A red herring, a misdirection, a distraction

Eden’s technical guru says they will continue to use javascript because it is the way of the future. Which is fine. No one’s asking them to stop using javascript. They’re asking them to stop using the code they’re using. To stop hiding outbound links from search engines.

The “everyone uses JavaScript” arguments EdenFantasys is making are a red herring, a misdirection, a distraction that tries to complicate an issue that is really quite simple. Like you said; no one’s asking EdenFantasys to stop using JavaScript, they’re asking them to stop using it to hide links from search engines. Therefore, any argument whose premise is similar to “but we need JavaScript!” is more than merely an obvious decoy, it corroborates suspicions.

I not only understand but commend your willingness to be generous towards EdenFantasys. None of us can divine intent. However, there is nothing in the code I saw, Fred Petrenko’s explanation, the explanation of his technical team, the code in the syndicated content, the content of forum threads, and especially the overly aggressive silencing of requests for honesty that indicate goodwill on EdenFantasys’s part. Eventually, this became clear beyond a reasonable doubt: their unethical behavior was intentional, it was strategic, it was deliberate, and widespread knowledge of its prevalence is so damning that not even graceless back-peddling is helpful now, as you’ve no doubt noticed.

We are each free to choose what “beyond a reasonable doubt” means to us, and rightfully so. We’re way, way past that point, for me.

M seems to think that it should be a quick fix. He thinks that if the website’s programmed optimally, it shouldn’t take more than a few hours, and it should be relatively easy. Of course, He doesn’t have access to anything more than the source code on each page, just like the rest of us, so He could be wrong. But it’s not likely.

I’d say that’s a sound assessment.

One of the reasons I didn’t publicize this issue with the links until I had completed my write up (which took some time) is precisely because there very well may be a “quick fix.” That is, whatever system EdenFantasys is using to obscure their so-called “links” behind sneaky JavaScript redirects that Google can’t understand might have or might have had an off switch. If it did, and I started talking about the issue before I published my article, they would have used it immediately, before I published my article, so that anyone who tried to independently verify my work would not be able to do so.

Clearly, since little has changed have changed with Web Merchants, Inc. aka EdenFantasys (except their TOS and legal disclaimers, of course), there are two possible realities. One possibility is that a literal or metaphorical “off switch” or “quick fix” that would convert all the fake links into real links does not exist, in which case fixing all the links is a relatively expensive proposition and one that you probably shouldn’t hold your breath for. The other possibility is that a quick fix does exist and they are unwilling or unable to use it, in which case you still shouldn’t hold your breath for something to change.

Like I said, either way you slice it, this situation sure feels like it’s past the point of rationally offering them the benefit of the doubt. That’s my assessment, anyway.

Read the whole post here.