"Say no to 0870" - article criticising campaign

mbspuk · 15 June 2005 at 9:34AM

This article just popped into my Inbox. Not sure if it refers to the one being talked about on MSE, but it's a seriously flawed piece of journalism from an organisation I normally hold in high regard....

http://nfptechno.netxtra.net/archive/view.jsp?ref=124&cmr=252988

Hypocrisy or What?
A campaigning website is trying to highlight the cost of using 0870 telephone numbers. Unfortunately, it also promotes the very services that it denigrates.

Saynoto0870.com has been running for a number of years but its need to campaign is hindered by its links to numerous commercial organisations, such as Marks & Spencer, RAC, Sky and John Lewis for the purposes of "fundraising".

However, even worse are the links on the home page promoting the use of same 0870 numbers it seeks to curtail. TelecomIT offers 0870 numbers rental free via the saynoto0870.com website for a £10 set up charge - but so do many other suppliers (and without the set-up fee!). It should also be remembered that many companies (and charities) using 0870 numbers do not receive income from their suppliers - they use the numbers because of the additional functionality that they offer.

OK, there is also some very useful copy on the site, such as alternative (and less expensive) numbers to dial if you want to reach some major users of 0870 numbers, e.g. Tesco, Carphone Warehouse and Dell. Users of the site are also invited to add geographical equivalents for NGNs (Non-Geographic Numbers - the generic term for 0870, 0845 and 0800 numbers) where known.

Despite the fact that RAC is one of the fundraising supporters of the site, the secrets of their less expensive geographical telephone numbers are also exposed!

andy88_2 · 15 June 2005 at 10:06AM

Totally disingenuous nonsense. The links on the homepage that they describe do not exist, unless they meant Google Ads, in which case they should have unambiguously said so. Google itself makes the decisions about what ads are shown on what web pages, and this never implies, whether on that site or any other, any kind of endorsement by the site itself.

As for whether the site is sponsored by M&S, etc, no evidence is adduced and none at all is visible on saynoto0870. If the remarks are not entirely made up then perhaps they should support them, otherwise retract.

Thank you for recommending against signing up for this useless newsletter, which I had never heard of. It has its own much greater hypocrisy - a "How can I advertise" button ...

To discuss sponsorship or advertising, please e-mail

... somewhat against its not-for-profit name, as is its 0870 number

pricefighter · 15 June 2005 at 10:13AM

The reason that the https://www.saynoto0870.com site carrys NGN number adverts is because it runs an ad campaign with Google to help finance it..Google ads are randomly displayed based on words in particular pages .It is fully explained on the site by its founder Daniel.

In some ways it does the site a favour because it shows just how much money is being made out of Joe Public by NGN providers.

The person who wrote the seriously flawed NPTECHNO article clearly did not bother to check this. I wonder if its because they are trying to justify the use of 0870 numbers by its sister company Conference House.

bbb_uk · 15 June 2005 at 10:39AM

I believe it is AdSense they are referring to.

For a Not For Profit organisation, it asks people to ring an 0870 number?

I've just opened a new topic on this at SayNoTo0870 and asked for Daniel or either of the two Daves (Mods) for their comments.

danoneil · 15 June 2005 at 10:42AM

The old motto "All publicity is good publicity" rings true here - the more people who look at and use the saynoto0870 site - the better off we will all be! Bring on the day when phone calls are all free (or very nearly!)...

pricefighter · 15 June 2005 at 10:52AM

danoneil wrote:

The old motto "All publicity is good publicity" rings true here - the more people who look at and use the saynoto0870 site - the better off we will all be! Bring on the day when phone calls are all free (or very nearly!)...

YES!!!

Its proudly supported by the MSE himself and can be found at
https://www.saynoto0870.com it also covers cheap call providers so give it a visit.

dag_2 · 17 June 2005 at 7:51PM

Yeah, I can't see where they're getting the thing about being sponsored by RAC from either.

However, I notice that there's now a banner ad for 1899.com

I've also noticed that there have been a lot of question marks in its data lately.
Say No To 0870 isn't as good as it used to be, in my opinion - but then again, no-one else is doing better.

dag_2 · 17 June 2005 at 8:00PM

Yeah, I can't see where they're getting the thing about being sponsored by RAC from either.

I stand corrected. At http://www.saynoto0870.com/links.php there's a link which says

Places to shop and support our site - This page has several adverts to different products and services. If you purchase anything through these banners, SAYNOTO0870.COM will earn a percentage commission that is used towards website and running costs.

- and it goes to http://buy.at/djb - and sure enough, there are links to RAC, M&S, Sky and John Lewis, as well as MFI NTL and Oddbins. (I've never heard of the other shop they link to until now.)

In Say No To 0870's defence, I think the links to supporters is incredibly well hidden - indeed, I wouldn't have noticed them at all if I hadn't gone looking for them.

Does this mean that Say No To 0870 will vanish into thin air if we don't buy stuff? I hope not. But I've certainly never been given the impression that the links affect editorial policy.

"Say no to 0870" - article criticising campaign

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