Storage Aggregators Hijack Business Listings

I know this isn't storage auction related but, on my other site, we recently broke some important news for the storage industry. http://auctionstx.com/storage-aggregators-hijack-business-listings-2/

Here are a few more stories on this subject:

1) Texas Self-Storage Operator Battles Industry Aggregation Websites

insideselfstorage.com/news/2012/01/texas-selfstorage-operator-battles-industry-aggregation-websites.aspx


nostorageaggregators.com/nostorageaggregators_003.htm


3)  Self Storage Aggregators, Good, Bad, Neither

fulloccupancy.com/blog/industry-insights/self-storage-aggregators-good-bad-neither.html


All the stories I listed stem from the same source and are spread by the various website operators who have an interest in this topic.

Yes, those are all good articles. The difference between our article and theirs is that we exposed criminal acts by the aggregators when they manipulated thousands of online business listings. The other articles don't mention that. The only reason that I know about this is because when I was building the databases for AuctionsTX.com, I kept coming across the same phone number over and over again.

This article is the ammunition the storage industry has been waiting for to take down some of these aggregatos. I wouldn't be surprised if criminal charges are filed against certain aggregators as a result. 

 

A lot of people don't realize it but Storage Treasures is a storage aggregator.

Actually, this would be a better business model for them to concentrate on since they aren't able to aggregate many storage auctions. 

As far as I know, and please correct me if I’m wrong, Storage Treasures doesn’t direct traffic too storage facility web sites for a cut in the rental fee like the aggregators mentioned above in other industries as that Smith guy is complaining about. So Travis, what in your mind makes Storage Treasures an aggregator?

You have to look deeper to see it because it's not that obvious. Storage Treasures has built a database which includes every storage facility in the U.S. and Canada. Actually, it is unclear whether they built the database or borrowed it from their partner StorageFront.com (an aggregator.) Regardless of where the database came from, if you look at their search engine marketing strategy, it is designed to attract people looking for storage as well as people looking for storage auctions. Storage Treasures has the following title on every search engine listing they have in every city:

Storage Auctions Storage Facility in (Your Town, USA)

Also, if you click on the following link and look at their menu bar, you will see a button that says "Find Storage." Once you click the button and enter your zip code, you are transferred to the aggregator's site. storagetreasures.com/storage-auctions/Texas/Conroe 

It is unclear whether StorageFront.com and StorageTreasures.com share ownership; however, they are definitely in cahoots.

Lance Watkins, CEO of Storage Treasures as well as one of his associates are members of this forum. Perhaps you could ask them what their relationship is with StorageFront.com and how they are compensated.

I left a message on the Storage Treasures thread. Maybe Lance will honor us with his presence here if he gets the forum notification. I wonder if you might want to send him a PM letting him know you own the Forum now and invite him back to leave some comments here.

Phil

Yeah, he and I spoke on the phone for a little over an hour, so he is aware. If you guys only knew how close this forum was to being part of Lance's portfolio. 

In StorageFront's defense, their business practices appear on the surface to be rather mild in comparison to some of their competitors. I too would like to know more about their relationship with Storage Treasures.