They do *one* thing right - reply to their email
I sent them a message a couple of days ago, and OMG, they replied to it:
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from Feedback <feedback@cuill.com>
Thank you for helping us by providing this information. We are working on this issue and will have it resolved promptly.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Spurious image
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:22:14 +1000
From: Trix <me@example.com>
To: crawler@cuil.com
Hi there:
I did some test searches on your website, and found that my domain ... is listed on your site with a spurious image associated with it. In your FAQ, you say: "We do our best to take images from Web pages that accurately reflect the content of the website. Many websites are full of images, so we use advanced algorithms to determine the best image to show the user."
Unfortunately, this image you have chosen is not from MY website..., and does not represent its content. The same image is used for a number of different search results, and I'm sure that it doesn't represent their content either. The image ... appears to be lifted from some kind of advertising material that is probably copyrighted.
If an image is going to purport to represent any of my domains, I want it to be sourced from my domains. If there are no images available, then IF it's necessary to use an image, it should be a truly generic one, and be obviously from Cuil (in other words, design your own cutesy placeholder images, if you must). Finally, an image representing my site should not be used AT ALL if it is copyrighted to someone else.
I'd also like to point out that doing a search for ....[various examples, crap results] - I think your algorithm could do with some work.
Regards,
Trix
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Let's see how prompt their "issue resolution" is, eh?