A Public Statement to Those Abusing NicheBOT and One Man's Audacity
On September 17, 2006, NicheBOT faced a server crash that was of unknown origin at the time and went offline for 3-4 hours.
On September 18, 2006, and to our shock and amazment, Keyword Discovery results were no longer appearing.
We checked our systems and all we could see was that NicheBOT's IP address and connection to Keyword Discovery's database was being refused.
Yesterday, on September 19, 2006, we received confirmation from Keyword Discovery's CEO, David Warmuz, that NicheBOT was getting hit by thousands of requests per hour that were overwhelming KD's servers and causing heavy server load. And, therefore, they shut down any access from NicheBOT's main page at http://www.nichebot.com
That totally and completely explains the events that have transpired over the past few days.
This is a Public Announcement to those that are battering and using automated scripts to try and pilfer keywords for FREE.
Please go away!!!
To choose a place where people are just starting off with their enlightenment in keyword research is quite dispicable and those people that are abusing NicheBOT's open and free to the public should be ashamed at their efforts.
Karma is natural thing that tends to bite people back that abuse any system. But then again, karma may not exist in the perspective of these pervaders that intend to make it harder for the thousands of NicheBOT users that are trying to just get ahead in their niche market. When bad things happen to the bad-doers, they probably don't even think twice that it could have been that time they abused a keyword system. They just continue onward in their arrogance and self-absorption to abuse systems and acquire things for free.
I can understand people that are addicted to Adsense and making money from their online ventures. Why not instead go pay for an API when they will eventually burn out a system and then have to go onto another system of pilfering? It's an endless and ruthless cycle.
Perhaps funds are low for these people, these abusers, these lowly individuals that want to make it difficult for NicheBOT's users that conduct real keyword research. Yet, they have the time to create scripts to take advantage of a place that has been providing results for well over 2 years at no cost to the Internet public.
Now, because of this, NicheBOT will have to put into place certain measures to battle against these abusers that wish to make it more difficult for the innocent webmaster that is conducting true keyword research, and not trying to soak the resources of NicheBOT, that the server crash.
NicheBOT nearly lost the privilege to display Keyword Discovery results as result of this.
And this was the exact reason why I recently called an emergency signup session for NicheBOT 2 (which is not even public yet) for current NicheBOT subscribers, because of its anti-abuse systems already in place.
The emergency sign-up session is now over and no further sign-ups will be accepted until the public release of NicheBOT 2, which won't be for a few months.
Which now leads me to the next topic, which is…
ONE MAN'S AUDACITY
In the wake of these most recent developments, and calling of my "Emergency Sign-Up Session" out of the care for NicheBOT users who were unable to acquire keyword results, I received quite a disturbing email from a fellow NicheBOT subscriber and user. This was in response to my email sent out to users with the subject line "It was a REAL emergency."
And he goes on to say…
"Mr. Morris, I consider this nothing more than a ploy to pad your pockets."
I kindly responded and told him that he could contact the CEO of Keyword Discovery and confirm these events for himself. I have proof from the email conversations with the CEO that NicheBOT temporarily lost its privileges for accessing their database as a result of the abusers overloading NicheBOT with too many requests.
There was nothing at all to pad mine or NicheBOT's pockets with. For one, I am merely an officer of Full Throttle Enterprises, Inc., so he's trying to say that NicheBOT was trying to pad its pockets. Even that is utterly false as you will soon read.
Amazingly enough, I am yet to hear back from this gentleman to challenge any of what has occurred in that past few days. And personally, I don't think we will hear back from him.
He then goes on to say…
" If the original NicheBot does not get back up and running at no charge as usual or if you do not make NicheBot 2 available at no charge, I will never buy anthing again associated with the Morris name."
Woah — wait a minute pahdner! First of all, we are doing everything in our efforts to allow NicheBOT to be provided for free on a continuous basis. Provided that it is not abused. And obviously, some anti-abuse measures will be put into place immediately to prevent any such thing happening again.
Of course, this may affect people having to enter in numbers/letters in a box (captcha) since these poachers will probably not cease until anti-abuse measures are in place.
Next, NicheBOT personally fronted over $3,000 in its budget for current NicheBOT users to be allowed to gain access to premium credits that allow users to conduct EXTENSIVE keyword research. This was provided free and at no charge.
Furthermore, all the free tools on NicheBOT 1 are provided in NicheBOT 2, so once any premium credits are used up, users can freely use the complementary no cost tools at no charge.
So what exactly is this gentleman talking about? I truly wonder if he reads the emails we are sending.
Is he potentially out of line in his comments and his apparent rude nature? I think so.
I think before anyone sends me personal email of this nature, they should think twice as to what they are really saying, especially when they are attacking my own credibilty and that of NicheBOT.
Nonetheless, in the spirit of all fairness, I'm sure this gentleman will come to his senses when the smelling salts finally kick in.
And on a more inspirational note, NicheBOT will be releasing a number of goodies for its subscribers this week. Such as, a neat little translation tool to turn their keywords into foreign keywords, or any text for that matter.
And, the intensely awaited report entitled The Ultimate Search Engine Traffic Funnel. Both of which are given away free. (Go figure!)
The Ultimate Search Engine Traffic Funnel will contain a 30-day plan and empower the webmaster and online business owner to compete in any niche market without the fear of competition. This all-meat report will finally put to rest any need to rely on the KEI of any keyword and the constant and endless formulas that webmasters tumble around in their minds and Excel spreadsheets about which keyword to go after.
Much of the energies most people put into keyword analysis are futile and causes what many call "analysis paralysis" which, thus, translates into take no action. And we all know what happens then — not much really gets done. Either way…
That's what is on the cooker, so stay tuned as we try to combat and ward off automated script junkies that pilfer keywords from an open and publicly free keyword research platform, and we continue to enlighten its users (and the Internet at large) on how to totally dominate their own niche market, one keyword at a time.
That's our statement and I'm sticking to it, under oath and under the penalty of perjury.
Best,
Jim Morris, President/CEO
Full Throttle Enterprises, Inc.
NicheBOT - "Finds exactly what people search for."
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34 Comments on A Public Statement to Those Abusing NicheBOT and One Man's Audacity »
Goordon @ 5:17 pm:
Hi
Just to let you know that nichebot is very much appreciated. Peple who make comments like the one you referred to today are always with us. They deserve our total cold shoulder. They do not represent what the rest of us are thinking. I recently had a rude email from a person who was disgusted that their 14 day trial version of our software would cost them money to activate permanantly.
There are all sorts out there on the web… fortunately most of them are great peple.
Keep up the good work.
Rudy Roesel @ 5:19 pm:
Well said. I personally despise those who take advantage of the weak (Newbies). I understand the concept of Darwinism (only the strong survive). However, there must be a way for budding entrepeneurs to benefit from sites like NicheBot.
You are trying to provide that service and it's appreciated. It is a real shame we beginners must suffer from the more experienced among us. "Hath thee no shame".
'nuff said. Pleae continue with your program and we that need your assistance will benefit. Take what safeguards you must to prevent these "abusers" from benefitting from your knowledge.
We need you. Please don't succumb.
God Bless you,
Rudy Roesel
'
Noel Ferguson @ 5:26 pm:
Kia Ora Jim
Sorry to hear that you have been screwed about with by a **** head. If you know who it was why not create a hall of shame scenario and "out" the ratbag? Just a thought.
All the best.
Jeannie @ 5:44 pm:
Jim, I wanted to take the time to publicly thank you for all you have done and for giving nichbot 2 away free at this time.
Sorry to hear of the person that hassled you. Some people only think of themselves and never do look at the big picture. It is hard to imagine that kind of ultimatum for something that has been free up to this point. Go figure!
Once again thanks.
Martin @ 6:49 pm:
Hi Jim, I applaud everything you have said here I'm surprised Nichebot.com hasn't been hit like this before now.
It's always the same old story. In an act of kindness, consideration, and generousity the mean pilferer gets meaner.
Tell him the time and he'll come back for your watch, give him a lift and he'll come back for your car.
Everybody loves to get a freebie but these people just love to take everything they can get for nothing, they'll take, take, take until they ruin it for everyone else when the barriers,bars, bolts and locks are fitted to keep them out. Then they'll have the cheek to shout abuse at the system or the owner.
Now I'm not saying that the so called gentleman is a pilferer but he obviously doesn't know you or of your generousity, if he does then he certainly should apologise for his attack on you. He seemingly hasn't read your recent emails or has misunderstood them. >
If that gentleman really believes his words then let him go off to the four corners of the globe and find an alternative, Jim, you are better off rid of him, he'll always moan at the slightest hiccup.
You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time.
But I know you go beyond the call of duty to please all your members and that makes you a number 1 in my book.
Martin
Daniel J. Dick @ 7:27 pm:
Hi,
I just wanted to say thank you for creating this service, and I am so sorry that some people take advantage. I have had people get onto my Christian marriage saving sites and post pornographic and spammy advertisements and have had to cut comments out of places. I think I installed captcha on some of them so that people would have to copy the contents of a little box in graphics before they could enter a comment, and in some places I have had to either turn off comments or turn them on but with moderation. And I'm sure my web sites do not get near the traffic yours get.
Anyway, thanks again and I hope and wish the best for you and hope you're able to get it working again. I cannot believe the audacity of some who would get on your case when you're giving them something useful for free. They have no right to complain at all — especially if they are the ones making things miserable for you and everyone else. Thanks for all you do and best wishes!!!
God bless you,
Dan
seobro @ 8:18 pm:
Thanks for all the great work you are doing. I love nichebot and word tracker.
Chuck @ 8:26 pm:
I applaud you for your honesty with this situation and I am saddened that NicheBot has been hit by this "attack" by those who were abusing a free service.
I am currently in a state of "analysis paralysis" myself with a few of my keyword research campains and am looking forward to the launch of NicheBot2. I only wish I was able to get into the emergency sign up.
While I am not looking forward to the captchas and other anti scripting tactics that you will need to employ, I am gracious that you are determined to work on keeping the NicheBot family of tools free (and free of leeches!)
Chuck
Donna @ 11:07 pm:
Hi, Jim,
I'm so sorry for all your woes of late. It's never fun having the self-loathing, angry miscreants who seem to have no altruistic or even godly purpose in life attacking the fruits of your generosity and hard work. I wish they would all be required to attend inner child healing classes… their entire lives would change for the better (and so would the internet & the world itself).
Then to top it off, having one of your own subscribers regale you with accusations and spewing venom at you that is most definitely not deserved. You are one of the nicest, most helpful and generous people on the net. A genuine, TRUSTED resource, as it were, and they are few and far between.
I just wanted you to know that there are a thousand or more of us who think the world of you VS. the one stray dysphoric that got his shorts in a wad because he's probably been lied to on the net and therefore thinks that everyone lies.
I understand what provoked his ire… [though you did not deserve to be the brunt of it] is because there are so many of the big marketers that use the "emergency" ploy or the "server problems" ploy to enable themselves to send out multiple emails in the hopes of lining their wallets by getting out more notices about the same darn product or service they promoted the day before. I rarely ever believe THEM. However, when you say something like that happened or use those terms (because it's NOT your norm) then I believe it is wholly and completely true.
You have never lied to anyone online, nor in emails, and you always offer wayyyy more than you ever ask of anyone and I, for one, am "in your corner" forever.
Best of success to you,
Donna
Dave Zan @ 1:08 am:
Hey Jim,
Sorry to read what happened. But good to know you've kept on top of things and even notified people what's going on!
I'll bet you won't hear from that person who thought you're only lining up your pockets and threatened not to buy products from any "Morris" name. He's probably given up smoking.
Just expect that there ARE people who don't know and don't care about these things go and only want results. And you can't please everybody, of course.
Take care, Jim. And keep up the good work!
Greg Watson @ 1:11 am:
As person who methodically researches niche keywords for the purpose of utilizing private label rights articles, I look forward to the public launch of NicheBot 2 … I am an annual subscriber to both WordTracker and Keyword Discovery, but I find that different tools each bring a unqiue value proposition to the table - and I utilize many …
But I also appreciate and am happy to support those that will also make quality tools available to others for free. Keep up the work, looking forward to NB2 …
Thanks,
Greg
tammy mays @ 5:30 am:
Jim,
I wanted to say, people who do things like the rude email guy and the abusers of Nichebot, always have their dirty deeds to come back and bite them in the ***. Kinda like Karma, I guess.
Also, while I'm here I want to take time to share with rude email dude everything you have done to help me(free of charge) in the past couple of weeks.
First, you have allowed me to sign up for Nichebot 2 (free of charge), given me FREE premium credits to do FREE extensive keyword research. Even after all this you gave me the most valuable thing- your personal time(again free of charge) to answer several emails and help me through some things because I am new to this.
So my conclusion is that you are doing the most you possibly can to help people WITHOUT LINING YOUR POCKETS. For real, how many people do you know that would give so freely in order to help folks without asking for money these days??
I hope that clears some things up for the Rude Email Dude!!!!
Jim, Thank you for everything you have done to help me, I appreciate it so very much and I look forward to learning lots from Nichebot 2.
Keep up the great work you are awesome!
Tammy Mays
Paul @ 5:55 am:
Hi Jim,
It's an absolute rarity for me to want to bother to put 'fingers to keyboard' in response to so much of what goes on on the net.
However, I felt that another endorsement of the way you have consistently run NicheBot and all that is connected with your highly valued (by most of us, anyway!) service was needed.
I concur with all the positive sentiments that have been expressed and would add my personal "Thank you"; only a couple of words but heavily pregnant with huge appreciation.
Kind regards,
Paul
Scott H @ 7:29 am:
Karma is not a myth. It will come back on them, but unfortunately, not fast enough to satisfy you and I.
And you're right…they won't even REALIZE that's what's happened to them, never equating their bad behavior with their continued miserable existence.
The "SEO" industry, (or affiliate, adsense, internet, search, or whatever you want to call our world) is not immune to the creeps that give the whole used car and insurance industry a bad name.
Hang in there, and thanks for a great product…
Gary @ 11:07 am:
Jim,
You provide an excellent service and it's really a shame that there are people who want to mess it up. Thanks for letting everyone know what actually happened.
I depend on Nichebot for all of my web sites and wondered what was going on the last few days. Keyword research is such a vital part of any sites success and nothing compares with Nichebot.
I do want to say that your videos have been extremely helpful and you make keyword research so much easier. I'm glad that I found Nichebot because I do keyword reseach here for all of the articles I write and every web page that I build.
Nichebot gives me exactly the results I'm looking for and those results will determine if my page or article will land on the front page of the search engines.
So far I'm very impressed with Nichebot and just wanted to say thanks for creating such a great site for keyword research.
Gary
Lori Eldridge @ 11:58 am:
I was wondering why your service sometimes put out "not in top 1000" for keywords I know where ranking. Sorry to hear those idiots have placed an extra hard burden on you when you're trying to provide a free service but I do see a lot of this happening around the net (the bad guys making it hard for the good guys).
Your service is better than any I have found (I can even find scrapers and hijackers with your results) so I hope it will continue, even if you decide to charge a fee, which I will gladly pay.
Thanks,
Lori
Chuck H @ 7:59 pm:
I love Nichebot! Spammers and other slime really can ruin a good thing. Keep up the good work. And to the guy that wrote the nasty letter (relax man). Nichebot is Great! Keep up the good work.
Cody Goodman @ 10:19 pm:
Jim, I really appreciate the service's you have set up here. I am not surprised that yet another person is trying to screw over another to get what they want. Hang in there, I am also a subscriber to nichebot 2 beta and love it.
heris @ 10:18 am:
Jim, I really appreciate all of your efforts to help us by creating nichebot, a great free keyword tool. I am agree with Gary, You have provided excellent services for many people. If not because Nichebot, I would have dropped out since the beginning. Not only Nichebot, but also your email course are very useful. I believe in Karma and I hope God takes action to bad people who always ruin internet community. I live in a place where honesty is one of the most expensive things to find. Trust me that Karma does exists! Once again, many thanks for your amazing services.
Reg @ 1:07 pm:
Hi Jim,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for NicheBOT. It is one of my most treasured SEO tools. I was most upset to see it offline as its loss would be, to put it mildly, horrendous.
It is a real shame that some people have to devise ways of exploiting services to their own ends.
As many have said here, their Karma will come back to bite them.
"What goes around comes around".
I am glad you found a way to foil these folks.
Keep up the good work.
For every bad Karma individual you have thousands of us that appreciate what you are doing.
Reg
Lisa Santora @ 2:24 pm:
I knew something odd must have been going on last week, because I couldn't use nichebot correctly; alas must there always be crooks out there to ruin it for the rest of us? I am most amazed that you have created nichebot and am a person who champions it all the time. We must stand up to these criminals and hope they get prosecuted. Thank you.
A.Q @ 2:27 pm:
Hey Jim
This is the nature of the internet, if you make em pay they start at you and if you give it away for free, the net losers will come at you. Thank you bucket loads for such a great tool, just look at all the people that have thanked you. Just comes to show for every bad there is always MORE good. Thank you for the great job on nichebot, I hope you crackdown on these scumbags
Gordan @ 2:08 am:
Hi Jim,
I am newbie in this world of Adsense and keywords. Found link to your site on one forum. Well your service is GREAT and I first try it only a couple of days ago. Today I wanted to do a search and saw no reults. Then came here and read this very sad story
This guy is probbaly 14 years old. Don't bother.
We all appreciate your service and I am recommending your site.
Thank you.
Lisa Santora @ 9:16 pm:
This is incredible. Not sure if tonight (9-23) that the site is so slow because of criminals running scripts, or not; but boy if it is; I will succinctly say to you, that you are interfering with my ability to make a living; trying to discover keywords to do my job. I pray you are arrested.
Matthew @ 3:57 pm:
Jim,
Thank you SO MUCH for providing this TOTOALLY FREE resource. It has been outstanding in developing my website, Keep up the good work!
Stef @ 8:19 am:
Hi Jim,
I finally read the statement in yellow… and found out you have a blog
Just to say that thanks to your google ranking, I used to find it much more fun to SEO my page up, then to work "completely in the dark".
Looking forward to use nichebot 2 for free (I love free stuff…)
Thanks!
Nate @ 7:48 pm:
Why not just add a spot for the user to input a unigue code on every search? If the code you generate is put back into an entry field the search is nullified. This would be one way to enforce that humans must perform the search. Oh and thanks for the great "free" keyword search tool.
Michael A @ 10:02 pm:
Hi Jim,
Been away from the box for a bit and this is the first I have heard of this issue. I am a strong believer in the Law of Attraction and I believe that both the folks hammering on NB and the "gentleman" are attracting some powerful problems into their lives.
I think NB2 is great. thank you very much for your work.
Michael A
Mary Greene @ 3:08 pm:
Dear Jim,
You HAVE made a tremendous contribution to new and experienced marketers seaching for effective keywords. Most of us are very grateful for your work.
What about the others? I suggest developing a Dim Light Bulb blog category where you post the most idiotic email messages you receive, using only their initials at the end. Then, you can send the Dim Light Bulb link to the guilty ones as a going away present before removing them from your list.
All the best,
Mary G.
marty @ 10:13 am:
WOW! Nichebot is amazing! I am new to this "game" surprise, surprise. Anyway thanks for fighting the good fight. Also, I wouldn't mind paying a small fee for this service. Maybe a one-time up front fee. Just a thought.
I agree with Mary G. about the dim light bulb link but it needs a special award for the truly gifted idiots, such as:
"THE CHEESE SLID OFF OF HIS CRACKER"
"THE WHEEL IS TURNING, BUT THE HAMSTER IS DEAD"
awards.
Thanks,
Marty
Christian Wilson @ 9:51 am:
Dear Jim,
I appreciate the powerful tools you have made available to us, it's saves us all so much time and effort. Normally I would have to pay an arm and a leg for the kind of information you provide us. Please ignore the thoughtless spammers because 'what goes around comes around'.
I want you to know that you have a loyal fan base that appreciates what you do.
Aloha,
Christian and friends
Chayden Bates @ 3:35 pm:
As far as the guy that complained, he's obviously jealous and doesn't seem to understand that there's give and take in all of this. NicheBOT is a business, and one would expect that it has to make at least enough profit/funds somewhere to sustain its many useful and free offers. I'm just really happy, even proud that Jim has found a way to benefit everyone, and to really take the original idea behind NicheBOT and grow it by leaps and bounds! Awesome job, Jim!
Chayden -
Richard @ 6:34 pm:
Jim
I salute you.
And I also had that experience, there are always people like that. Don't let them get you down.
I also appreciate your attitude that hold good thoughts they will wake up.
Best,
Richard
sally so @ 2:55 am:
Jim,
i'm shocked that people would do this!
your website provides a very useful service for online entrepreneurs i can't believe that people would abuse it in such a way that your service is denied.
i've used nichebot several time and can only say it is a wonderful product, keep up the good work.