Australian Certified Website – No thanks

Mmm today I woke up with the need of wasting money online…   So  I found a great idea to help you waste your money: Australian Certified Website.

The idea is not new…  “apply today to get your site certified with us and receive the great honor of having our “certification” in your website.

Although this idea exists in other countries with a big more professionalism … I found this Australian version a complete joke.

the Slogan of the site is “restoring confidence” … and I can’t stop asking myself: Restoring confidence in what?

The terms and conditions to be “approved” as an Australian Certified website seem so irrelevant that I clearly don’t see the point of being certified by a website run and own by one sole trader with zero approval or support of any other organization or leader in the industry.

Some of the of their conditions instead of restoring my confidence, give me more doubts than anything..

Have reasonable contact methods

I love the idea of “Reasonable” …  mm is email reasonable? I presume MORSE code is not Reasonable.
What about If I don’t want to be contacted? or what if I want to be contacted only via SMS? is that reasonable…?

• Have Australian telephone numbers

This is a nice idea… but anyone with skype can buy an Australian Skype number and redirect them to their evil HQ…

• Their home or office is located in Australia

Well… to register a .com.au you need to be located in Australia, but regardless… why is this relevant? If you are buying digital product, or watching a video online from X website… why do you need to know their office is located in Australia?

• Stock is distributed from Australia

Interesting point but very unlikely that they check that every single stock item is being sent from Australia…

• The site is legitimate (provides products or services that it claims)

I doubt that Australian Certified Website really goes in the trouble of checking this. Do they purchase all the products to verify their are LEGITIME?

• No discriminating, illegal or offensive content

Mmm we are entering a difficult area. What is offensive content for you? Is this what is offensive for Jessica Urquhart, the owner of Australian Certified Websites? so if my site posts a joke about certain religion… do I fail the approval process? By posting THIS post am I offeding Australian Certified Website?

• Complies with ACMA codes of practice including 18+ content

Well the ACMA code of practice is not only complex but it requires serious research , specially in the e-marketing and email delivery code and standards.  Once again (may be I’m wrong) I doubt that enough amount of time is spend to verify that the e-marketing code of practice put by the ACMA is followed.

Example: Australian Certified Website HAS a newsletter… but the newseltter system is hosted by Your Mailing Listing Provider

http://whois.domaintools.com/yourmailinglistprovider.com

your Mailing Listing Provider IS NOT an Australian company or has to follow the rules of the ACMA… so you may have a website that follows Australian ACMA rules… but your email delivery solution can be hosted in a country with differnet law regarding privacy and online marketing?

• The website has payment options through an Australian bank

Holy cow…  so if you use Paypal… you can’t be verified my friends. Because remember: Paypal is not an Australian Bank.

Overall I think this points don’t bring any confidence at all. Instead it will be good to see some REAL conditions.

What about

• Ecommerce Standards and Certified SSL – online payment systems
• What about a Privacy Policy ?
• may be the support of a 3rd Party Guarantee… what about including being certified by someone like TrustE or Comodo
• Certified agreement for customer resolution?
• Browser and Privacy Safety —> following a similar idea as Verisign

It seems to me the idea of Australian Certified website is… well, cute…  but we need to be professionals here. Online trust is a serious issue, in fact is something companies spend millions trying to build, grow and mantein… I doubt a $12 investment per year and a dead ugly logo is going to increase customers “trust” in any Australian company brand, ecommerce or service provider.

For more info:

TRUSTe is an independent organization whose mission is to build users’ trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices

Comodo is the Higher Certificate Authority. Dedicated to keeping our customers one step ahead, we have ensured that Comodo SSL is 2048-bit ready to keep our customers safe for the next 20 years

Verisign Extended Validationl “EV, or Extended Validation, provides the same strong level of security as traditional VeriSign® SSL Certificates, but with an added feature. When a customer visits a secure page using an EV-enabled browser, the address bar turns green, immediately alerting the customer that it’s safe to proceed with a transaction.”

For all of you looking for Seals of Approval… go nuts… save as.. and post in your site and see your SALES GROW…

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