WTF, Scottrade now has third party ads.

[theeedude]

So I go to check my stocks, and I see this ad for McAfee alongside of the page:
https://trading.scottrade.com/.../trading-hmpg-spot.gif
Now why would a financial institution that takes years to build a serious brand and website dilute it and annoy its customers by placing third party ads just to make a few more bucks? I just cannot trust my money to a company that puts ads on a broker website. It makes them look desperate and makes me wonder what else they will do for a few more bucks. Sell private data?

 

[wedi42]

there are giving you a year free.
there aren't exactly twisting your arm to buy it

 

[imported_LoKe]

They're smart people making as much money as possible. I don't see the problem.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: johngute
there are giving you a year free.
there aren't exactly twisting your arm to buy it

True. Should they have year of free AOL ads too?
It's inappropriate for a bank to do this on their brokerage website, IMO. This is not just their opening page, but even after I log in to trade, the ads are still there.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: LoKe
They're smart people making as much money as possible. I don't see the problem.

I bet Dell thought the same thing when they put tonnes of preloaded shareware on their computers, but all they were doing is damaging their brand.
Penny wise, pound foolish. They keep going with this, they'll lose my business and commissions, and I still won't buy their stupid antivirus.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: LoKe
They're smart people making as much money as possible. I don't see the problem.

I bet Dell thought the same thing when they put tonnes of preloaded shareware on their computers, but all they were doing is damaging their brand.
Penny wise, pound foolish. They keep going with this, they'll lose my business and commissions, and I still won't buy their stupid antivirus.

Dell seems pretty successful and I still trust them.

Stop looking for shit to bitch and moan about.

Or, how about this, invest somewhere else?

 

[Ronstang]

They can raise your fees. How 'bout that champ?

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: LoKe

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: LoKe
They're smart people making as much money as possible. I don't see the problem.

I bet Dell thought the same thing when they put tonnes of preloaded shareware on their computers, but all they were doing is damaging their brand.
Penny wise, pound foolish. They keep going with this, they'll lose my business and commissions, and I still won't buy their stupid antivirus.

Dell seems pretty successful and I still trust them.

Stop looking for shit to bitch and moan about.

Or, how about this, invest somewhere else?

Dell's stock has gone nowhere in 5 years. Plus they are now advertising "no trialware" on TV trying to repair the damage done to their brand, because consumer now perceives their computers as preloaded with shareware and spamware.
I might move my money. I emailed Scottrade my feedback. One of the things I liked about scottrade is their uncluttered interface. Ads definitely distract from that.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
They can raise your fees. How 'bout that champ?

I'd rather pay an extra couple bucks to know that my financial institution is not looking for "alternative" ways of making money off of me and has no conflict of interest.

 

[wedi42]

maybe you should switch brokers.
i just went from scottrade to thinkorswim.com
i also was able to move my roth ira over

lower fees, great software and a free monkey!

 

[Parasitic]

How's that an ad?
It's a complimentary service that makes your computer more secure.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
How's that an ad?
It's a complimentary service that makes your computer more secure.

For a year, after that you have to pay. So it's an ad for a free trial of a software.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: Ronstang
They can raise your fees. How 'bout that champ?

I'd rather pay an extra couple bucks to know that my financial institution is not looking for "alternative" ways of making money off of me and has no conflict of interest.

well that's great, is everybody else gonna do that too?

 

[vrbaba]

zecco.com FTW

Free trades!

I havent had any problems so far. Email tech support is responsive within hours. (havent had an urgent die hard issue though, just account setup, which was easier than I thought).

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: Parasitic
How's that an ad?
It's a complimentary service that makes your computer more secure.

For a year, after that you have to pay. So it's an ad for a free trial of a software.

I don't think McAfee offers free one-year "trials" to just everyone. You got to go to the store and pick up their license in a box to get that one year.

Edit: what I mean is, while some may look at this as an advertisement but some may think it's a nice touch to their service.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Parasitic

Originally posted by: senseamp

Originally posted by: Parasitic
How's that an ad?
It's a complimentary service that makes your computer more secure.

For a year, after that you have to pay. So it's an ad for a free trial of a software.

I don't think McAfee offers free one-year "trials" to just everyone. You got to go to the store and pick up their license in a box to get that one year.

Edit: what I mean is, while some may look at this as an advertisement but some may think it's a nice touch to their service.

Yeah, that's what I'd lean toward... unless they hand out their software free to everyone for a year. People who bank online SHOULD have security software on their computer, and Scottrade is encouraging people to do that.

If they have ads for anything else on their site, then you'd have a point (OP).

 

[theeedude]

Good, but if they wanted me to have free antivirus, they could send me an alert that I could read and forget. But to put a permanent ad on a site I use everyday and pay for through commissions seems over the top.

 

[mugs]

Is it that hard to ignore?

What about ScottradeElite? Can that do everything their website does? I've downloaded it and fooled around with it, but I never bothered to learn how to use it because I don't trade, I just buy and hold mutual funds.