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Meta Tags Etiquette

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Hi.

I have a questions as it relates to a website I am putting together. Our company does independent research on nutritional supplements. We put volunteers on 30 day trials of various supplements and record their physical changes. We will sell this information to the public. We don't have any competitors that do what we do.

Would it be unethical to use specific names of supplements or their manufacturers as key words in our meta tags?

Many of the supplements or manufacturers have the "™" and "®" symbols after their name. We are not competing with them as we don't sell supplements. We only sell the research information on the supplements these other companies manufacture.

Jamie
Dec 29 '06 #1
3 1337
ronverdonk
4,258 Expert 4TB
I don't think ethics have much to do with that, as long as you observe the privacy and do not publish anything of the persons that have been tested.
I also don't think that, generally speaking, there is much against publishing product test data, but only if you have the public's interest in mind.

However, if you want to publish just because you want to earn money from that, it's a whole different ball game. And I think you cannot do that because of the legal consequences.

What if your test result, a test of a registered trademark company product, is not so jubilant as the company wants the public to believe. Then you'll have to prove (in court) that your test was absolutely objective, scientifically justified, and that you have only did this in the interest of the community at large. And that the community can only benefit by knowing the name of that company.

You've got hard times ahead if you do this.

Ronald
Dec 29 '06 #2
macklin01
145 100+
First off, I am not a lawyer. I'm married to a paralegal, so I hear some of this stuff at home, but none of this is legal advice.

That being said, from what I can tell, this has nothing to do with ethics (which would relate to the privacy of study participants, posting truthful information, etc.), and everything to do with trademark law.

I suspect that you need to have the proper disclaimers that these results are your own, <brand X> is a registered trademark of <company Y>, that you have no relationship with <company Y>, etc. However, the place to check is with a lawyer and not on a computer forum.

However, if you're too cheap or low budget to afford a handful of billable hours, you might go looking for some NOLO guides. If you're not in the US, you'll have to find something equivalent for you. -- Paul
Dec 30 '06 #3
macklin01
145 100+
Here's a better version of that post; I timed out on my edit. :rolleyes:

First off, I am not a lawyer. I'm married to a paralegal, so I hear some of this stuff at home, but none of this is legal advice.

That being said, from what I can tell, this has nothing to do with ethics (which would relate to the privacy of study participants, posting truthful information, etc.), and everything to do with trademark law.

I suspect that you need to have the proper disclaimers that these results are your own, <brand X> is a registered trademark of <company Y>, that you have no relationship with <company Y>, positive reviews do not constitute an endoresement of <product Z>, etc. So, that's one issue: the proper use of registered trademarks and company and product names.

As Ronald mentioned, libel and other civil issues may also be important. If you publish a disparaging review, an evil company may come out and try to sue for damages. Again, being truthful and including extensive details on testing methodology will be helpful. The more scientific you can be, the better. So, the second issue is liability for negative reviews and statements.

The third potential issue is related. What if you review a product as good, and a consumer uses it and suffers an injury as a result of using that product? Would your company incur any liability for that recommendation? Again, some sort of disclaimers may apply. (e.g., this review is intended to provide you with information on <product Z>. A positive review does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement of <product Z>, etc. <our company> makes no guarantees, blah blah blah.) So, the third issue is liability to consumers.

However, the place to check is with a lawyer and not on a computer forum. However, if you're too cheap or low budget to afford a handful of billable hours, you might go looking for some NOLO guides. If you're not in the US, you'll have to find something equivalent for you. I'd also take a good look at Consumer Reports to see what kinds of hoops they jump through. But at the end of the day, there's no substitute for a good attorney. A small investment in sound advice at the beginning could spare you a lot of litigation expense in the future. -- Paul
Dec 30 '06 #4

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