So... they're complaining about customers being able to voice their opinions... interesting... watch companies start attempt legal threats because of their trademarked name being used on the site... if you don't think it already happens you're wrong. I recieved threats because a large companies name was in the URL... if a blog post is made with the company name in the title of course the name is in the URL... they didn't like it. I removed it because it made no difference to me and I'm not going to start a legal battle with a fortune 1000 company, but I bet we'll see more of this.
wow didn't even think about the fact that those titles automatically become a part of the url name. And yeah, that is a TM violation. The problem is that this is not where companies stop. I've gotten a phone call last week from a company that I have dissed on here. They are hiring people just to do damage control and find the people who are writing about them. If they put that energy into providing a better service, maybe they wouldn't have to go thru that hassle.
problem is; is that you could be the best company in the world and you'll still get complainers. Complainers are hundreds times more likely to blog it than someone who is happy so it really skews reality. Edit - I'm by no means perfect in my stores, but I've had people complain that an order arrived on the day we said it'd arrive - and it was our fault that they weren't home (cuz they changed their plans or something).
I once blogged about the infomercial I saw about Directbuy. I linked the logo into my post and they notified me about it. Funny, they had nothing to say about what I sais, only the graphoc. I removed the graphic, then blogged about it!
Don't let these people push you around. Most companies know that you will back down. 1st amendment rights and such. They know that if they mention something to you, that you will back down from fear. You have nothing to fear, they would much rather not deal with having some sort of battle on thier hands that will really make them look bad.
I think that's because they assign individuals to certain tasks and that is all that they go after. One finds the logos, others find misinformation others slander (or whatever they consider slander). As soon as they get their job done, they will move on to the next blog.
These people should worry more about product reviews and less about blogs. I can really see a good review site making or breaking a product in the future. Good for us, but bad for the companies that produce low-quality products.