Finance: Hillel Cooperman, Jackson Fish Market
The mortgage crisis has affected people in many negative ways. But it's not like we didn't know it was happening. Even if you didn't know what percentage of online display ad inventory was being bought by mortgage lenders, you knew it wasn't small. For years, their ads plastered every spare inch of real estate in many of the sites we all use. The ads also had a certain quality about them -- sort of a local radio meets what fonts come with Windows aesthetic. Miss them?
Have no fear... just head over to LendGo and bask in the goodness.
I can't tell whether it's the influence of the grassy knoll in Windows XP or there was actually a study advocating on behalf of the soothing effects of endless fields of grass and blue sky, but there it is front and center. Luckily, you won't get too lost in the swaying fields because every square inch is covered with super subtle call-outs like "No Obligations," "No Credit Checks," "Bad Credit OK!"
Personally, I think the exclamation loses some of its impact when it's at the end of every single sentence! Even more egregious, however, is the misspelling of the word "completely." If typos aren't enough to instill you with confidence about your lender recommendation site, I don't know what will.
Up in the upper left hand corner is the ubiquitous LendGo logo -- a registered trademark, by the way. I'm not even sure why they bothered to trademark their logo because I can't imagine anyone actually wanting to use it. It's tiny, but it's clearly the ever-classic poorly drawn cartoon man running as he throws dollar bills (twenties?) from his hands into the air. Obviously, thanks to the folks at LendGo he's got so much money that throwing it -- literally -- is no big deal.
The folks at LendGo have made their site using what I like to call "the aesthetic of distrust." Basically, it's a site that is so unattractive, put together in such a slap-dash fashion, trying to get your money, hiding who they really are, that it's ultimately a rat's nest of links leading you to various pages of questionable reputation all in the hopes that you'll keep clicking until you've mortgaged your house, or done some other scary thing.
I'm not saying that the folks at LendGo are anything other than a reputable source of "Qualified Lenders and Low Rates," like its tagline says. I am saying that the way its site looks makes me wonder if I could ever trust the company.
Frankly, I'm glad all these sites look the same because, at least for me, I can identify and navigate away from them very quickly. I keep worrying that these sites will get smart and start to look professional, and then it will take more work to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Interestingly, I don't think that will happen. The sad truth is that sites use this aesthetic to get people to click because... it works.
Hillel Cooperman is a founder of Jackson Fish Market, a small company focused on making beautiful, branded, web experiences.
Nanette Marcus is cover stories editor for iMedia Connection.
