Affiliate. Your application is under review and you will receive our decision within approximately 72 hours of your submission date.

In the unlikely event that you do not receive our response, please be sure to check blocked or bulk mail message within your mail client.

If you have not yet done so please download the latest version of tyBit FREE at:
tyBit | Unified Search | Downloading tyBit

Thanks again for your time and interest.

Sincerely,

tyBit
Customer Services
1.877.404.7250
g7@tybit.com

[Brandon Sheley]

hmm,, I'll check it out
let us know what you all think of it

[Brandon Sheley]

*btw, moved the thread to the search engine news section since it's about search engines *

[ArnyVee]

Sounds good to me Brandon.

[ArnyVee]

WOO HOO!

Dear Arnold Varona,

Congratulations!

Your tyBit Search Affiliate submission has been approved and you are just a few steps away from earning up to 40% commissions on your website(s).

Now, we'll see how it goes from here.

[Caddyman]

i just got mine too, man that is a looong email they send out, thought it was gonna crash my my blackberry...lol

[ArnyVee]

I can't remember my friggin' password, so I have to reset it.

I'll take a look into this tomorrow.

[Soliloquy]

Let us know how it goes, especially if you really do get a big payout

[Caddyman]

if you look at TalkDelaware's homepage, the "Search HERE!" box is the tybit affiliate search. I'll see how it goes.

[Caddyman]

I will say one thing here, once you actually get logged into your affiliate "dashboard" the affiliate pages are SLOOWW loading. screenshot

[ArnyVee]

Chase, you just added a module with the code in it, right?

[Caddyman]

yeah, i HAD a google search in there, just replaced it in the template to see how it goes.

[Mike54]

Originally Posted by Caddyman

I will say one thing here, once you actually get logged into your affiliate "dashboard" the affiliate pages are SLOOWW loading. screenshot

You mean you actually managed to get logged in? I've tried a couple times and got tired of waiting.

[Caddyman]

Well im workin so it can load for a hour while i work....lol

but ti did take a solid 5 minutes after a few hangs and refreshes....

[Soliloquy]

Slow site is bound to be annoying, but the real question is how fast do the searches for the users themselves go?

[glennybee]

Just signed up, thanks.

So how can you make money from a search engine? What do you get a percentage of?

[Soliloquy]

I think you get a cut of the clicks on the sponsored ads in the results.

[Caddyman]

I tried tybit for a few days after getting into their affiliate program, im just so used to google that i had to go back. i also am now running davidw's integrated search hack

[smccoy]

Originally Posted by Mike54

You mean you actually managed to get logged in? I've tried a couple times and got tired of waiting.

Hi All,

We apologize for this issue and have rapidly made modifications which should improve login speeds. Based on the dates of your posts, most of the issues do seem related to a consolidation of several login systems into a single sign-on during our beta period.

We look forward to providing our users, advertisers, and search affiliates with the best service available and hope you will continue to use tyBit and provide us with valuable feedback.

With Kind Regards,

Sean A McCoy
Chief Marketing Officer
tyBit, Inc.
tyBit | Unified Search
smccoy@tyBit.com

[ArnyVee]

Sean, I tried to e-mail for support because I was having trouble logging in and received no responses.

I saw the article and tried to pass on the information, but it seems like we aren't getting the support that we're looking for. Hopefully we can get some work done to get us to a point where we aren't having some of these basic issues such as logging in and wait times on the load of the pages.

Arnold
Arny@waltdisneyboards.com

[smccoy]

Originally Posted by ArnyVee

Sean, I tried to e-mail for support because I was having trouble logging in and received no responses.

I saw the article and tried to pass on the information, but it seems like we aren't getting the support that we're looking for. Hopefully we can get some work done to get us to a point where we aren't having some of these basic issues such as logging in and wait times on the load of the pages.

Arnold
Arny@waltdisneyboards.com

Arnold,

Thanks for your feedback. I have requested that our support personnel contact you immediately to determine how we can assist you.

I am proud to report that we have corrected the slow login issue and as of the date of this post everything appears to be blazing fast In the event you require assistance or need to escalate an issue please feel free to contact me directly at:

smccoy@tyBit.com
910-321-1209

Thanks,

Sean McCoy
Chief Marketing Officer
tyBit, Inc.
tyBit | Unified Search

[mischa]

Beware of tybit poaching your domain if you host with AIT. They redirect 404 page not found errors to a Tybit page where they even listed my domain as available for sale. Tybit loves to advertise themselves as click fraud free but how can that be when they claim the redirects as page views?

All emails asking about this have been ignored.

You can avoid the Tybit page if you set up a custom 404 page in your conf file and comment out or erase the Tybit lines..

[smccoy]

Originally Posted by mischa

Beware of tybit poaching your domain if you host with AIT. They redirect 404 page not found errors to a Tybit page where they even listed my domain as available for sale. Tybit loves to advertise themselves as click fraud free but how can that be when they claim the redirects as page views?

All emails asking about this have been ignored.

You can avoid the Tybit page if you set up a custom 404 page in your conf file and comment out or erase the Tybit lines..

Mischa,

First allow me to apologize for any unfavorable experience you have had regarding tyBit.

As you stated on the matter of 404 pages, customers who do not desire 404 redirection can simply change this at anytime via the servers configuration files. Our establishment of 404 redirection is intended to serve as a benefit to site visitors providing them the ability to search for a needed resource when an error is produced. Additionally, from the advertisers perspective this gives yet one more opportunity to be seen by a potential prospect or buyer.

On the matter of click fraud, it is important to note that none of the search results or redirects produced within tyBit are actually recording as "clicks", so on the matter of click fraud I'm a bit lost? tyBit advertisers have the ability to establish click fraud protection within their respective campaigns which not only requires authentication but prevents certain ads from being clicked over and over via by a person or through automation. I invite you to sign up for a tyBit advertising account and see for yourself, I'm sure you'll find the the traffic you receive of the highest possible quality.

On the matter of your domain(s)...
Unfortunately, I only have your screen name so I am unable to clearly and intelligently troubleshoot any issues regarding this topic but please feel free to contact me any time to discuss this issue and thanks again for you feedback, I assure you that if you email me directly or give me a call your requests will not fall on deaf ears. We strive daily to make tyBit the best possible search available for our users, advertisers, affiliates, and partners.

Thanks,

Sean McCoy
Chief Marketing Officer
tyBit, Inc. | AIT, Inc.
910-321-1209
smccoy@AIT.com

[smccoy]

Originally Posted by smccoy

Mischa,

First allow me to apologize for any unfavorable experience you have had regarding tyBit.

As you stated on the matter of 404 pages, customers who do not desire 404 redirection can simply change this at anytime via the servers configuration files. Our establishment of 404 redirection is intended to serve as a benefit to site visitors providing them the ability to search for a needed resource when an error is produced. Additionally, from the advertisers perspective this gives yet one more opportunity to be seen by a potential prospect or buyer.

On the matter of click fraud, it is important to note that none of the search results or redirects produced within tyBit are actually recording as "clicks", so on the matter of click fraud I'm a bit lost? tyBit advertisers have the ability to establish click fraud protection within their respective campaigns which not only requires authentication but prevents certain ads from being clicked over and over via by a person or through automation. I invite you to sign up for a tyBit advertising account and see for yourself, I'm sure you'll find the the traffic you receive of the highest possible quality.

On the matter of your domain(s)...
Unfortunately, I only have your screen name so I am unable to clearly and intelligently troubleshoot any issues regarding this topic but please feel free to contact me any time to discuss this issue and thanks again for you feedback, I assure you that if you email me directly or give me a call your requests will not fall on deaf ears. We strive daily to make tyBit the best possible search available for our users, advertisers, affiliates, and partners.

Thanks,

Sean McCoy
Chief Marketing Officer
tyBit, Inc. | AIT, Inc.
910-321-1209
smccoy@AIT.com

Mischa,

I was troubled by the reference you made to your domain name and I was able to piece together what I think is a explanation of what you are seeing....

If you search for something like, "thisisareallyreallyreallyreallylongdomainname.com " using tybit you will find that on the right hand portion of the results page there is a suggested advertising sales area which should read somewhat like the excerpt below:

thisisareallyreallyreallyreallylongdomainname is available for registration.
100% Click Fraud Free!

Within tybit, advertisers are able to register a keyword or phrase for a predetermined period of time for a flat rate. That said, the key term "YourDomain.com" might sell for $50.00 for a twenty four hour period which allows for unlimited clicks. The confusion here is that the keyword "YourDomain.com" may in fact be available for registration by an advertisers who seeks to use said term within his or her ads however, your actual domain name which is registered by a typical domain registrar is not available for public sale.

Thanks Again,
Sean

[mischa]

Sean,
I did not search for anything using Tybit but was just testing a new web site for a client clicked on a invalid link and then the Tybit page popped up.

I do not have a Tybit account, do not want a Tybit account, and certainly do not want any of my clients or my 404 errors taking visitors from us and having Tybit/AIT pirating them away from our web sites. It also happens to all of the virtual hosts I have.

I have emailed AIT and submitted many trouble tickets about it and did not receive one response and all of the trouble tickets were closed with no response.

Additionally, from the advertisers perspective this gives yet one more opportunity to be seen by a potential prospect or buyer.

I am an AIT customer and not a Tybit customer so I do not care to have Tybit poaching visitors so you can show them page views at my expense.

On the matter of click fraud, it is important to note that none of the search results or redirects produced within tyBit are actually recording as "clicks", so on the matter of click fraud I'm a bit lost?

You are poaching our visitors and recording the page views as search results and any resulting clicks as being generated by Tybit search which is fraud. It was not Tybit but one of AIT's customers or worse yet one of their customers, visitors being poached from a 404 link.

Our establishment of 404 redirection is intended to serve as a benefit to site visitors providing them the ability to search for a needed resource when an error is produced.

It certainly does not benefit any unsuspecting AIT client who has a visitor there for another purpose and does not know that a visitor can be stolen. There is nothing in any policy or agreement about AIT taking visitors away with a redirect, I know because I have printed out and took screen shots of all policy and agreement pages.

AIT hosts over 200,000 domains and there is probably a very large number of 404 errors being redirected and claimed as page views from the Tybit search. I looked at the Tybit web site and saw nothing stating some visitors came from redirects, only from Tybit. I have searched for AIT resellers, and have found quite a few without custom 404 pages so all of them and all of the clients they host are redirected to Tybit with no hope of them sending the visitor back.

All in all is is a very dishonest thing to do to AIT customers and their visitors and also to Tybit clients.

[smccoy]

Originally Posted by mischa

Sean,
I did not search for anything using Tybit but was just testing a new web site for a client clicked on a invalid link and then the Tybit page popped up.

I do not have a Tybit account, do not want a Tybit account, and certainly do not want any of my clients or my 404 errors taking visitors from us and having Tybit/AIT pirating them away from our web sites. It also happens to all of the virtual hosts I have.

I have emailed AIT and submitted many trouble tickets about it and did not receive one response and all of the trouble tickets were closed with no response.

Additionally, from the advertisers perspective this gives yet one more opportunity to be seen by a potential prospect or buyer.

I am an AIT customer and not a Tybit customer so I do not care to have Tybit poaching visitors so you can show them page views at my expense.

On the matter of click fraud, it is important to note that none of the search results or redirects produced within tyBit are actually recording as "clicks", so on the matter of click fraud I'm a bit lost?

You are poaching our visitors and recording the page views as search results and any resulting clicks as being generated by Tybit search which is fraud. It was not Tybit but one of AIT's customers or worse yet one of their customers, visitors being poached from a 404 link.

Our establishment of 404 redirection is intended to serve as a benefit to site visitors providing them the ability to search for a needed resource when an error is produced.

It certainly does not benefit any unsuspecting AIT client who has a visitor there for another purpose and does not know that a visitor can be stolen. There is nothing in any policy or agreement about AIT taking visitors away with a redirect, I know because I have printed out and took screen shots of all policy and agreement pages.

AIT hosts over 200,000 domains and there is probably a very large number of 404 errors being redirected and claimed as page views from the Tybit search. I looked at the Tybit web site and saw nothing stating some visitors came from redirects, only from Tybit. I have searched for AIT resellers, and have found quite a few without custom 404 pages so all of them and all of the clients they host are redirected to Tybit with no hope of them sending the visitor back.

All in all is is a very dishonest thing to do to AIT customers and their visitors and also to Tybit clients.

Mischa,
As I stated before, any individual that wants to enable a custom 404 message certainly has the means to do so from within his or her web hosting account. In fact, we provide tutorials and resources for any customer to accomplish this task. As for the practice of redirection, I suppose we will certainly have to disagree on our intent as our position isn’t one of dishonesty or malice, if it were, we simply wouldn’t allow our customers to disable these redirects.

Within the web hosting and domain registration industry the practice of redirection for 404 pages and similarly “default” domain parking locations is very common and I am personally aware of many of companies who perform similar actions. In fact, many ISP’s which provide DSL or Cable connectivity generate redirects to other search engines. Not to be argumentative but, if you click an invalid link while surfing from home and are then redirected to a search page would you have the same feelings towards your ISP? I’ve personally seen this in action with major providers such as Time-Warner or Sprint. Final point here, I suppose if you use Internet Explorer (or virtually any browser) and you have an invalid URL or click which generates the default search page for Live Search wouldn't this make companies like Microsoft suspect as well? Again, we are a stale mate on the topic but I certainly wanted to ensure your feedback received a response. Your concerns are noted, valuable and always appreciated.

The matter of unanswered support tickets is my larger concern, I’d ask that you relay those ticket numbers to me at my personal email so that I can investigate this further. In return, I’ll be happy to forward you some information on how to create your own 404 pages if in fact you do not know how to accomplish this. Either way, unanswered support requests aren’t tolerated and are completely unacceptable. I'd like your help to ensure that your support experience is consistent and helpful, your ticket numbers would certainly acheive that.

Thanks Again,

Sean McCoy
Chief Marketing Officer
tyBit, Inc. / AIT, Inc
smccoy@AIT.com
910-321-1209

[mischa]

I suppose we will certainly have to disagree on our intent as our position isn’t one of dishonesty or malice

Then why not inform your hosting customers in an email that you are redirecting their visitors? I suspect you already know they would not be pleased.. You are stealing their traffic.

Within the web hosting and domain registration industry the practice of redirection for 404 pages and similarly “default” domain parking locations is very common and I am personally aware of many of companies who perform similar actions.

Name one. The redirects I have seen have usually been from unpaid accounts or parked domains. Please show me one that steals visitors from active domains.

Not to be argumentative but, if you click an invalid link while surfing from home and are then redirected to a search page would you have the same feelings towards your ISP? I’ve personally seen this in action with major providers such as Time-Warner or Sprint.

It happened to me and I complained to the point where my ISP gave me 6 months service and agreed to provide a link to opt out of doing that.

Final point here, I suppose if you use Internet Explorer (or virtually any browser) and you have an invalid URL or click which generates the default search page for Live Search wouldn't this make companies like Microsoft suspect as well?

They are not redirecting visitors to an advertising site. They also give you a choice of urls that might be correct.

Also I am not paying them for anything like I am AIT. It says a lot for a company when they think nothing of stealing visitors from paying customers and try to rationalize it as industry standard. I have started posting this to other forums that have to do with hosting and virtually nobody knows of another company doing this. Most are of the opinion it is not legal.

I’ll be happy to forward you some information on how to create your own 404 pages if in fact you do not know how to accomplish this.

I already know how to edit a conf file. It was done as soon as I discovered the theft of my customers visitors.

Either way, unanswered support requests aren’t tolerated and are completely unacceptable.

Your individual reps are very good. The polices are not. I had very bad problems with performance and uptime and the phone I got from AIT from a customer service rep who said they were calling to improve my service. It was a very aggressive sales call for an unneeded overkill upgrade of bandwidth and servers. They also stated that because it was a shared bandwith I could not expect bandwith all of the time.

I have given up on AIT after more than 10 years and will be moving on.