New website

[davidsdesign]

I am new to this site and website building and don't want to do anything that I would regret. I am currently working on a website for my local area. Is it legal to list businesses on my site without the business owners written permission? Example:Listing area restaurants in my area that I optain from the phone book with the name address and phone number as a directory for visitors. I think I am ok but, just checking with this group and plan on getting legal advice.
Thanks,
David

[TheBrain]

Sure, go ahead. In fact listing such resources your are promitng them for free so no harm.

In addition, white pages and community newspapers probably are listing them as well, and some even asking for a payment to do that.

[suzjor]

I truly don't think it is illegal. I mean I have a friend that publishes a local magazine and she has a restaurant directory that she lists every restaurant in town with their address and phone number.

I design online city guides. I have battled with this quite a bit. I truly believe listing businesses brings value for your readers. There are just a couple of struggles I face. One is providing current and correct information for those businesses. The other is wanting the business owner to have some type of "ownership" in the listing.

Anyway...good luck on your new website!!

[pctec]

I wouldnt complain if I was listed
Free advertizing isnt cheap! LOL

[Rajabond]

You`re making their business known to everyone thus helping them in advertising just or free!

Can you imagine that? So keep it up.

Best for them and best for you.

Good luck.

[StupidScript]

If your area is relatively small, I could imagine a similar paid service in your area taking offense, as your free, unsolicited service might impact their bottom line.

Additionally, some of the businesses might object because their presence on your site might not be where they want a listing for them to appear. As an extreme example, by way of illustration, if Hustler Magazine (porn) started publishing free, unsolicited business listings, some of the business owners could probably sue Hustler for hurting the business' image in the eyes of their customers.

I'd say definitely contact a trade relations or business lawyer in your area and ask them about any ramifications, and start contacting businesses who would want to 'opt in' to your service. 'Opt in' is always more ethical than forcing them to discover your site and their listing on their own and forcing them to 'opt out'. In the long run, your site will do better when filled with happy business people.

Don't rush to get your site up by scraping the phone book (another entity that might object), when you could do better by taking the time to do it properly.

[jryan]

Being that the more sites that posts a URL and information the better the search ranking. I'm not a lawyer, but I personally don't see anyone coming back at you.

What I would do is list them, then send them an email with the URL giving them an option to have it removed if "they request removal". That would do two things I think. 1. You've given them opportunity to have it removed if they don't want the listing, and 2. It's name branding for you. The more businesses who know about you the better.

John

[StupidScript]

John:

the more sites that posts a URL and information the better the search ranking

That's not quite true. If a site links to your website and is related to it, it might improve the linked-to site's position in organic listing results. But if the link is coming in from a generic directory site, such as it seems the site of this thread may be, then it could hurt the linked-to site's rankings.

And I'll say again: 'opt-in' is much better than 'opt-out'.

How much spam have you received that had the 'opt-out' link at the bottom? Tons, I'll bet. Do you ever 'opt-out'? Probably not, because everyone knows that just validates the email address for brokering.

David:

If you want to establish a serious business presence, you need to go about it the proper and fair way. Check with a business attorney, first, then start contacting all of those businesses and asking for their permission to list them on your new site. If you think that's too much of a hassle, then your business will be built on a foundation of laziness. If the businesses often deny you permission to list them, then you will understand why 'opt-in' is so important, and you may need to consider a different business model.

Anything less is abusing those businesses' value for your own personal gain. From the description you posted, it seems like you will be making money from the site (advertising? AdSense?), and if the content of your site is ill-gotten (ripped from the phone book without verification), you aren't providing any value to the businesses listed, and you are only tricking people into making money for you at other people's expense and effort.

Put in your own effort by contacting the businesses before you include them. If what you offer has true value, they will be glad to be included.

[jryan]

James, thanks for the correction. You're correct that not all sites that post a URL will improve a sites ranking, and also about opt-in being better then opt-out. Although, I would think that a business directory would benefit the business that is listed in it, but I do understand your point.

David,

I get the gist from your post that you also want to take the high ground, and that you're trying to develop and market your site as economically as possible. If you choose to contact prospects directly here are a few tips that might help you cost effectively find the businesses to contact.

1. The Public Library has a great deal of resources such as yellow pages from most states, as well as criss cross directories that basically list a businesses by city, state and street address should you wish to target by geographical locations. These are free resources.

Targeting by geographical location can be beneficial when a business does opt-in you can then look up other businesses on the same street as an example, and have a business reference as one of your listings that they would know.

2. Using a more traditional approach to market your site often works better then buying online advertising. Flyer's are an affordable means of letting businesses know about your site without having to "sell" your services. Hang them up wherever you can, hand them out to business owners etc. This approach works very well with businesses that you already do business with in your community.

3. Telemarketing can also work, however, it's not for everyone. I really dislike receiving and making telemarketing calls, but it can work for the right person and service.

Small businesses that do not have an online presence should provide little resistance to having a free online business listing. Just be upfront with them. If you're going to sell advertising then let them know how you will benefit as well as them.

I hope this helps.

John

[ClassTopic.com]

Overall, go ahead and list'em. I posted some student discounts that local businesses offer around my university area and many of the businesses loved it. One thing though, if they ask you to take it down, do it. Don't fight, don't fuss, just remove the content and let people be happy. Legal battles always end up being more trouble than they're worth.

[ryukenden]

It should not be problem but you may want to mention in a webpage saying any business owner to contact you if they like their names to be excluded from your webpages. That should do.

[Mad Myche]

If it does become an issue, one thing on your side is public records- they are public domain so anything in them is fair usage.

[dburr99]

You are not violating anything by mentioning someone or something. If you are discussing something on your site that is copyrighted then just mention that trademark or copyright in a disclaimer. if you are just listing services like google local, yahoo local and so forth does then you are fine. you may also want to provide a means for a company to add, edit or delete their company's listing for whatever reason. if you have any questions feel free to contact me or if you need help with your site let me know.

[webgirl]

I think they would be pleased to be included. You should contact them however, they may pay you to include them more prominnetly and then others will follow...may be able to make a little money off of it.

[MakeYourFirst$$$]

not illegal