Forum

[paulie69]

Who else is upset at now being faced to pay the Market Samurai team MORE money??

If you're a Market Samurai owner then you've probably heard from them by now that they are having big issues related to changes in Google (*once again*).

MS appear to be changing their business model drastically. It was always the case that (in the upsell speil they told us) we should "buy now for a one time fee" and "beat the pending price rise when it changes to a subscription based system". This seems to have been ditched and everyone, even existing "lifetime" clients are going to be slugged more for ranktracking when that module has ALWAYS been an integral part of MS ie covered as part of the lifetime offer.

 

[scottborras]

Market Samurai has been a very valuable tool to me and they have said it will be fixed soon!

Market Samurai help no end with my http://www.autoblogsamurai.co project.

I guess even the pros have technical difficulties from time to time.

Even if I do have to pay a little more its still worth the money

 

[paulie69]

Sure but all I am saying is they should keep their word as per their customer charter. Nothing more, nothing less.

For whatever reason; it's not good enough to simply change their mind. Okay, data is going to cost them more but I paid for a lifetime subscription INCLUDING the ranking module.

They don't HAVE to charge old customers. Why not just keep their existing plan to implement a subscription based system and recoup costs based on that. I don't see where the problem is. For years they said they would move to a subs based system BUT of course if we got in quick we'd NEVER HAD TO PAY ANOTHER CENT.

 

[scottborras]

The email they sent said this "Our current estimate is that we'll have the vast majority of Market Samurai's functionality working again within the next few days."

Well see if it happens till then Ill give them a chance because to my knowledge its the first time this has happened. (To me anyway)

 

[paulie69]

It will be a few weeks apparently until it's all fixed. The have frequent problems but are usually quick to fix them. I mainly used the tool for the built in proxies. But it's usually slow as all heck of course. Plus they never update the training videos; they are woefully out of date which is another thing that irks me.

 

[scottborras]

Ill still hold on. If they want to change to monthly subscription Ill see what sort of money they want then go from there!!
It is a powerful tool be a shame not to have it.

 

[moonstomper]

I appreciate what you are saying about Samurai, but if the playing field has changed to an extent where they can no longer offer that service in a viable manner for their business to operate, then changes have to be made.

I was over at their blog earlier and a few people there are throwing out the suggestion that if you want advanced rank tracker functionality, you pay extra, but if you're only needing the basic functionality then you stay on a free plan.

Perhaps that's the way forward, but I'd rather see them charge a (small) subscription like SEO Powersuites rank tracker, than have to kill off the project entirely.

One thing I have noticed though in the last 2 years is the way Google changes seem to impact far more on Samurai than they do on other SEO tools. Possibly a lack of foresight in the way the software is constructed, maybe the initial design is poor and it doesn't cope well with change. But without seeing the diagramming for the underlying infrastructure this is just speculation on my part.

 

[scottborras]

Well I hope they come up with something to put things right! I think your right in saying it doesn't cope with change too well,.

Maybe these Google changes will force them to look at the program again because we know it'll only happen again. Lets see what they come up with!!

 

[michellerana]

I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with Market Samurai. From their blog post, it seems that they have no other option but to pass the costs of the rank tracking tool to their users. I'm sure this was not an easy decision.

You could try an alternative tool like Traffic Travis for free. Upgrading your software to professional version for US$97 (one time payment) would enable you to use this software for more projects. However you would need to purchase proxies to avoid being blocked by Google if you do a lot of searches using this software.

All the best!

 

[paulie69]

Thanks everyone for your input - it's great to have a variety of opinions. I appreciate your advice! :)

 

[cterao]

Hmmm... I just found out about this (I guess I've been living under a rock for the past few days...).

I'm not really sure what to think. I'm a little disappointed that they might ask me to pay a monthly fee to use rank tracker, but it seems like the SEO world keeps changing. On their blog, they said that it would cost $40,000 per day to switch over to another rank tracking service (ouch!). I guess it's really a choice between going out of business or passing a monthly fee onto customers.

Well, whatever happens, I've got more than my money's worth over the past 2 and a half years of Market Samurai use :)

 

[alesia.zabava]

I wouldn't be so positive that they will get it back on track any time soon.
Check out this post on link-assistant's blog - http://www.link-assistant.com/blog/seo- ... go-change/

 

[michellerana]

Well, whatever happens, I've got more than my money's worth over the past 2 and a half years of Market Samurai use :)

Yes, Market Samurai is an excellent tool and many of their members are pleased with the quick and useful help that they get from their customer service. :)

 

[esolutions]

Compare this to the cost of fuel for your automobile. The gas station charges you more when the price goes up. They don't control it, they're just the middle men. Thank Market Samurai for giving us much more in terms of ranking data than Google ever will.

 

[Cecille L]

From all accounts, Market Samurai is a wonderful tool to work with, and so is its support team. I know that its loyal followers will have a difficulty accepting this new development and I am sure that this was not an easy decision on Market Samurai's end. It's sad but they're bound to lose some of their clients as there *are* other tools out there. Maybe not as good as Market Samurai but marketers need to cut costs where they can.

My two cents. Have a good day!

 

[esolutions]

Update on Market Samurai. They've fixed it!

Basically, the rank checker will now run off of your local machine and there is an OPTIONAL subscription based service being worked on.

Full details:

http://www.noblesamurai.com/blog/techni ... back-2888/

 

[paulie69]

Yes that's great news. The free option won't give much allowance though apparently. Anyway, the Market Samurai team have been really great over this and extremely helpful!

Thanks again everyone! :)