From the monthly archives:

August 2007

Florist Mapspam on Yahoo Local – Part 2

August 31, 2007

How many flower-buying consumers haven’t heard of 1-800-Flowers or FTD? When they decide to purchase direct from a local florist and skip a middleman, it’s logical a shopper would head to a Local resource to help find a brick and mortar flower shop in the city where their gift is destined.
In our first article about [...]

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Florist Mapspam On Yahoo Local – Part 1

August 29, 2007

Do you see a flower shop here? Neither do we. But according to Yahoo Local, it’s the location of NEW YORK FLORIST (FREE DELIVERY TO ALL ZIP CODES) – 60 Reade St., New York, NY.
Take a few steps east and you can stop into a real local flower shop, Langdon Florist.
Where is NEW YORK [...]

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For Florists Affected by PFN Bankruptcy

August 28, 2007

As many florists know, Tom Meola’s Preferred Florist Network filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in US federal court earlier this month. The information below, compiled by a FlowerChat.com member, may be helpful to florists who are currently owed funds by PFN.
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Court: US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey
Martin Luther King Jr Federal Building
50 [...]

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Florida AG Sues Meola Company for Fictitious Florist Listings

August 28, 2007

In a press release today, Florida’s Attorney General, Bill McCollum, announced his office has sued New Jersey-based Flowers With Gifted Elegance and the related companies owned by Tom Meola, alleging they “created fictitious florist listings” and “named them so as to lead consumers to believe that the companies were located in Florida cities and towns.”

“Meola [...]

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Why Yahoo Local needed to change its review policy

August 28, 2007

User ratings and reviews can be one of the most useful aspects of sites focused on local businesses and services. CitySearch, InsiderPages, Yelp, Yahoo Local and others have built legions of loyal users who enjoy sharing their experiences and reading the opinions of others.
The future of those sites depends on users’ trust – in [...]

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King of Fictitious Florists Files Bankruptcy

August 21, 2007

An article today from the Star-Ledger details Tom Meola’s Chapter 7 filings in Newark NJ. His two companies, TTP, Inc. (the retailer operation under the name Flowers With Gifted Elegance) and Preferred Florist Network (the wire service operation) have long been a source of complaints from both local florists and consumers.
Through a third company, Lower [...]

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