SimplyOwners.Net a new rental listing site?

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
Nigel Goodwin
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Post by Nigel Goodwin »

But who owns the copyright? Whether true or not, HA will say they own it.

Even if they don't own copyright, it would be very painful to get anywhere near a court battle.

It may also be different the property owner doing a cut and paste, and reloading pictures, versus programmatically converting and loading. Or me actioning it.

I wish it was clear cut. If it was clear cut, I would have a field on OwnerHolidays for the HA url and a button saying 'load me into OH!'.

It would certainly help if the property owner actioned the transfer, but how do you check the person is actually the owner and owns the copyright? A tick box saying they agree?

Of course, our legal friends would advise that it is risky and they don't know....and I would have to pay significant money to get that advice.
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

Not intended as thread creep as it’s very relevant - does anyone know the situation with duplicate material being penalised by Google? It used to be mentioned a lot, but I’ve not seen anything recently (it’s my eyes, doctor....)

To get firmly back on track, if I cut and paste the property descriptions from my own website and upload them to Nigel’s OH site, will Google penalise anyone and if so, who? Trying to write new stuff is always a PITA.
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

I'd like to know about the duplicate content issue too. I'm still tweaking my text for each different listing site but it would be so much easier to just copy and paste it as it is.
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Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
COYS
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Post by COYS »

No idea about duplicate content, but if so vast swathes of the web, blogs, social media etc are awash with it & it seems to be effectively encouraged via 'sharing' etc. So it's difficult to see how it could be penalised. It is a basic form of branding & the myriad web promo geeks love a bit of branding.

As for copyright, I'm at a loss to see how my photos & my text relating exclusively to my property belong to anyone else but me. So if by signing up to an ad, I agree to a cut/paste replica of my own publicly accessible information.........

I'd wager it's a legal grey area that none of the bully boys would want to dredge considering their own dubious ethics.

Plagiarize or procrastinate?
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Nigel Goodwin
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Post by Nigel Goodwin »

I think this is still relevant to the thread...

If a listing site makes it very easy for somebody to copy their HA advert and make a new listing....

What is to stop a scammer setting up a new account, copying random HA adverts, changing contact details to their own, making 'bookings', taking the cash, and then disappearing?

Setting up a business, setting up a domain, setting up a paypal account, they are all very easy.

Setting up a bank account is very easy, if you don;t use one of the big banks.

To take an extreme situation, only one person on LMH has ever met me. How does anybody know I am not going to divert all enquiries to myself and run off with the cash?

Yes, it is probably much easier to rob a bank, but stopping scammers is the downside to a successful listing site.

I guess I am saying that any new listing site must be treated with great caution.

This is why I have the name of my limited company and registration at the bottom of my home page. Anybody can check companies house, and the domain register, and see that it is all the same address, and not a PO box.

I wouldn't touch a site that does not do similar.

There is a limited company called simply owners, but they don;t put the registration number on their web site.

whois on the domain tallies.

It's all OK, but these basic checks should be done with any site. Especially if the is an HBOS manager involved.

It's called due diligence.
Last edited by Nigel Goodwin on Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

COYS wrote:No idea about duplicate content, but if so vast swathes of the web, blogs, social media etc are awash with it & it seems to be effectively encouraged via 'sharing' etc. So it's difficult to see how it could be penalised. It is a basic form of branding & the myriad web promo geeks love a bit of branding.
The issue with duplicate content is/was/may be Google penalising website rankings. Social media doesn’t come under that - in fact it’s difficult to even begin to think what social media might come under... (a damp stone perhaps?)
FelicityA
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Post by FelicityA »

Re. the duplicate content issue. More risk than penalty on duplication, I think. From June 2016. http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/duplicate-content-problems/. This site has a good bullet point list about duplicate content. The google Q and A video is a bit meandering to start with.

I think the key points are that Google likes unique and interesting content so the more you can generate that, the better.
COYS
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Post by COYS »

Interesting point greenbarn & FelicityA, but I suppose I can't be the only one that has 'exclusive' content only available on our own website (i.e different or more in depth than that available on listings) I make a point of refreshing odd bits fairly regularly but have often thought that images etc are fine duplicated because you'd only have limited stock photos & generally choose your best ones for advertising. Wouldn't this also assist for image search purposes? Anyway apologies for leading off topic.

Nigel Goodwin's last post makes a valid argument & until recently I would have put myself firmly in the 'do not copy' camp. However, like others I've been gradually changing the way & where we advertise, supporting newer start ups, a few free listings - you get the drift. It made me realise that I was doing exactly the same thing I was originally opposed to.
Indeed, when taking up the offer of a listing on OwnerHolidays, I simply moved the vast majority of an OD ad that was running down. OK it wasn't an extraction as such but the end result was just the same. I was satisfied that the content has proven fit for purpose so it seems sensible to stick with it.
The rogue element is always there, probably always will be but were they so inclined, they could do this anyway from personal websites as well as listings. This isn't new or an excusively holiday rental issue, they could just as easily set up shady retail sites etc etc.
Due diligence is a very good point, not only for listing sites & owners but potential guests as well. I mention this only because in almost 16 years of continuous advertising within HA group, not once has my property been 'verified' (a google map pin?) in spite of my having all the means to do so & in those same 16 years only one guest has ever asked me for further verification - & this only after one of the spasmodic scam publicity 'leaks'.
So even where the listing site is all above board, some bad guys will always sniff around even if they might not be lifting whole ads. Maybe there is a gap in the market for consolidated verification within a listing provider.
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Nigel Goodwin wrote:
Mouse wrote: my details were taken, from OD I assume
Is everybody comfortable with that? Is HA comfortable with that?
Even if you gave permission?

Serious question.
Yes I am more than happy for that to happen. It saves me a lot of work and from their point of view it will happen quicker than leaving it to me....so a win-win.
Once it's up and running I can then go in and tweak it or re-write it.

Mousie
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newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

Nigel Goodwin wrote: This is why I have the name of my limited company and registration at the bottom of my home page. Anybody can check companies house, and the domain register, and see that it is all the same address, and not a PO box.

I wouldn't touch a site that does not do similar.
I just looked at your own website - the newquay self catering one - and all it seems to have is your name, a phone number and an email address. There is no postal address. The whois entry for that domain has a different phone number and a different email address to that on the website....
Nigel Goodwin
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Post by Nigel Goodwin »

newtimber wrote:
Nigel Goodwin wrote: This is why I have the name of my limited company and registration at the bottom of my home page. Anybody can check companies house, and the domain register, and see that it is all the same address, and not a PO box.

I wouldn't touch a site that does not do similar.
I just looked at your own website - the newquay self catering one - and all it seems to have is your name, a phone number and an email address. There is no postal address. The whois entry for that domain has a different phone number and a different email address to that on the website....
Ouch...that is my property domain, not my Ownerholidays domain. I don't have a limited company for my properties. My tel. for the properties goes to a different number as I have an answer machine setup. I registered the domain with Heart, I think.
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Post by newtimber »

Nigel Goodwin wrote:
Ouch...that is my property domain, not my Ownerholidays domain. I don't have a limited company for my properties. My tel. for the properties goes to a different number as I have an answer machine setup. I registered the domain with Heart, I think.
Yes, I know you were referring to Owner Holidays but I thought you'd have got your own property domain right :D - regarding Owner Holidays, the organisation on the whois search is down as Nigel Goodwin not Owners Holidays Ltd.
Nigel Goodwin
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Post by Nigel Goodwin »

newtimber wrote:
Nigel Goodwin wrote:
Ouch...that is my property domain, not my Ownerholidays domain. I don't have a limited company for my properties. My tel. for the properties goes to a different number as I have an answer machine setup. I registered the domain with Heart, I think.
Yes, I know you were referring to Owner Holidays but I thought you'd have got your own property domain right :D - regarding Owner Holidays, the organisation on the whois search is down as Nigel Goodwin not Owners Holidays Ltd.
I think you are almost perfect, you would be perfect if you put the company registration number on your website. We may seem to be diverting considerably, but given recent BBC exposures of scams, it is of concern. Nobody has ever questioned me regarding my Newquay properties, although they can always pick up a phone, many do. All my invoices etc. have my home address and my personal mobile number.

On the other hand I had somebody question OwnerHolidays, I thought he was being over cautious but it did prompt me to put the registration number and more personal details on the site. May bite me in the future as a mob of 1000 demonstrate for a return of their booking fees. :lol:

I think the only organisation which wanted to see a passport was my bank (and my solicitors).
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Post by COYS »

Mouse wrote:
Nigel Goodwin wrote:
Mouse wrote: my details were taken, from OD I assume
Is everybody comfortable with that? Is HA comfortable with that?
Even if you gave permission?

Serious question.
Yes I am more than happy for that to happen. It saves me a lot of work and from their point of view it will happen quicker than leaving it to me....so a win-win.
Once it's up and running I can then go in and tweak it or re-write it.

Mousie
x
Can't speak for HA, but it's a yes from me too.
This time next year Rodney, we'll be millionaires.
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Post by Giraffe »

Has anyone had any recent experience of Simplyowners? They have just contacted me with their marketing blurb, but when I Googled as instructed they did not come up as promised - only came up next to OD, nothing for HL/TA.

For those of you who have paid up with them have you had a reasonable return on your investment? Their quoted annual fee to me is £249 + VAT.
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