How to stop water for gas scam on Hubpages?
92- Misha
- 10898 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 18
- Fans: 1874
I feel ashamed.
I feel ashamed that my favorite place on the Internet takes part in ripping people of their money.
I physically cannot go to every one of dozens of hubs that lie to people about this "wonderful invention". On top of this, some authors delete my comments, some do not allow comments at all - surprisingly.
I know that this kind of deceptive advertising is omnipresent on the Internet and cannot be eliminated completely. But I want to eliminate at least this particular type of scam on this particular site called Hubpages.
Would appreciate any idea on how to approach this task
- 92
- Misha
- 10898 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 18
- Fans: 1874
Just to give you an idea of the scope of this - here is the result of a quick search on the topic. I am sure there are quite a few more...
http://hubpages.com/hub/water4gas-scam-revealed
http://hubpages.com/hub/RunYourCarOnWaterToday
http://hubpages.com/hub/waterpoweredcar26
http://hubpages.com/hub/Running-Car-On- … To-Success
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water-Powered-C … k-On-Water
http://hubpages.com/hub/Run-Your-Car-On … Save-Money
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water-4-Gas--Water-4-Gas-Review
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water-Powered-C … r-On-Water
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water-as-Fuel-- … sing-Water
http://hubpages.com/hub/Running-Cars-on … Save-Money
http://hubpages.com/hub/Better-Gas-Mileage
http://hubpages.com/hub/water-fuel
http://hubpages.com/hub/watercarreviews0
http://hubpages.com/hub/WaterCarConversion
http://hubpages.com/hub/ConvertYourCarToWater52
http://hubpages.com/hub/how-to-improve- … with-water
http://hubpages.com/hub/waterforgas
http://hubpages.com/hub/Can-You-Run-a-Car-On-Water
http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Make-You … n-On-Water
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water4GasExposed
http://hubpages.com/hub/Can-You-Run-Your-Car-On-Water
http://hubpages.com/hub/Is-it-a-scam-Ca … er-as-Fuel
http://hubpages.com/hub/waterpoweredcars69
http://hubpages.com/hub/waterpoweredcar
http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-drive-yo … ead-of-gas
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water_Car
http://hubpages.com/hub/CarsThatRunOnWater
http://hubpages.com/hub/signlanguage38
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water4GasReview
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water4GasReviewTraffic
http://hubpages.com/hub/bestgasmileage8
http://hubpages.com/hub/MyWater4GasReview
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water4gas-Review
http://hubpages.com/hub/Does-Water4Gas-Work
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water4Gas-27-dollars
http://hubpages.com/hub/1st-Water4Gas
http://hubpages.com/hub/Water2Gas-Save- … -The-Earth
http://hubpages.com/hub/bestgasmileage7
http://hubpages.com/hub/What-is-Gasoline
http://hubpages.com/hub/Gas-Mileage-Charts
http://hubpages.com/hub/Gas-Savers
http://hubpages.com/hub/Running-Car-Wit … ce-Fiction
http://hubpages.com/hub/Hydrogen-on-Demand-the-pitfalls
http://hubpages.com/hub/Browns-or-Hho-G … r-Your-Car
http://hubpages.com/hub/Automotive-Troubleshooting
http://hubpages.com/hub/energy-from-water
http://hubpages.com/hub/Convert-Your-Ca … ur-Mileage
http://hubpages.com/hub/How_Hybrid_Cars_Work
http://hubpages.com/hub/Better-Gas-Mile … ve-Mileage
http://hubpages.com/hub/How_To_Save_Gas
http://hubpages.com/hub/Gas-Save
http://hubpages.com/hub/Hydro-4000
http://hubpages.com/hub/RunYourCarOnWater
http://hubpages.com/hub/Run-your-car-with-water- 
96- SweetiePie
- 3568 posts
- Joined: 3 years ago
- Hubs: 217
- Fans: 1412
I feel bad for people who actually believe this after reading it
. Can you flag those hubs?- 92
- Misha
- 10898 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 18
- Fans: 1874
I tried - but it is not that easy. We do not have scam category when flagging, I put it under "other" and tried to explain - but this does not violate current TOS probably, IDK...
Wow, I was totally unaware of this. Guess that's because I don't have a car.
Doing a great job Misha!!- 92
- Misha
- 10898 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 18
- Fans: 1874
Thanks Rachelle, But I don't really think I do
91- Lifebydesign
- 319 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 3
- Fans: 201
Misha, you're so sweet, and do agree with Rachelle- great job!
Would it help to 'thumbs down', and do what you're doing which is letting others know?
wow but those claims are outrageous!- 91
- Lifebydesign
- 319 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 3
- Fans: 201
some of the marketing's a riot- I'd probably go for it myself if I didn't know any better!
87- Eric Graudins
- 1556 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 14
- Fans: 688
Misha,
I fear that you're peeing into a hurricane. People want to BELIEVE that it's true. That You CAN run a car on water.
Just like they want to believe that you can earn a thousand dollars a day on the internet doing nothing.
There will ALWAYS be those who will step up to relieve these people of their money.
And a hundred screaming hucksters almost always beats a lone honest person speaking the truth. Even if his name is Ralph Nader.
The entire self help industry is booming, and sells the same basic themes over and over again in new wrappings.
Because most people really don't want to improve - they just want entertainment.- 91
- Lifebydesign
- 319 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 3
- Fans: 201
I agree it really is a two-way relationship and responsibility lies with both sides- those who persuade and those who can be persuaded.
Ethics is required of the markerter, while some element of critical investigative thinking is needed from his/her audience. 
100- Mark Knowles
- 10155 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 258
- Fans: 2125
I will say what I always say to the ones who try promoting this in the forums:
The day you can run your car on water is the day you discover that the governments and corporations own all the water and it now costs $100 a bottle.
I also attack them when they come to the forums, but there is an awful lot of people pushing this. I even met one in the flesh at the Top Marques show in Monaco. I very much doubt she will ever speak to me again
99- pgrundy
- 1831 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 218
- Fans: 2013
Misha wrote:
I feel ashamed.
I feel ashamed that my favorite place on the Internet takes part in ripping people of their money.
I physically cannot go to every one of dozens of hubs that lie to people about this "wonderful invention". On top of this, some authors delete my comments, some do not allow comments at all - surprisingly.
I know that this kind of deceptive advertising is omnipresent on the Internet and cannot be eliminated completely. But I want to eliminate at least this particular type of scam on this particular site called Hubpages.
Would appreciate any idea on how to approach this taskHey Misha,
Here's my blog making fun of those guys;
http://www.personalfinanceanalyst.com/
The guy I write it for wanted me to write "specifically on the water-powered car" so I did.
Wow-- where have I been and why didn't I even notice that this was going on? I'm stunned, but on reflection, not surprised. That's an amazingly long list of hubs, Misha, and thanks for posting them and shining a light on this scam. Don't know what can be done if these guys don't violate the TOS--but a thumbs down and a flag couldn't hurt--especially if we all do it.
- 87
- Eric Graudins
- 1556 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 14
- Fans: 688
pgrundy wrote:
Here's my blog making fun of those guys;
http://www.personalfinanceanalyst.com/
Pamela,
That article is great.
If you write like that, what the bloody hell are you still doing at that bank (as discussed elsewhere on the forums :-) ???? :-) - 92
- Misha
- 10898 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 18
- Fans: 1874
Thanks for your replies guys.
So, basically everybody is saying that nothing really can be done, right? Lifebydesign wrote:
I agree it really is a two-way relationship and responsibility lies with both sides- those who persuade and those who can be persuaded.
Ethics is required of the marketer, while some element of critical investigative thinking is needed from his/her audience.You're so right. It's a 2 way relationship (actually a 3 way when you add in the merchant/product creator). The way I see it, all parties are equally responsible. Sure there are some marketers who don't care how they make their money, but the majority of affiliates that I've met in various forums are not scam artists. There are so many ways anyone can be taken advantage of. I've seen where the affiliate was duped by an unethical product creator - in more than one instance it wasn't the product, it was the way the offer was priced.
The passion here is great and I understand it, but I won't label another Hubber as a scam artist unless I know for a FACT that they are knowingly promoting a product I factually know is a bad one. In my opinion flagging a Hub that doesn't violate HubPages.com's TOS is the wrong response - if you believe the quality of the CONTENT is poor, give it a thumbs down. Don't do it just because you don't like the product being promoted by the Hub.
I could go into this a lot deeper, but I'm going to close out my response with this point. This is an online community, not a country club. A community should be open in spirit and welcoming to voices/opinions/points of view that are different (even if you disagree with them).- 100
- Mark Knowles
- 10155 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 258
- Fans: 2125
IMH - I agree. I have not flagged any of these hubs and I won't. If anyone comes on the forum pushing this, I will, (and have done) call them on it. The same as I do for the other scams.
At best these people are lazy and haven't actually taken the trouble to find out if this is a scam or not.
I was much more upset by the guy selling ebooks on how to cure cancer. But I still didn't flag any of his hubs because I don't see how it breaks the hubpages TOS.
But, hubpages do have a thing about gambling (except forex trading lol) so may be they could be persuaded to have some ethical guidelines in the TOS. I just see that causing a lot of arguments though. The only reason Hubpages has a thing about gambling is because Google has a thing about gambling and they wouldn't be able to run Adsense on those pages.
Personally I would prefer no ethical guidelines in the TOS. Who determines what is and isn't ethical? The Water Car thing may seem like a clear cut case, but there are plenty of other issues that wouldn't be.Mark Knowles wrote:
IMH - I agree. I have not flagged any of these hubs and I won't. If anyone comes on the forum pushing this, I will, (and have done) call them on it. The same as I do for the other scams.
At best these people are lazy and haven't actually taken the trouble to find out if this is a scam or not.
I was much more upset by the guy selling ebooks on how to cure cancer. But I still didn't flag any of his hubs because I don't see how it breaks the hubpages TOS.
But, hubpages do have a thing about gambling (except forex trading lol) so may be they could be persuaded to have some ethical guidelines in the TOS. I just see that causing a lot of arguments though.I agree Mark - a little product due diligence and market research goes a long way. Even then you can still get burned by an unethical merchant or product creator.
Personally I would hate to see the inclusion of any ethical guidelines in the TOS. Like Embitca said ..who would make the determination of what is or isn't ethical?
That cancer cure guy's post had a few folks knickers twisted. I didn't care for the tone of his Hub content, but I wanted to offer the guy some objective advice on using HubPages vs. Squidoo.
Mark you gave me an idea - I could create some real controversy around here by creating a few Hubs on trading the markets and HubPages vs. Squidoo.- 92
- Misha
- 10898 posts
- Joined: 2 years ago
- Hubs: 18
- Fans: 1874
IMHustle wrote:
The passion here is great and I understand it, but I won't label another Hubber as a scam artist unless I know for a FACT that they are knowingly promoting a product I factually know is a bad one.I am a very tolerant person generally. I always consciously try to allow for a different opinion and to keep my options and mind open, without making any judgment. I just happen to know for a FACT that this thing does not work, neither practically, nor theoretically. This is not a question of differing opinions unfortunately, this is a question of selling something that does not work as advertised.
I know that this will not result in TOS change, I guess I am just ranting and venting because of feeling completely helpless, like an infant. I have to learn to live with this
