Redz, or previously called RedZee is one of the biggest rip-off scams on the Web. They may have changed their name and domain to try and avoid all the negative listings after any search for RedZee – EVERY listing after their own on a Google search is something negative – time for a new engine name and URL don’t you think and that is exactly what they did….:-)
So, now when you search for ‘redz’ on the major search engines, Redz shows up between 2nd and 4th position, but there are no negative listings on the first page! Wow, good job Redz (or RedZee).
What I find funny is this, they are so sloppy on running their company that they left old versions of their search engine live. For instance, if you type in RedZee.net you get to see the original search engine. If you type in RedZee.org, you will find show old press release from 2005 called, ‘New Metasearch Engine With a New Vision’. Not sure what they meant, unless the vision was a clever scheme to rip people off.
Now let me tell you a quick story about someone I know who bought into their lies and bought a listing from them. Well, after analyzing their traffic in Google Analytics it was quite interesting that a site that receives around 200 unique visits a day from search engines can suddenly spike to 600 unique visits a day with 400 of these visits coming from Redz. Let’s give Redz the benefit of the doubt and assume that they could provide 400 unique visits a day (sometimes much more in bursts) I analyzed a bit deeper any amazingly enough 100%, not 98% or 99%, but 100% of the traffic bounced. So, with no explanation from Redz my friend has dropped them, but they still try to harass them into using their service with lightly veiled threats about what will happen to their website once they quit the service.
So, just for reference, Redz really does not have that much actual traffic and no they have no arrangements with any of the major search engines, but they do have a piece of software that once installed can overlay their ads on top of Google, Yahoo, Bing or Ask results giving you the appearance of clicking on a Google, Yahoo, Bing or Ask ads. This is basically spyware labeled as something else (some spyware software can catch and remove this malicious and intrusive code) as to not alarm you and/or allow you to have any idea of what it is actually doing. In addition, all the traffic my friend saw was actually ‘bot’ traffic, meaning it was not actual humans, but programs specifically designed to call upon and then click on ads that generate traffic for RedZee to allow it to continue selling it’s program to unsuspecting individuals month after month.
What I hope to achieve with this post is a better awareness of what Redz actually is all about and to provide the potential for this information to rank within the top 10 listings in major search engines when someone actually searches on the term ‘redz’.
Redz is just like RedZee you cannot hide behind a new domain and name and apparently you cannot teach an old zebra new tricks.
McAffee SiteAdvisor Information on RedZee and Redz Websites
I urge you to post any dealing you have had with RedZee and/or Redz in the comments of this post.
Updates and additional resource links (10.22.10)
Amazingly enough, RedZee/Redz have been running their scams for over 5 years now!
I would like to thank everyone who continues to keep others aware of this ongoing scam by posting their personal experiences with this worthless company. My only hope is that we can help more people before they also get scammed as it appears Redz will not stop be stopping anytime soon. Below are some additional links and information, but please read the comments before you go and add your own if you feel so inclined.
PRLog – RedZee Traffic Fake, Lots of Complaints and Reviews
Ripoff Report – RedZee Search Results
Agents Online – RedZee – scam – Realtors Marketing Tips, Talk, Webmasters Forum
SEO Fail Blog – RedZ Fail
Squidoo – Open Letter to the President of RedZee
The Kona Impact Blog – RedZee Pay-Per-Click Scam Alert
800 Notes – Directory of Unknown Callers – RedZee (813) 769-2423
Feydakin.com – Bad SEO – RedZee / Web Wise Media Scam
T-Shirt Forums – RedZ – New Inexpensive Search Marketing Opportunity
Able 2 Know – Anyone use RedZ search engine?
Info Barrel – Redz Search Engine
The Consumerist – Redzee Won’t Stop Trying To Scam Charlie’s Boss
Webmaster World Forum – RedZ Won’t Be Around Long
Les Jones Blog – Beware of Redzee.com
Squidoo Lens – RedZee Search Engine – The Top3 Scam
The Search Engine Guide – Seeing Red – Search Engine RedZee Reviewed
SEOMoz – Investigating the RedZee Search Engine
Real Estate Webmasters – Redzee
Cre8asiteForum – What’s a RedZee
Website Chat Software – Detecting click fraud with…Live chat software!?
Site Reference – RedZee Complaints Pile Up – Read This Before Using Redzee!
Stepforth – Seeing Red – Search Engine RedZee™ Reviewed
Web Pro World Forum – Share Your RedZee Experience or Information
Professional Web Services – Advertising Scam “Search Engine Data Merging”
Complaints Board – Web Wise Media SCAM, HOAX, RIP OFF
Lunar Pages Forum – RedZee and eventure
Active Rain – RedZee.com
