Tuesday, July 31, 2018

AND Media, a "Google Partner Network"

Today's email is not from a journal publisher -- flaky, predatory, or otherwise -- at least, not one that I can locate. It purports to be from Google News, Google News (Partnered Company), and AND Media Ltd ( Google Partner Network). The message has the deceptive title "You are Featured in Google News" -- no such luck. The claims are rather silly -- "you can even apply for grants from the government or university by publishing your work in Google News"!

The domain name oasispub.co.in suggests an Indian origin. ICANN does not show registration data, but a whois search on domaintools.com shows registration to "Student" in India in June 2018. The website oasispub.co.in is a blog (with no content) called "Oasis Cart – One shopping destination." Neither Mapquest nor Google Maps recognizes the email's street address in Massachusetts.

Under these circumstances, it is difficult to imagine why anyone would send "your opinion article" or "your research work" to this "Google Partner Network." I submitted an inquiry to Google News and will supplement this posting if I learn more.

UPDATE (August 23, 2018): Apparently Google could not care less who advertises itself as a "Partnered Company." So far, I have received no reply to my inquiry there. In response to a second spam on Aug. 19, I asked Jennifer Ballard, "Before I send an article, could you provide more information about AND Media Ltd – who is on the editorial board, whether you pay for articles, what subjects are of interest, etc.?" No reply so far.
Email
  • From: Google News [google-news@oasispub.co.in]
    Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2018 3:39 PM [and again
    Subject: You are Featured in Google News
    Hello Dr.David H Kaye,
    I am Jennifer Ballard, Editorial Assistant for Google News contacting you with the reference from our Editorial Board.
    We are looking for experts like you in the medical field. Many top medical researchers are going unnoticed due to predatory journals are taking up the lead. You would get nothing but a published article in that journal and they don't add any value to your hard work.
    We at Google News (Partnered Company) are going to take your research to the world by publishing your opinion article in our news website. This way, your research will get noticed by many people and you can even apply for grants from the government or university by publishing your work in Google News
    Google News receives millions of visitors daily from all over the world, and it is one of the top news websites in America. If you think that your research work is not getting enough exposure, we can help you feature you and your research work in Google News. All we need is a news article especially written for Google News by explaining in detail about your research, so that common people can understand it and send it to us so that we can publish your article with us. If you want us to write the news article for you, just send us your articles, so that our editors can write about you and your work and will publish the same in our news website.
    This will help you in getting high impact factor and more citations for your articles and also increases your credibility.
    If you are interested in our proposal, just send us your articles or published article link, so that we can send you more details.
    All the best
    Jennifer Ballard, | Editorial Assistant,
    AND Media Ltd ( Google Partner Network)
    3164 Christie Way Salem,
    Massachusetts 01970, USA
  • From: google news [google-news@webgroup.in]
    Date: Sun 8/19/2018 1:29 PM [and Sun 7/29/2018 3:39 PM]
    Subject: Your are Featured in Google News
    Dear DR.David H Kaye,
    I am Jennifer Ballard, Editorial Assistant for Google News contacting you with the reference from our Editorial Board. We are looking for experts like you in the Scientific field. Many top Researchers are going unnoticed due to predatory journals are taking up the lead. You would get nothing but a published article in that journal and they don't add any value to your hard work.
    We at Google News (Partnered Company) are going to take your research to the world by publishing your opinion article in our news website. This way, your research will get noticed by many people and you can even apply for grants from the government or university by publishing your work in Google News. We believe that publishing with Google News will be of great value to you, and will help you reach your research with a world-wide recognition. It is going to impact your profession in a major way.
    Google News receives millions of visitors daily from all over the world, and it is one of the top news websites in America. If you think that your research work is not getting enough exposure, we can help you feature you and your research work in Google News. All we need is a news article especially written for Google News by explaining in detail about your research, so that common people can understand it and send it to us so that we can publish your article with us. If you want us to write the news article for you, just send us your articles, so that our editors can write about you and your work and will publish the same in our news website.
    This will help you in getting high impact factor and more citations for your articles and also increases your credibility.
    If you are interested in our proposal, just send us your articles or published article link, so that we can send you more details. Nothing is more important to us than the satisfaction of those we work with. I’m sure we will live up to your expectations.
    The package includes publishing in Google News along with 300+ major news outlets. Here I am attaching you report of 300+ major news outlets in which your work gets published.
    All the best
    Jennifer Ballard, | Editorial Assistant,
    AND Media Ltd
    (Google Partner Network)
    3164 Christie Way Salem, Massachusetts 01970, USA

24 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this BS. I also received the same invitation today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also received this email. Searching the email address on google linked to me to your blog. It is very useful.
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for this post. This is very helpful (I received the same confusing email today). We need more initiatives like this!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for this. Had the same reactions when I received the pseudo invitation

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks. I also received the same invitation today.


    ReplyDelete
  6. I decided to play it just to know what happens. Here is what you get when you respond positively:

    "(...) let us test with one Article, As a publication fee we have fixed charges, however, I feel that you have done exceptional work, I am willing to offer you a discounted price for $999.
    Your research is syndicated to a wide range of Health, Business, Fitness and science news outlets to increase your presence online and in search. your research can reach Millions Through 300+ Premium News Sites. As the Article is cited in more than 300 locations, it generates more I,F to the original journal where the research article is published please let me know your acceptance, so that i can take this forward.
    Will be waiting for your reply Best,
    Jennifer Ballard, | Editorial Assistant"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the post. I was also interested what happens when I reply. Now I can skip it. I hope that you are not getting lots of spam mails with "friendly reminders".

      Delete
  7. Just received the email, googled it and found your investigation. Good job and thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ditto, thanks. God bless the internet machine

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks. I have received same mail today. Got suspicion and hence thought of checking in the google.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just got an email with same assistant's name and (poorly formatted) street address, but for a different company: "Oasis News Media". Came in today at 2:44 AM. No luck in Google Maps, but searching for their address led me here.

    ReplyDelete
  11. They are improving. I got a related email today from editorial@scientificmedia.net
    Natalie Paris, | Editorial Assistant,
    Scientific Media,
    215 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE, UK

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes we have also heard from Natalie

      Delete
    2. :-D... heard from Brooke Ellis from Scientific Media. A slightly different address in UK :-)

      Delete
  12. Scam. I went to the end and they finally asked for money.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Here is a different company (ResearchOutReach.org) with a similar pitch. This one sounds a bit more legit but I haven't followed up on it so I don't know if it is a scam or not.


    Dear Dr. xxxxxxx,

    Just a quick note to say I have seen some of your work online, paper title in my email.

    Our organisation works with researchers to help compliment their published papers with additional ‘outreach’ activities. This is shown to increase the visibility and awareness of a published paper, and create compelling numbers in regards to public outreach. Something we understand is extremely important within the research community at present.

    If our work could be of benefit to you, I would be delighted to discuss how we operate and the impact we create in collaboration with you.

    Research Outreach are a not-for-profit Public Outreach agency. We are working solely within the research community, with the purpose of increasing exposure between science and society.

    Here is our website:

    www.researchoutreach.org

    I realise you receive many emails and your time is limited, but hopefully our website will allow you to assess this type of outreach activity and whether it could be useful for you.

    I hope to hear from you, and all the best with your important work.

    Kind regards,

    Tobias Jones
    Project Manager

    W: www.researchoutreach.org
    E: tobias@researchoutreach.org

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well this one sounds quite realistic, and the web site actually has a lot of content (although I haven't reviewed the content).

      Delete
    2. Research Outreach is not an academic journal. The website is transparent, even detailing how they use funds and why they take the approach they do. They are also a not-for-profit charity type. I like their work, and will likely go ahead with their offer. Their Social Media looks solid too. I have also seen their publication in our library, digitally.

      Delete
  14. Also received one today with a different address. I love how they claim their scam package will increase my credibility!

    I am Natalie Paris, Editorial Assistant, Scientific Media, contacting you with the reference from our Editorial Board. We are looking for experts like you in the Scientific field. Many top Researchers are going unnoticed due to predatory journals are taking up the lead. You would get nothing but a published article in that journal and they don't add any value to your hard work.

    We at Scientific Media, are going to take your research to the world by publishing your opinion article in Google News and 500+ other major news websites. This way, your research will get noticed by many people and you can even apply for grants from the government or university by publishing your work in Google News. We believe that publishing with Google News will be of great value to you, and will help you reach your research with a world-wide recognition. It is going to impact your profession in a major way.

    As these News Sites receives millions of visitors daily from all over the world, if you think that your research work is not getting enough exposure, we can help you feature you and your research work in Google News, and other 500+ Premium news outlets. All we need is a news article especially written for Google News by explaining in detail about your research, so that common people can understand it and send it to us so that we can publish your article with us. If you want us to write the news article for you, just send us your articles, so that our editors can write about you and your work and will publish the same in our news websites.

    This will help you in getting high impact factor and more citations for your articles and also increases your credibility.

    If you are interested in our proposal, just send us your articles or published article link, so that we can send you more details. Nothing is more important to us than the satisfaction of those we work with. I’m sure we will live up to your expectations.

    The package includes publishing in Google News along with 500+ major news outlets.

    All the best

    Natalie Paris, | Editorial Assistant,
    Scientific Media,
    215 Kempt St, WoolWich,
    London, EC1V 2BX, UK
    www.scientificmedia.net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I received the same nonsense email letter copied almost verbatim, but with a different "Editorial Assistant." Her name is "Tiffany Keller." These publishing scams are getting out of hand. Our School of Medicine is putting together a group to try to produce a "guide" so that faculty and students can avoid these predatory publishers. I laughed when I was assured of "increased credibility" by publishing in "Yahoo News." I am sure that is a first rate peer reviewed biomedical publishing outlet.

      Delete
  15. I received several of these emails coming from different locations, USA or UK addresses. Your blog is very helpful. Thank you very much! I do not understand that these predators are allowed to officially and continuously cheat people and why there are no more rigid penalties and law constraints.

    ReplyDelete
  16. My faculty at Columbia University have gotten several of these messages from a few different "editors" with several different nonexistent organizations. Add Vicki Tyndall or "Research News Media" in NZ to the list of fake editors for fake organizations.

    ReplyDelete