Ashwin Khanna $2500 Blog Extravaganza Was a Fraud!
August 24th 2007 21:20
Khanna's Dishonesty and Ulterior Motives Exposed
Phil, at Contest Blogger has exposed Ashwin Khanna's so-called $2500 Blog Extravaganza for what it apparently actually was: a totally fraudulent attempt to gain backlinks to his blog in order to raise his Technorati ranking and authority. And it has--enormously! For details, please see Contest Blogger's "I Told You So" post.
The Contest Blogger Counter-Contest
In response to Khanna's blatant con, Contest Blogger has decided to run a contest of his own: The Ashwin Khanna Revenge Contest, which any blogger who was conned into giving link love to Khanna through his fake contest can enter. The prize ($100) is quite a bit lower than Khanna's promised windfall, but, unlike Khanna's, presumably this prize will actually be delivered to the lucky winner.
Contest Requirement: A Link to Contest Blogger
The only thing Phil requires of the conned bloggers is that they change the links they gave Khanna, redirecting them to the Contest Blogger home page. (I have given this a great deal of thought and have simply decided to remove the links to Khanna's blog from my previous post announcing his "contest" (actually, more like con test). After careful consideration, I've decided that, since I'm generous with links anyway, I don't mind linking to Contest Blogger--In fact, he deserves the links for exposing Khanna's fraud--yet I've decided that, rather than doing so in the Khanna announcement post, by changing the link, I would simply link to Phil's blog in this post. (Perhaps Contest Blogger himself has taught me not to be so quick to jump on the bandwagon.)
Are You on the List of Defrauded Bloggers?
At any rate, Contest Blogger has posted a (very long) list of the blogs/bloggers who were conned by Khanna (which you'll find in the Revenge Contest post, linked to above). If you're on the list, you're eligible to enter his Khanna counter-contest, should you be so inclined.
Apt Acknowledgments
Thanks go out to Phil, at Contest Blogger, for his expose of this fraudulent contest. In addition, I'd like to thank The Contest Winner, whose modified post, Ashwin's Blog Extravaganza!! Win $2500 (which also lists all affected blogs/bloggers), originally alerted me to the con, via my Writer's Notes' Technorati Blog Reactions list.
Again, I'd like to offer an apology to all who entered Khanna's contest as a result of the announcement posted on my blog.
Apologetically yours,
Jeanne
Another interesting blog post, adding to the Khanna conversation, can be found at the following link: Honesty is the Best Policy – Not for Ashwin Khanna!
8/28/07: Just thought I'd link back to Ramblifications, a blog that shared a little link love with me and all the other bloggers who've written posts about being conned by Khanna.
Did this post make you think? Don't leave me lonely--Please comment!
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Comment by David
What's Phil's ulterior motive for offering $100? Strict justice or revenge?
All this continual linking is doing is promoting the thing Phil is against isn't it?
I see this all as a trap for young players.
Sure, all bloggers would love to generate an income from blogging but the day they realise blogging is a hobby horse for most, and a means of social contact, and that all bloggers are doing by jumping on the link bandwagon is generating money for the 'smart' or 'cunning' cookies who pop up and set up blogsites, they might think about other ways of generating an income.
When I see bloggers promoting other bloggers incessantly, I generally think, 'brown-nosing, sycophant mentality. (the most common mentality doing the traps nowadays).
One day, but not tomorrow, blogging might generate a bit of real money for the hobby blogger, but most bloggers have the mentality they want to be as rich as Bill Gates without setting up Microsoft. I think it's a really naive and a somewhat (hugely) ignornant approach to blogging.
Let's take an analogy. Being part of Orble and expecting to make more money than On Topic Media is about as realistic as getting a job in retail at a new-kid-on-the-block business selling Microsoft PCs and expecting to become as wealthy as Bill Gates. It's moronic almost to the point of total ignorance. To make money out of blogging, you need to, 1. do your homework, and 2. be extremely IT savvy. I've done my homework. I'm not prepared to become IT savvy, because I'm not in blogging for the money from blogging itself.
Seriously? The way bloggers carry on about money? And approach earning it through blogging? They should do a bit of homework first and work out where they fit in the IT food chain (or the Amway pyramid). It's Amway mentality. Your'e never going to get to the top of the media pyramid. Those spots are already taken by the people who set up the media and IT. Rupert Murdoch just bought Dow Jones. Bill Gates can buy whatever he wants to buy. What a ridiculous dream it is to think of buying Dow Jones by blogging when people like Murdoch and Gates control the media and IT. It's all naivety and ignorance to me. People trapped in the illusion of virtuality. Just look at your bank balance from blogging to get a bit of reality back into the picture.
David ..
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Hopefully, few bloggers really believe they could buy Dow Jones by blogging! Because, if they do, they're in for quite a rude awakening!
As for linking, I see nothing wrong with doing a bit of fairly well-thought-out linking: to blogs and other sites we believe to be of value to our readers. I say "fairly" because, of course, it goes without saying that we will err occasionally, as in the Ashwin Khanna case, and link to sites that aren't worthwhile. Yet, overall, I see linking as a good thing, a way to connect with other bloggers, mutually increasing traffic to our sites and theirs.
And, while I see nothing wrong with attempting to make a bit of money online (witness, my recent signup with PayPerPost), the average blogger must be realistic in his or her expectations. For most bloggers, there won't be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
There will, perhaps, be minimal to modest monetary returns, depending on a number of factors. But there will almost always be rich rewards in creativity, self-expression, and fascinating interaction with other people.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Jeanne
Comment by Contest Blogger
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Thanks for dropping by! Don't mind at all linking to your blog. I think it will give my readers a much clearer picture of the entire Ashwin Khanna fiasco.
Thanks for the compliment about Writer's Notes!
Keep up the good work exposing those fraudulent contests!
Regards,
Jeanne