Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
29 Prime, SubPrime, Bankrupt
As many of you know 29 Prime has not been a favorite Local SEO of mine. They lied, dissembled, prevaricated and misled thousands of small business folks. They have now gone into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
I was alerted to their bankruptcy by Regina Martinez, with whom I had been corresponding over the past year about how badly she had been taken advantage of by 29 Prime and the status of her resulting lawsuit:
Hello Mike,
My name is Regina Martinez, I communicated a little over a year ago (as you can see from the email thread below) about 29 Prime.
I finally filed a lawsuit and after they delayed things for over a year they went and filed for bankruptcy. They are stating the company is worth $0 has $0 income and 0 employees. I’m just reaching out to my network of others who are familiar with their business practices hoping they can point me in a direction so that (and I’m being incredibly honest) I can stop this fraud of a bankruptcy because they should not get to skate away after everything they’ve done.
Kind Regards,
Regina A. Martinez
In early 2015 Regina had first contacted me to request permission to use my 29Prime – Would you Buy a Used Car From These Guys Let Alone SEO? article as an exhibit in her suit.
Apparently Regina’s suit was not the only as Leonard Law in Boston had also filed a class action suit regarding their abusive robo calling techniques that was winding its way to victory in a Massachusetts court (despite 29 Prime’s effort to try to get it moved to California).
We won’t whether it was the likelihood of failure against these lawsuits or the accumulated weight of their deception or just a desire to, as Regina thinks, hide their assets that caused their ultimate demise we won’t know.
They were sure a fun target for me though and I wrote several articles about them:
- 29Prime – Would you Buy a Used Car From These Guys Let Alone SEO?
- An Imagined Conversation with Google about Reviews, 29Prime & Sock Puppets
- A Prime Example of why a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Ah but life goes on. I guess I won’t have them to kick around any more. Although as the founder of 29 Prime has proven, he has more lives than the proverbial cat and I am sure that we will hear from him again.
© Copyright 2024 - MIKE BLUMENTHAL, ALL RIGHT RESERVED.
Comments
11 Comments
So do you think they will just open a new company and start over?
Will their new business name will be 29Primer or 30 Prime?
They have a new Yelp Review. I called their number but a recording stated they are currently not accepting new clients.
Above their phone # on their website a graphic reads: “Text (949) 565-4288 – Please contact me. ”
Unfortunately these people will likely never, ever go away. I get reports weekly from clients who tell me they’ve been contacted by Google.
Hallelujah… hopefully those Ba$tard$ are onto something less sinister
oooh….sayonara. I enjoyed those guys. photo shopped their sign onto a building to make themselves look like big shots.
that is so like trump.
Regina,
I have some direct knowledge of how this “clown” has worked for years.
Feel free to reach out to me for details.
Mike (and others), local search has become so much more complex. While 29 Prime and others of their ilk, have profited from the low hanging fruit, it has become harder for them to promote their “pitch” of first page results. It not as easy as it was years ago, or to scam good hard working people. And I think Russ Wallace (CEO) has figured that out. At last! I would imagine that Russ is on to other scams that can maximize his profit.
So long Russ. And good luck sleeping tonight. Thanks (sort of), for giving me a look at the “dark side” of Local SEO. And for how I could make it better. In your own backyard.
&%$@ You!
Warmest regards,
Jim Froling
+1 for Jim
Let’s hope 411 Locals will follow their path…
I called their # and then was contacted by web x marketing. It’s probably them.
This asshole Russell Wallace still has 29prime working in the back of another business he opened called 1network! I know because I worked for him!
Russell Wallace has now opened his doors as WebXMarketing and 1 Network.
Also look out for Scott Jacobs. He is not a Co-Owner(cant see how you would be an owner if you didn’t buy into the business)
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