WARNING: Do NOT load Quechup

September 8, 2007 By

I’m late on writing about this, but I was worried that I’d actually help this company out. Why? Because whenever I write negatively about a company that gets tons of you to check out the company and some of you even like the services I’m ragging on. For instance, I said I hated MSN Spaces and almost 100 million people signed up for it after I said that including my own wife who says she wishes she picked another service, but is happy that leaving a comment there is so tough that she has very few trolls. :-)

But this has gotten so bad that I think I need to write about it and explain just how bad this company is. Please read this post all the way through if you are one of those who think I’m an idiot and therefore anything I hate must be something you should try. If you do that with this company you’ll spam all your friends and you’ll be extremely pissed.

Which gets me to what got me to write this note in the first place.

Over the past week or so I’ve gotten DOZENS of spam from this service. Almost always it’s followed by an email saying “I’m sorry” from the person who tried it out.

This service sucks. Do NOT try it out.

Want more details? Dwight Silverman of the Houston Chronicle has been tracking this story.

Some more thoughts:

1) Quechup has just raised the bar for me to try new services out. Now I won’t try things out until dozens of my friends tell me that a service is safe to try. That means that competing with Facebook (or MySpace or LinkedIn or Plaxo) is going to be very tough. Services won’t go viral anymore because we just won’t believe the email we’re getting from our friends.

2) This has been going on a long time and has gotten to the front page of Digg, but I continue getting these things (I’m getting a few of these emails every day from people who should know better).

3) This is really pissing off a lot of people. I’ve seen tons of posts like this one over on Matt Dickman’s TechnoMarketer blog.

4) It’s sad that some companies feel they are going to be able to make a business on top of strategies like this one.

I’d love to support a lawsuit against the company for doing this.

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  • http://blog.machinima.org/ Paul Marino

    Count me in as one of the affected/pissed off. Way too trusting of these sites, they offer up a chance to submit your email info in order to sift through their own database for common contacts. Instead, they’re leeching your contact list.

    Well, there goes the neighborhood. However the silver lining is that we’ll all be much more hesitant to embrace anything all these lines again (good for us, bad for start-ups).

    Thanks for the update, Robert.

  • http://wenchadmin.wordpress.com/ deannie

    I found it interesting that an email to the privacy address (which also routes the mail to “legal” and “support”) bounced with a message that the mail account was “temporarily suspended”.

  • http://wenchadmin.wordpress.com deannie

    I found it interesting that an email to the privacy address (which also routes the mail to “legal” and “support”) bounced with a message that the mail account was “temporarily suspended”.

  • http://blog.machinima.org Paul Marino

    Count me in as one of the affected/pissed off. Way too trusting of these sites, they offer up a chance to submit your email info in order to sift through their own database for common contacts. Instead, they’re leeching your contact list.

    Well, there goes the neighborhood. However the silver lining is that we’ll all be much more hesitant to embrace anything all these lines again (good for us, bad for start-ups).

    Thanks for the update, Robert.

  • http://www.mcville.net/ pos3idon

    Thats just awefull, sue ‘em!

  • http://www.mcville.net pos3idon

    Thats just awefull, sue ‘em!

  • http://theobstructionist.com/ Seth E

    of course, Quechup is wrong, evil, represents the worst offences of old-media marketing, etc. Still…why didn’t I get asked?

  • http://theobstructionist.com Seth E

    of course, Quechup is wrong, evil, represents the worst offences of old-media marketing, etc. Still…why didn’t I get asked?

  • Tim

    I am still staggered that people will give their email login details to some random 3rd party website they just heard of.

    Guess it’s just me.

  • Tim

    I am still staggered that people will give their email login details to some random 3rd party website they just heard of.

    Guess it’s just me.

  • http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble

    Tim: Yeah, that is interesting bit of psychology, isn’t it? Easily abused.

  • http://scobleizer.com/ Robert Scoble

    Tim: Yeah, that is interesting bit of psychology, isn’t it? Easily abused.

  • http://theobstructionist.com/ Seth E

    I think a number of good honest examples have made many of us trust anyone who humbly declares themselves a “start-up”. We assume that others have have the same respect for web2′s communal nature that we do. Seven years ago, Tim, it would’ve been un-heard of.

  • http://theobstructionist.com Seth E

    I think a number of good honest examples have made many of us trust anyone who humbly declares themselves a “start-up”. We assume that others have have the same respect for web2′s communal nature that we do. Seven years ago, Tim, it would’ve been un-heard of.

  • http://blog.machinima.org/ Paul Marino

    I believe we’ve been lured by the altruistic intentions of sites that are on the up-and-up. Sites like Twitter, FB, Pownce convey a sense of trust that let my guard down – particularly when the invite came from a trusted friend/associate. Seizing that opportunity, this site (I won’t even say their name any longer so I don’t contribute to their search cache), they chose to take advantage of this climate of trust.

    But as one of the recently burned, that’s gone away real fast.

  • http://blog.machinima.org Paul Marino

    I believe we’ve been lured by the altruistic intentions of sites that are on the up-and-up. Sites like Twitter, FB, Pownce convey a sense of trust that let my guard down – particularly when the invite came from a trusted friend/associate. Seizing that opportunity, this site (I won’t even say their name any longer so I don’t contribute to their search cache), they chose to take advantage of this climate of trust.

    But as one of the recently burned, that’s gone away real fast.

  • http://billkosloskymd.typepad.com/wirelessdoc/ Bill Koslosky

    I got the invite last weekend but didn’t bite.

    It’s simple enough to do a quick Web search to check the cred of this site. And, why would you want to create another inbox to manage?

  • http://billkosloskymd.typepad.com/wirelessdoc/ Bill Koslosky

    I got the invite last weekend but didn’t bite.

    It’s simple enough to do a quick Web search to check the cred of this site. And, why would you want to create another inbox to manage?

  • vruz

    Strange enough, Robert, this helps to validate the strength of the so-called “social graph” you have talked about before.

    When you get recommendations via (unencrypted, unsigned) outlook-email, you can’t safely attest for the veracity of the information you receive.

    But perhaps recommendations coming from people validated in your social graph as “recommenders” would work better ?

    Begs for some interesting thoughts.

  • vruz

    Strange enough, Robert, this helps to validate the strength of the so-called “social graph” you have talked about before.

    When you get recommendations via (unencrypted, unsigned) outlook-email, you can’t safely attest for the veracity of the information you receive.

    But perhaps recommendations coming from people validated in your social graph as “recommenders” would work better ?

    Begs for some interesting thoughts.

  • http://www.amonthinvenice.com/ Richard Callaby

    Robert,

    Thanks for the heads up on this one. This not only saves me the embarrassment of not spamming my friends but also how to create more trust if and when I should create a social networking site. Guess the phrase “Do No Evil” does not apply to every startup on the Internet although it should.

    Thanks!

  • http://www.amonthinvenice.com Richard Callaby

    Robert,

    Thanks for the heads up on this one. This not only saves me the embarrassment of not spamming my friends but also how to create more trust if and when I should create a social networking site. Guess the phrase “Do No Evil” does not apply to every startup on the Internet although it should.

    Thanks!

  • http://www.whatisnew.com/2007/09/08/spammed-by-quechup-dont-make-the-mistake-i-did/ Lora

    Robert, I agree with you. I accidentally followed an email from a friend of mine (yours too actually) and Quechup sent emails to everyone in my hotmail address book (including you). I posted an apology this morning: http://www.whatisnew.com/2007/09/08/spammed-by-quechup-dont-make-the-mistake-i-did/

    The upside is that I’ve received emails from friends who I haven’t heard from in a while.

    Though, this certainly doesn’t win my trust of social networking sites beyond those that have already earned my trust.

  • http://www.whatisnew.com/2007/09/08/spammed-by-quechup-dont-make-the-mistake-i-did/ Lora

    Robert, I agree with you. I accidentally followed an email from a friend of mine (yours too actually) and Quechup sent emails to everyone in my hotmail address book (including you). I posted an apology this morning: http://www.whatisnew.com/2007/09/08/spammed-by-quechup-dont-make-the-mistake-i-did/

    The upside is that I’ve received emails from friends who I haven’t heard from in a while.

    Though, this certainly doesn’t win my trust of social networking sites beyond those that have already earned my trust.

  • http://aithene.net/ Aithene / Chris Wilson

    I got a slew of invites last week, and thought it must be something people were loving, since they were all signing up at once. I even signed up, but there is no way to enter email addresses by hand, or to upload vcards or tab delimited files, and the service didn’t work with .Mac.

    To top it off, there was no way to ‘befriend’ the people who previously had invited me. So, befuddled and annoyed, I walked away. I even twittered my annoyance as I left.

    Looks like I was actually ‘spared’ quite a bit of embarrassment and shame.
    Thanks for the post!

  • http://answers-for-freelancers.com/ Chris Wilson

    I got a slew of invites last week, and thought it must be something people were loving, since they were all signing up at once. I even signed up, but there is no way to enter email addresses by hand, or to upload vcards or tab delimited files, and the service didn’t work with .Mac.

    To top it off, there was no way to ‘befriend’ the people who previously had invited me. So, befuddled and annoyed, I walked away. I even twittered my annoyance as I left.

    Looks like I was actually ‘spared’ quite a bit of embarrassment and shame.
    Thanks for the post!

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  • http://dossy.org/ Dossy Shiobara

    quechup = malware email worm.

    When will the popular email anti-virus products block Quechup invite emails to keep it from spreading? :-)

  • http://dossy.org/ Dossy Shiobara

    quechup = malware email worm.

    When will the popular email anti-virus products block Quechup invite emails to keep it from spreading? :-)

  • http://rudolfganz.wordpress.com/ rudolfganz

    Like ketchup, it takes the original taste.

  • http://rudolfganz.wordpress.com/ rudolfganz

    Like ketchup, it takes the original taste.

  • Lilyhill

    An interesting twist. I signed up, but when it came to the part of adding “friends”, it gave a choice of email apps. So I chose the email app that didn’t have anything in the address book. Problem is, it happened to use the same pw as the address I used in part 1 of the sign-up. Went thru the step, and Quechup told me there were no people added (which would have been true.) So I thought I was fine. But they apparently must have tried using the same pw with the address I used in step 1 – and also accessed the address book for that email – the used a different app! Fortunately, there was not a lot there. But definitely a sneaky move. And perhaps not exactly legal?

  • Lilyhill

    An interesting twist. I signed up, but when it came to the part of adding “friends”, it gave a choice of email apps. So I chose the email app that didn’t have anything in the address book. Problem is, it happened to use the same pw as the address I used in part 1 of the sign-up. Went thru the step, and Quechup told me there were no people added (which would have been true.) So I thought I was fine. But they apparently must have tried using the same pw with the address I used in step 1 – and also accessed the address book for that email – the used a different app! Fortunately, there was not a lot there. But definitely a sneaky move. And perhaps not exactly legal?

  • http://www.technovia.co.uk/ Ian Betteridge

    You probably got an invite from me – sorry!

    Like many others, I actually deleted my Quechup account when I found out what it was doing. And like many others, I then found that – AFTER I’d deleted my account – it sent out a load of spam to everyone in my address book. Let me say that again – Quechup sent out spam purporting to be from me, after I’d deleted my account with them.

    Horrible.

  • http://www.technovia.co.uk Ian Betteridge

    You probably got an invite from me – sorry!

    Like many others, I actually deleted my Quechup account when I found out what it was doing. And like many others, I then found that – AFTER I’d deleted my account – it sent out a load of spam to everyone in my address book. Let me say that again – Quechup sent out spam purporting to be from me, after I’d deleted my account with them.

    Horrible.

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  • http://sherricornelius.com/ Sherri Cornelius

    Me too!! And I’m normally a very careful internet person. I’m not sure what caused me to put aside my instinct on this one, but I also blogged about it:

    http://sherricornelius.com/2007/09/05/quechup-sucks/

    Nice blog you have here. :)

  • http://sherricornelius.com Sherri Cornelius

    Me too!! And I’m normally a very careful internet person. I’m not sure what caused me to put aside my instinct on this one, but I also blogged about it:

    http://sherricornelius.com/2007/09/05/quechup-sucks/

    Nice blog you have here. :)

  • http://unoalaizquierda.wordpress.com/ Julian

    Ringo did the same thing one year ago with my yahoo account.

  • http://unoalaizquierda.wordpress.com/ Julian

    Ringo did the same thing one year ago with my yahoo account.

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  • http://www.communityguy.com/ Jake McKee

    It really goes to show the value of “trust” in the Word of Mouth process. I first signed up from the earliest of early spam mails I heard/saw/received. It came from a friend of mine within the social media industry that I have 100% faith in. Getting an invite from him always (or at least used to) equate to an instant registration on that particular site.

    Sadly, Quechup has committed what amounts to cyber-terrorism… making me rethink the things I once thought were safe and will likely never be able to believe are safe again. Boo on them.

  • http://www.communityguy.com Jake McKee

    It really goes to show the value of “trust” in the Word of Mouth process. I first signed up from the earliest of early spam mails I heard/saw/received. It came from a friend of mine within the social media industry that I have 100% faith in. Getting an invite from him always (or at least used to) equate to an instant registration on that particular site.

    Sadly, Quechup has committed what amounts to cyber-terrorism… making me rethink the things I once thought were safe and will likely never be able to believe are safe again. Boo on them.

  • http://simra.net/blog Rob

    http://simra.net/blog/why_facebook_s_days_are_numbered

    Robert, I know you are one of Facebook’s biggest fans, but I think things like Quechup, coupled with Facebook opening up to third party developers is the harbinger of things to come. Already we get unwanted app spam from unwitting friends on facebook- and then we surrender our personal info to the developers of these apps. Something bad is bound to come of this…

  • http://simra.net/blog Rob

    http://simra.net/blog/why_facebook_s_days_are_numbered

    Robert, I know you are one of Facebook’s biggest fans, but I think things like Quechup, coupled with Facebook opening up to third party developers is the harbinger of things to come. Already we get unwanted app spam from unwitting friends on facebook- and then we surrender our personal info to the developers of these apps. Something bad is bound to come of this…

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  • http://neverness.wordpress.com/ neverness

    After Plaxo once pulled this one on me, no site is getting access to my personal address book. I got one, entered it, but once it looked like a dating site (not social network @ all) I killed it.

    As the addresses in my address book of most people are their private addresses (or work) i refrain from giving access to this information. If necessary I’ll let them know via other means that a site seems to be interesting.

    A blog about this button probably would be more effective :)

  • http://neverness.wordpress.com/ neverness

    After Plaxo once pulled this one on me, no site is getting access to my personal address book. I got one, entered it, but once it looked like a dating site (not social network @ all) I killed it.

    As the addresses in my address book of most people are their private addresses (or work) i refrain from giving access to this information. If necessary I’ll let them know via other means that a site seems to be interesting.

    A blog about this button probably would be more effective :)

  • http://jackyan.com Jack Yan

    I signed up before I read your alert, Robert, but fortunately, I make it a policy (on every site) to never feed in address books. This was the site that would not allow me to enter my city in New Zealand! It insisted I needed to insert a ‘region’ and there is no corresponding one for any of the major cities here—guess it’s only for Kiwis who live in smaller towns and in the country!

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