>> you DID gain my personal info under false pretenses:
I think we have a misunderstanding on how the pages are setup.

All you did was CLICK. No optin. No registration.

A salespage (market interest test page) is shown. You click through. That CLICK is what I want.

Or you don't click through and see an exit survey. THAT too is what I want.

So far, no optin.

However, if you did click and were likely ready to buy, a legitimate ... "not available", "working on revisions", "coming soon", "page under constructions" or whatever bit you want is provided. YOu are then ON THAT PAGE given the option to register for early notification.

No false pretenses at all.



>> And if a company runs an ad campaign without any intent whatsoever to produce a product, that could be seen as fraud, he cautions."
Okay, but that bit is nonsense. A company wouldn't run an ad without intent of producing a product. They'd run it as market research which means if sufficient interest is there, it WILL go to market. The reason you see legal statements like that is to make sure companies aren't out there pitching you a super widget such as "This bottle cures hair loss" just to gain your optin and then tell you "oops, we don't have any of the hair loss cures left but how about this cool shampoo"...


>> Maybe something like "Super-Powerful SexoWidget - Now In Pre-Development!" Blah Blah Blah Feature Benefit, Blah Feature Benefit, Blah Blah... Sign Up Today To Discover MORE and be notified the Instant It's Available!
Sure, you could go that route. I see no reason for it though. I mean, the arguement could still stand that if there's not enough interest in your widget then you really aren't going to develop it, therefore your "now in development" is false advertising.

The bottom line is this ...

If no transaction (whether purchase or optin) occured... you can pretty well go ahead and say whatever you want. As soon as your marketing captures senstives lead information or has someone spending money... THAT is when rules come into the game. But even there, you can let common sense and general ethics guide you and you'd be fine.



>> Just to clarify, Rob: You da man! I'm not trying to be contentious or Dis you - I always enjoy reading your highly informative and well thought out info. I'm just debating in the hope that some n00b reading this doesn't run off and get themself in major doodoo by not thinking it through first!
I don't know about "da man" statement but I'll take the kudos anyways. ;-)

And by all means, I'm doing precisely the same.. just giving my feedback, my thoughts and arguing my point. Not because it's "right or wrong" but because this is a DISCUSSION forum.. so by all means.

However, I do feel my original explanation was poorly explained and therefore misunderstood. I do NOT force an opt-in for them to find out the product isn't available. It's just a click... and since no sale and no opt-in of any sort occurred (all I want for my tracking is the click and the exit pop feedback), the "legalities" really don't come into play.