BlueTegu’s Weblog

Let’s start from the end of the story: One of three projects posted on software outsourcing sites starts somehow like this: I first need a clone site for abc.com and then build up some more functionality on top of that… Abc can be anything from a successful gambling site, a known online project management software site, a relatively new e-commerce site and anything else you can think of. The price tags are in most cases around or below $3000.

The logic goes as follows: Don’t be inventive. Don’t think of a new service or put your effort on studying what your potential customer requirements are and how to best address them. Don’t spend your resources on designing usable human interface and don’t spend time on a unique graphical design.  Just wait and look for successful web service and then clone it. Spend your money on web advertising and search-engine-optimization and you have a good start with minimum investment. Soon any head start the cloned site had will be history.

This may be the major reason why there are dozens of similar online services for what ever you need. Actually when I looked for a software outsourcing online service I first selected the one that came up first in Google search. Only later I discovered that like any other online service, there are very many of them, most of them clones of one or two original services. I actually saw a project that was requesting bids on cloning the outsourcing site it was submitted to.

Maybe it is not illegal. Maybe it even gives us the customers more selection to choose from, and better prices or services due to the increased competition. Still, there is something wrong here. As a result, when I look for an online service, I do an extra search step to find out which of the similar services is the original and which ones are the clones. When deciding on which of the services to take I add some points to the original service creator. I’m even willing to pay a bit extra for the service.

Any thought appreciated….