Why do really smart people hate Plaxo so much? (or Tim Koogle tells us how Plaxo will make money).

I asked Tim Koogle�while here at PC Forum�why people hate Plaxo. I told him how a dozen people from the conference had told me they would never use Plaxo because of fears of how they would use the data (i.e. spam, marketing, etc.) He said that it was an old myth that people have venom for Plaxo. Then I gave him the punch line�that I had gotten these emails in the last couple of weeks. I added that the reason people are concerned is because they have not revealed their business model.

Esther explained to Tim that he should make Plaxo�s mission and the size of company clearer to the customers so that they would feel more comfortable with it.

When I asked Tim what the business model was � there was a long pause before he said it was either going to be a consumer pays, or an enterprise pays. I get the sense he didn�t want to tip his cards. He said the pay trials would start shortly (as in any day now.)

John Patrick, one of the most respected guys at the conference, challenged Koogle to explain why we should trust Plaxo, or the FUTURE OWNER of Plaxo.

Esther pointed out you don�t have to use Plaxo.

I caught up with Koogle over lunch and we had a nice talk, and I�m sure he wouldn�t associate himself with anything nefarious. In fact, I love and use Plaxo everyday�it is a brilliant piece of software. However, I told Tim that I think that the product is so slick, so well-designed and so pretty that it scares people and that it would have been better if they made it Craigslist style (that is, less slick.)

Update: People hissed when Plaxo was mentioned during Tim�s introduction.

Update Two: In an audience poll of how many people have erased Plaxo requests almost everyone raised their hand. When ask if they had deleted more then 10 almost everyone kept their hands up. Not a shock, and it is certainly not spam�but it sure feels like it to people. If it walks like a duck is it a duck?

Mar 23rd 2004 3:40AM
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1. Jason, You've touched on two primary issues: - what's Plaxo's business model? - fear over what might happen to a member's information. Our business model has always been to upsell our customer base to premium features we feel people would be willing to pay for. One example of this is our Plaxo Contacts - VIP Support Edition which provides us significant revenue for our company today. We will be releasing other additional premium features this year, but the basic address book sync capabilities that most people enjoy today will continue to remain free. This allows us to continue to expand our user base and Plaxo brand. Plaxo is working towards becoming the premiere Infrastructure provider for Universal Contact Management. What does this mean? Well, imagine the ability to synchronize and access any of your contact management information, regardless of device (PC, PDA, Phone, etc..) or location (web and wireless). All of these devices would automatically stay updated and synchronized. Imagine having greater ability to control who you give your information to, what information you provide, and what information you accept from others. These are some of the elements that make up what we envision to be Universal Contact Management. Some of these capabilities will be built into the free Plaxo, others will be available as part of premium services. As for fears of how member data might be used, we try to address this very clearly in our Plaxo Privacy Policy. We will continue to further clarify the policy based upon user feed, but a couple of the key points within the Privacy Policy are: - Your Information is your own and you decide who will have access to it. - We do not sell, exchange or give Your Information to any third-parties (unless required by law) - You have the right to access, correct, update, and/or delete Your Information at any time. The Plaxo Privacy Policy is a public statement of our fair information practices and it is designed to be self-regulating. In other words, it allows people to evaluate our actions against our words and determine for themselves if we are a trustworthy organization. Skeptics of our intentions are always quick to point out within our Privacy Policy we state that "In the event Plaxo goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition or the sale of all or a portion of its assets, your membership in the Plaxo Contact Networks and the Plaxo servers containing Your Information will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred." This is true, similar to if my local video store were to be acquired, all of the records the store maintains on my video renting habits would now become the property of the new owner. But our Privacy Policy further protects members by allowing them to maintain their rights over the information. Within the Notification of Changes section of the Privacy Policy, it states that "if we plan to use Your Information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify you. You will have a choice as to whether or not we use Your Information in this different manner". This would cover any cases where Plaxo might be acquired, merged, etc... I encourge anyone interested in Plaxo to read through our Terms of Service agreement and our Plaxo Privacy Policy. Hopefully this addresses the two concerns you touched on. If there are any other questions we can help with, please let us know. Stacy Martin Plaxo Privacy Officer smartin @t Plaxo.com

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Stacy Martin

2. Couldn't resist posting this. http://www.alexa.com/data/details/?url=www.plaxo.com People who visit this page (plaxo) also visit: * ... * Cloudmark SpamNet www.cloudmark.com

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Julian Bond

3. whoa. That's the first official company PR response to a blog post that I've seen. That's interesting in itself. Until recently, I didn't know what Plaxo was so I delete and filter each request I get. Once, I recognized a friend's email and replied with a, "is this a phishing scam?" and didn't get a response, which confirmed my suspicion that it was a phishing scam. I can't debate the merits on Plaxo's service or business model, but from my experience, with so much spam, I don't know how they'll get through to my inbox or anyone elses.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by -b-, The Clip-n-Seal guy

4. Plaxo's business model, as well as similar products such as GoodContacts, lends itself to the spam world, and is no better than any other junk I receive. The idea that I want to update my information for YOU is crazy... what benefit is there to me? None. The only purpose of such a service is to create a user base, so eventually you can turn off the free stuff and start making money from people. Check out Infotriever.com... a much better business model. Not only can I download information from partner websites, travel, etc... people can link to my information via my email signature link, and when I want to update my info, they automatically receive an update... I do all the work. And best of all... NO SPAM!!!! TB

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by TB

5. A component of the answer to why people hate Plaxo and delete its requests is that it appears to be a product from the future in which companies use automated systems to recruit unwitting individuals to perform the work of the company for them. I don't want to be the data entry drone for people who want my information in their address books. I like to control the outflow of my information. If someone can't take the time to enter my information themselves, regardless of how repetitive a task that is for the few hundred people I know to do so (I can send them a vCard after all if they ask, obviating that task), then they can bite me. I can't possibly be important enough to someone who isn't willing to key my data in or ask me via email for a vCard. Therefore why do I want to facilitate a system that makes my current data that much more easily available to everyone who wants to enter me in their address book? It's a centralized repository of information that I don't care about the privacy implications of. I DON'T WANT MORE RANDOM USELESS CONTACTS. I want people to put a little time into tracking and finding me. As I tell the Yellow Pages when the call, no, thank you, I have enough business.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Glenn Fleishman

6. Count me as an active and vocal critic of Plaxo. I point out all of the privacy issues with Plaxo to all of my friends who use the service, but sadly, by the time I get the emails from them, my data (at least my email) is already in the Plaxo DB. I tell my friends that I feel like they are taking advantage of me by asking me to do their work for them. I tell my friends that I do not want my privacy compromised. I tell my friends that we have no way of knowing what Plaxo will do with our contact data. I tell my friends that there is no way to get one's data taken out of Plaxo. They are uniformly horrified and apologetic. If Plaxo thinks that this is the right way to build a business, I think they will find that they are wrong. I will do my best to dissuade all my friends and colleagues who use Plaxo to reconsider it.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Gen Kanai

7. Jason, I'd really appreciate it if you would consider adding a "preview" button to your comment area. Right now, without a preview, it's lacking in functionality in comparison to most other major weblog software. For me, previewing my comments before posting them is critically important. I hope you might agree with me and provide us this functionality. Sincerely, Gen

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Gen Kanai

8. As to why everyone hisses at the mere mention of Plaxo--I think that's nothing to do with the potential privacy implications or misuse of data. I think it's purely because it *looks like spam*. It takes an innocent one-to-one communication and turns it into an impersonal bulk message. Examples: Before Plaxo: "Hey, I need to mail you the latest version of the contract. Can you send me a vCard with your up-to-date details?" After Plaxo: "This message is going out to everyone in my address book. I don't need your address right now--in fact I may never need it--but please take a few moments to enter all of your personal details into an unfamiliar interface hosted by a service you've never heard of, on the off chance that I might eventually need them, because I'm terribly, terribly important and you have nothing better to do with your time." Hiss.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Michael Moncur

9. These are all very good comments that people are making, and I'd like to add a few more points for people to consider. - Parto of the benefit of Plaxo is so that you don't have to send out update requests and you don't have to receive unnecessary e-mail. All of this could be managed for you automatically. Most people would agree that with all of the changes that occur on a daily basis, staying current with others is a problem. When I changed jobs, I was faced with sending out an e-mail to everyone I cared to stay in touch with and providing them with my updated information. In turn, each of those people then needed to manually update their address books, if they wished to maintain my latest information an stay in touch with me. Even then, I could not provide them with all of my contact information since I didn't have all the information yet. I'd then be faced with having to send out another message to each of those people. And what's worse, some of those messages inevitably bounced for friends and associates who's contact information had also changed, but failed to update me. What is the potential lost opportunity now that I have lost contact with these people? But for each of my contacts who are Plaxo members, I can establish a connection with them through the Plaxo Network when sending them an Update Request. Typically, they don't receive the Update Request, but instead a notification of what Plaxo has been able to handle for them automatically (even these notifications can be turned off). Based on their settings, Plaxo can provide to me their latest contact information automatically. At this point, I am now connected to the other Plaxo member, and they to me. When I update my information, they automatically receive the update. When they update their information, I receive the update. No e-mail, no fuss, no mess. Plaxo allows me to better manage who I give my information to and how I update information within my own address book. Now for some of the other questions people have touched on: - Personalized messages: We encourage members to personalize the message that is included with their update request. We do include a default template for ease of use, but it's always best to add your own words. In future versions, we'll also be improving the default message text. - CloudMark: They are a highly respected anti-spam company and a proud partner of Plaxo presented prominently on our site (http://www.plaxo.com/partners). - Usage: Our Plaxo Privacy Policy (http://www.plaxo.com/support/privacy) outlines how your information is used and protected. - Responses to Update Requests are alway voluntary. You don't have to be a Plaxo member in order to respond, and we provide multiple options to either respond directly, auto-reply (you receive no email), or stop receiving future update requests from Plaxo members (opt-out link included in Update Request). Stacy Martin Plaxo Privacy Officer smartin @t Plaxo.com

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Stacy Martin

10. ... when the next idiot opens a viral attachment, they can be certain that all the addresses in the Outlook database are valid.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Anne

11. Saying that having valid addresses is bad because your virus will be more efficient is just stupid. If Plaxo solves the problem of having inaccurate contact info (which it does) and you're afraid of having accurate contact data, then just erase all your contact data! Or better yet, add garbage in all your contact fields! Boy that will really slow down the virus! The solution to effective viri is not to remove useful tools like Plaxo or even Outlook. The solution to viri is to not run or propagate infected email by software tools, awareness of what can be malicious code, and other training. I just had to respond to this because like so many knee jerk incindary arguments to real issues today, the complaint does sound valid until a little thought is given; geez! blaming Plaxo or people who keep accurate accurate data for that matter, for the success of viruses really irresponsibly shifts the blame. - D. Sutherland Los Angeles, CA

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by D. Sutherland

12. When I first used Plaxo, I sent copies to a couple friends who I knew were compulsive Roledex types. They immediately joined. Then I misplaced my physical real world address book, so I hit plaxo's button to send it to everyone. 550 some emails went out. I've gotten emails back from old friends, others from folk who were leery of plaxo and vaguely offended. One from someone who I don't know how she got in my address book. And unfortunately one from my aunt's girlfriend, reminding me that she'd passed away (joint email account). I think it's overall good, occasionally bad. Ideally, I should preview all of my email addresses, but with all the wonky names folk use, it's hard to remember who in the hell fluffkit97@aol.com is. Plaxo did a wonderful thing when it asked me if I wanted to change similar cutesy email names into the actual names of the people they're attached to.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Kevin Murphy

13. I have two concerns about joining Plaxo - which I did today, after a Plaxo request. One is that they may turn my personal info into a cow and milk it. Another is that they use your personal relations to heavily market their product, turning your friendship into a means of making money, a practise also called network marketing, which is shunned more and more. Please don't turn my online life into a Tupperware(TM) party, will you? To end on a positive note, it is possible to turn off the annoying emails you get every time someone changes their mobile number or job, whichever is most frequent these days.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by H. Norheim

14. I agree removing MY personal information is possible. Plaxo certainly at least TRIES to address that concern. What I want to do though is remove all of my FRIENDS' personal information that was sent to their server through my thoughtless and careless act of installing Plaxo. Sure, I can remove my 1 lonely email, but what about the 500 emails they just sucked off of me? Of friends, coworkers, and random customers I helped during tech support emails? How sorry I feel for them now that they are on perhaps the largest spam list ever created. Not just their emails, but their telephone numbers, their home addresses. And not everyone can defend themselves by opting-out (request their own data removed), since I was "smart enough" to send only one test email to one poor soul. No one else on my list knows that they are now on the largest spam list ever created. There's no obvious way to clean up the damage and I'll bet $10 million in venture funding that Plaxo won't give up the information so easily. That's their backup plan. If they run short on money and need a little extra, what's the easiest, most valuable thing they can do? SELL YOUR INFORMATION. They can make all the promises they want, but the most valuable assets of this company are the 30 million valid emails, cell phone numbers, and home addresses they have in their database. There is no way a potential buyer of Plaxo would ever allow that information to be erased. Imagine what's in the db right now. Some secretary decides to install Plaxo on her work machine. It uploads the entire company's contact information (Genentech for example), including the cell numbers of every executive. What Oracle DB sales guy wouldn't love access to that database? How much would he be willing to pay? Multiplied by the number of sales guys at Oracle? Now you're understanding the value of information. Don't use Plaxo. Plaxo is evil.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by jake, I made a mistake

15. They can promise anything they want about what happens after a business transfer--it's already been shown that these have no actual bearing on the aquiring party. Even if I trusted Plaxo, it's a time bomb happily ticking away. Will Plaxo ever be bought (or go bankrupt)? I think so (venture money means they are already "mostly" owned by people out for cash). Will that company restrict their use of Plaxo's data? Not likely.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by R.B.

16. I have used PLAXO to automatically update my Outlook address book. That service was not appreciated by those on my contact list. Now I am using ContactsClinic - http://www.srimax.com/contactsclinic which is an outlookplugin and overcomes the problems of sharing my contacts. ContactsClinc works smart and updates all my contacts.

Posted at 4:40PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Vengat

17. Good idea regarding the preview feature in comments... we should certainly do a preview function. Look for it soon... until then post wisely!!!

Posted at 4:01PM on Nov 3rd 2005 by Jason

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