LeapFish explained

LeapFish.com
Type:Metasearch engine
Language:English
Owner:Dotnext Inc.
Current Status:Not active

LeapFish.com was a search aggregator that retrieved results from other portals and search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo!, and also search engines of blogs, videos etc. It was a registered trademark of Dotnext Inc, launched on 3 November 2008.[1]

Mission and product concept

The Dotnext Inc incarnation of Leapfish based in Pleasanton focused on selling advertising via a telemarketing team consisting of 80 salespersons[2] that leveraged what it called a single experience for both searching and sharing traditional and real-time content.[3]

History

The LeapFish.com domain was originally home to a domain name appraisal service created by Jeremy Harris in 2006; this was purchased in 2008 and rebranded as a Meta Search Engine.[1]

Leapfish launched in November 2008[4] and incorporated the top three search engines (Google, Yahoo!, Live Search) as well as other tools like YouTube, Amazon, and Yahoo! Answers.

Leapfish launched its last version in November 2009. The update included features such as traditional and real-time search, a customizable homepage, interactive widgets, and social media integration.[5]

As of February 12, 2012, the leapfish.com domain has been for sale.

Features

Advertising

The main LeapFish advertising programs allowed business owners to display a permanent advertisement on the top of the search results page. The ad space was granted by purchasing a keyword of the advertiser's choice.[17] The space was sold via aggressive telemarketing[18] with the promise that the space could be sold on at a potentially increased price at a later date.

Domain appraisal

Prior to its purchase by Dotnext Inc, LeapFish[1] was home to a domain name appraisal service. In addition to its search tools, the new LeapFish provided domain appraisals complemented with a scoring system.[19] In addition to appraisal values, LeapFish provided domain information such as Traffic Rankings and Unique Visitors from Compete.com.[19] [20]

Controversy

The Dotnext Inc incarnation of leapfish.com had a mixed reception from users of sitepoint forums, from bloggers and other regular web users.[21]

On February 3, 2009, the online blog TechCrunch posted evidence of LeapFish sales representatives intentionally abusing Google's pay-per-click model against potential customers.[18] Ben Behrouzi, the CEO of LeapFish's parent company, DotNext, confirmed the sales representative's actions, but announced that the representative was no longer employed by the company.[22] [23]

The company has also been accused of astroturfing[24] and spamming.

As opposed to other search engines, such as Google or Yahoo which appear to favour web-based sales, Leapfish keywords are largely sold via an aggressive telemarketing operation[18] [25] which has not been without friction with the online community.[26] [27] The telemarketing team consists of 80 sales persons.[28] [24]

Ratings and reviews

The Better Business Bureau rated LeapFish "F" (its lowest possible rating) after receiving 20 separate complaints (some of which remain unresolved).[29] The Better Business Bureau recorded eight separate complaints about sales practices.[30]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Leapfish.com back from the dead. 2009-09-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090122060945/http://killerstartups.com/Search/leapfish-com-back-from-the-dead . 2009-01-22 .
  2. Web site: Leapfish Launches Another Meta Search Engine No One Will Ever Use . TechCrunch . November 20, 2008 . October 20, 2011.
  3. Web site: leapfish.com. www.leapfish.com.
  4. News: New Search Engine Hopes to Leap Over the Competition—LeapFish.com. Information Today. Hane. Paula. January 22, 2009. June 1, 2024.
  5. Web site: Leapfish: Enhanced Social Media and Real-Time Search Experience. November 18, 2009. Search Engine Journal.
  6. Web site: New.blicio. New.blicio.us.
  7. Web site: Swartz . Jon . Companies race to offer instant Web search, including Twitter - USATODAY.com . Usatoday30.usatoday.com . 2009-11-04 . 2019-10-30.
  8. Web site: Did Bing Outsmart Google in Their Real Time Results Strategy?. March 15, 2010. Search Engine Watch.
  9. Web site: Real-Time Search: 5 Alternatives to Google, Bing. Kristin. Burnham. January 21, 2010. CIO.
  10. Web site: leapfish.com. blog.leapfish.com.
  11. Web site: LeapFish(TM) Launches Free Customizable Homepages With Twitter and Facebook Apps. www.prnewswire.com.
  12. Web site: MediaPost Publications Search Engine LeapFish Merges Real-Time Data and Social Content 11/05/2009 . 2010-04-12 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100409050433/http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116840 . 2010-04-09 .
  13. Web site: LeapFish hopes for success in crowded field of metasearch. Scott Duke. Harris. The Mercury News. January 15, 2009.
  14. Web site: LeapFish Affiliate Program. Can Giveaways Keep It Afloat?. sageblogger.com. 12 July 2009 .
  15. Web site: LeapFish, Pioneering Search 2.0 Launches Lucrative Affiliate Program . 2013-08-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202225654/http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5staraffiliateprograms.com/affiliate-program-announcements/17955-leapfish-pioneering-search-2-0-launches-lucrative-affiliate-program.html . 2013-12-02 . dead .
  16. Web site: LeapFish Affiliate Center. August 26, 2009. Flickr.
  17. Web site: leapfish.com. www.leapfish.com.
  18. Web site: The LeapFish Chronicles: "Admitting To Click Fraud Is An Interesting Business Model.". 3 February 2009 .
  19. Web site: LeapFish.com Brings Back Popular Free Domain Name Appraisal Service - MarketWatch . 2009-03-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090413180916/http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/leapfishcom-brings-back-popular-free/story.aspx?guid=%7B3B9E8EF1-D0DF-4618-BF69-69019C723421%7D&dist=msr_2 . 2009-04-13 . dead .
  20. Web site: leapfish.com. blog.leapfish.com.
  21. Web site: The SitePoint Forums. The SitePoint Forums.
  22. Web site: LeapFish Gets Second Lashing, Beginning to Think TechCrunch Just Doesn't Like Us | Ben Behrouzi Blog . 2009-09-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090815191929/http://www.benbehrouzi.org/2009/02/04/leapfish-gets-second-lashing-from-techcrunc/ . 2009-08-15 .
  23. Web site: leapfish.com. blog.leapfish.com.
  24. Web site: Leapfish Launches Another Meta Search Engine No One Will Ever Use. 20 November 2008 .
  25. Web site: Leapfish Review - is Leapfish.com an opportunity, scam, or just another meta search site? . 2010-03-06 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100209071920/http://www.salarymap.com/leapfish-review.cfm . 2010-02-09 .
  26. Web site: Leapfish is a scam…maybe? (Read the updates) | Editweapon . 2010-03-09 . dead . https://archive.today/20100103040156/http://editweapon.com/leapfish-scam/ . 2010-01-03 .
  27. Web site: Leapfish Sucks | the Branson Pro . 2010-05-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091219123913/http://www.thebransonpro.com/leapfish-sucks/ . 2009-12-19 .
  28. Web site: LeapFish Gets Second Lashing, Beginning to Think TechCrunch Just Doesn't Like Us « Ben Behrouzi . 2010-05-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090207004441/http://benbehrouzi.org/2009/02/04/leapfish-gets-second-lashing-from-techcrunc/ . 2009-02-07 .
  29. Web site: LeapFish.com Business Review in Pleasanton, CA - San Francisco, Oakland, San Mateo, and Northern Coastal California BBB . 2013-08-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235058/http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/internet-marketing-services/leapfishcom-in-pleasanton-ca-308530#reasonrating . 2013-12-02 . dead .
  30. Web site: Consumer Complaints for LeapFish.com - San Francisco, Oakland, San Mateo, and Northern Coastal California BBB . 2013-08-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222636/http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/internet-marketing-services/leapfishcom-in-pleasanton-ca-308530/complaints#breakdown . 2013-12-02 . dead .

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