How Not To Blog ?

ebay, 25% owner of Craigslist, has launched kijiji, a Craigslist clone for parts of Asia and Europe. All of the satellite kijijis are non-english, so I guess that's what makes it different.

First off, the name is really the wrong name. And, they're a bit late to the game. Not only are they late, they brought the wrong equipment. Craigslist is a community site. It's not a corporate-looking website or one that's trying to hide that's it's owned by a billion-dollar daddy.

A quick look at the WHOIS for the domain tells us:

eBay Inc. (OWMARHRDID)
2145 Hamilton Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125
US

I guess ebay is assuming that if it builds a community site with no real purpose, then people will come. Pretty much the main reason for the popularity of Craigslist is through word-of-mouth and Craigslisters from S.F. moving to other cities and asking for a local site. I can't even think of a reason anyone would want to post on kijiji.

'kijiji' is going at it from the wrong direction. ebay is trying to do too much. It wants a community site (no doubt to eventually integrate auctions in it) but ebay doesn't know shit about person-to-person interaction. Customer service at ebay is horrible. Has anyone ever tried to find out how to send in a support ticket or get some help from a real person? Even my lame blog has easy access to user assistance. (Granted, it's to give you a slap in the face, bitch!)

And who the fuck thought to build a site for Quebec in French only, with no choice for English? Do they even do their market research? Maybe that was part of the Craig$li$t deal...

I'll give them 6 months to forget about 'kijiji'

Because Google now sucks, they have not spoken up regarding the autolink debacle.

They're trying too hard, and failing. Yahoo and Microsoft are fast gaining momentum with a shitload of new competitive offerings.

Google is now making a big mistake by not being part of the autolink discussion. Microsoft backed down from Smart Tags because of customers' comments. A sure sign of Google's impending demise is its decision not to.

Google has been a cold & inherently "evil" company ever since they went public. People are only now starting to realize it.

Modern capitalism is such a smelly whore with a bad case of bling bling. No matter who you are or how stupid you are or how awful you treat a business, they will still want your money.

This doesn't mean that you can call a customer service rep an a$$hole or something - you'll probably get hung up on or transferred into Siberia. Unless you're a new customer. New customers get the golden treatment no matter how rude, stupid, or ignorant they are. Companies will bend over backwards and still let you fuck them in the ass if you show them so much as a twenty dollar bill. That's because businesses don't care where their money comes from. It all looks the same to them.

I'm sure even Bill O'Reilly, the first a-hole on my alphabetized list of a-holes, can still get new phone service or open an account at any bank in the US, even if the company was filled to the brim by the most liberal of liberals. He might get some snot in his soup when he goes out to eat, but he'll still get his soup.

The capitalist whore has gone blind from a bad case of syphilis. Even GM and Ford did business happily with Hitler, among hundreds if not thousands of other companies at the time. Patti Vasquez will happily shine the floors of Dr. Evil's laboratory every night.

Like millions of other North Americans, I run a small business. (No, I'm not a paid assassin, in case you're wondering.) If a customer is being a prick, I let him or her know. And then I tell them that I don't want their business or their money.

Yes, I turn down business. It's my Rude Customer Policy.

Why do I want to waste time and effort with your stupid ass? Do you think I care how many legs you're missing and how much of a discount you want because you pay so much for medicines every month? Are you angry that it's been 5 minutes since you left me a voicemail at 1 in the morning or have sent me an email, and you haven't heard back from me yet? Go fuck your grocer! Take your business where they'll do anything for it.

Customers are choosy with whom they do business. Businesses should be, too.