Tweetle-do, Tweetle-don’t
Groundspeak is showing again that it’s a money-grubber.
What’s the case? The Dutch reviewer ‘Kruimeldief’ and the Dutch site globalcaching.nl have had a twitter channel where they put a notification when a new cache is published. The Dutch reviewer did this for NL caches only and the site did this for both BE and NL caches. This the gave FTF hunter the ability to have an alternative / additional channel for the e-mail notifications. It seems that Groundspeak isn’t that happy about this and asked to stop this service with the following explanation:
We respectfully requested that Kruimeldief stop tweeting the latest cache publications (including coordinates). Basically, it replicated the insta-notify premium membership feature of the site (http://www.geocaching.com/notify/). Premium Member features, as you know, help us keep the website running.
Additionally, as with the geocaching.nl and globalcaching.nl data license Agreements, we do not allow third parties to publish geocache coordinates. Rather, we want geocachers to visit geocaching.com to obtain the most current information for the caches that they are seeking.
Please feel free to share this information. I hope it helps.
It is clear; GS puts money above service. As with all the other site deficiencies, it cripples any initiative that tries to improve the service towards the user or customer if you speak in GS terms. Instead, one sticks to prehistoric technology which btw doesn’t seem work properly either. Although I’m not a FTF hunter (at all), I’d like to be notified when a new cache in the neighbourhood has been published. I’ve encountered many times that I didn’t get any e-mail or when I did, it arrived very late. Looking at the forums, I don’t seem to be the only one.
After all, we’re living in the 21st century and mobile and social computing makes part of our every day life. I don’t see what there can be against this initiative, just because one ‘looses’ income by doing this. At the other hand, one is promoting things like geocaching live – whatever the use of/need for it might be except from making it payable whenever it’s out of the beta cycle (if that ever happens). So why not letting twitter notification to live through, at least in protected mode (where one is on control of who’s befriended)?
April 23rd, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I can’t agree more! If only GS would put as much effort in improving their own service as they put in destroying third-party services that GS does not offer themselves there would be no reason for third-party extensions to exist!
Yes, de email notifications are nice, but the twitter feed is just much easier.
Besides… I don’t know if those guys at GS ever tried to load their site with a mobile device… It takes ages! The WAP site on the other hand is way to brief!
And GS has more of those everlasting hobbyprojects. For example the wherigo builder is in alpha since may 2008! AGES in IT teems.
WAKE UP GROUNDSPEAK we are 2010 now!
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:07 pm
I don’t know. It makes me a little glad to hear they are “protecting” those of us that have paid for a membership. I’d be pissed if I paid for a membership – and then found out later I could figure the stuff out another way.
They have got to make money somehow!
April 23rd, 2010 at 5:56 pm
I have to disagree. The e-mail notifications in – its current, malfunctioning form – doesn’t have any added value nor is a way to make money from it.
When GS offers a state of the art functionality similar to the current/past tweets, I’ll be happy to pay money for it.