Ticketmaster is a frequent contender in our Worst Company in America tournament, and one of the most-loathed monopolies in the world. The company’s monopoly on ticket sales at many venues means that consumers have no choice but to do business with them, though. Reader Justin was doing just that when the company’s own website warned him to get out of the transaction while he still could. [More]
captchas
What Does This Captcha Say? No, Really.
By 2.25.11
Scott came across this puzzle when trying to request some free seeds for his garden. Go ahead and try to figure it out. We’ll wait. [More]
CAPTCHA Codes, Now With Ad Slogans
By 9.22.10
A company called Solve Media is rolling out a new CAPTCHA interface that requires you type in an ad slogan instead of a nonsense word, reports AdAge. Advertisers are looking for message comprehension,” says the company’s owner, “And you know what they say, ‘If you write something down, you remember it.'” And if you force a customer to repeat your slogan during an unrelated transaction, does he resent you for it? [More]
Ticketmaster CAPTCHA Editorializes On Late Night TV Wars
By 3.14.10
While looking at tickets for Conan O’Brien’s upcoming comedy tour, Aaron came across this strangely appropriate CAPTCHA. [More]
AT&T Has A Message About Your iPhone Shipment
By 6.19.09
Bill thinks that AT&T might have a message for him. “Here is a rather unfortunate captcha I received tonight when I logged in to AT&T Wireless to check on the shipping status of my new iPhone 3GS,” he wrote. AT&T, do you serve captchas to your mother with that mouth?
Maybe This Ticketmaster Captcha Will Convince You To Rethink That Overpriced Concert
By 4.25.09
This is what must pass for an existential howl from a guilt-racked corporate monster.
Google Hates Public Library’s Blog
By 4.3.06
- “I read with amusement your recent piece on the rapid resolution of the google blog deletion, since of course blogger kills blogs every day (just browse the blogger support google group for head counts). One of the kill tactics that is especially swell is their spambot. Now I have no sympathy for true splogs and I appreciate that they’re trying to combat this. But as our small public library just found out, spam isn’t all they’re killing.”
