There is no brandjacking here; Squidoo is very clear that they are not affiliated with the brand.
There is no extortion here unless Seth is flat-out lying about how the site works. He states that all of the content on the page is algorithmically generated [1], and no human has editorial control.
The lack of editorial control also applies to the brand. Even if they pay the $400 / month, they only get control over the left-hand column [2] and nothing states or implies that they have the ability to take down negative comments. In fact, it seems very clear that they cannot take it down.
The main use I can see for this site is for people doing research on a purchase--e.g., checking to see if a Canon PowerShot XS10 is a good camera for them. Even then, I would probably go to something more focused, like ePinions.com.
[1] "Each page collects [online content] about a brand. All of these feeds are algorithmic... the good and the bad show up[....]"
[2] And once [Squidoo builds] the page, the left hand column belongs to you. [...] You can publicly have your say right next to the constant stream of information about your brand[....]"
There is no extortion here unless Seth is flat-out lying about how the site works. He states that all of the content on the page is algorithmically generated [1], and no human has editorial control.
The lack of editorial control also applies to the brand. Even if they pay the $400 / month, they only get control over the left-hand column [2] and nothing states or implies that they have the ability to take down negative comments. In fact, it seems very clear that they cannot take it down.
The main use I can see for this site is for people doing research on a purchase--e.g., checking to see if a Canon PowerShot XS10 is a good camera for them. Even then, I would probably go to something more focused, like ePinions.com.
[1] "Each page collects [online content] about a brand. All of these feeds are algorithmic... the good and the bad show up[....]"
[2] And once [Squidoo builds] the page, the left hand column belongs to you. [...] You can publicly have your say right next to the constant stream of information about your brand[....]"