Aaaaaahhh I am on a rollercoaster of customer experience. I am beyond annoyed at Zendesk for stiffing this kid, but actually kinda charmed by this quirky marketing gimmick.
But also, SECURITY culture concerns beat culture culture. Companies should def consider ditching them for this lapse and their poor form in making it right.
If Zendesk is smart, they should hop on this thread and pay this kid out while everyone is still paying attention in one place, rather than later, when everyone is quietly making business decisions in a thousand little alcoves of the internet.
Otherwise, this is the best thing to happen to the Zendesk Alternatives in a long time
>but actually kinda charmed by this quirky marketing gimmick.
I'm actually pretty annoyed at the stupidity, it's the kind of thing that even a shitty search engine won't be fooled by and hey when I search for Zendesk alternatives I don't see any brand called Zendesk alternative in first few results.
I mean it's like they're too stupid to do what every other weaselly scumbag does, get some fake reviews up comparing your brand to alternatives with the reviews carefully weighted so your target customer base will be uh, I guess Zendesk is really what we want then.
Or at least buy an ad words for the search - with the words Zendesk - There is No Alternative showing up before all the alternatives.
It's ok Zendesk if you use my clever slogan because you can't think of one on your own - I'm not expecting you to pay me for it.
OK google for me doesn't show it, as mentioned, problem with Google is it is difficult to see how your profile is skewing the algorithm, although I also suppose our talking about it here is page ranking it higher.
I think that's pretty funny and not particularly malevolent. It's a fake alt rock band called Zendesk. It's obviously tongue-in-cheek and not going to deceive anyone.
Also, anytime I search for "X alternative" the results are all AI-generated garbage anyway, so I'd welcome something quirky and original like this in my results.
It seems like you're being sarcastic, but I think that's really what happened. I think it's much more about getting press for doing something funny than it is about having a meaningful impact on cluttering search results.
It's the same reason why Google paid its marketing team to make a promo for Gmail Blue (back in 2013 when Google was still doing legitimately funny fake promos):
Also noted that the song (or "lyrics" at least) has "Open Source" in its title so they can position for the "Zendesk Open Source Alternative" long tail.
> While not illegal, it shows the way they think, a sort of manipulative pettiness
Search engine chaff has been in the toolbag of "reputation management" PR firms for a while. Boris Johnson (former UK PM) deployed it many years ago to drown out a viral picture of him in front of a red bus bearing an ad he no longer wanted to associated with, so he was coached to tell an interviewer he has a hobby of painting model buses red.
They need to get the band back together! Release a new album, and go on a world wide reunion tour. And in 2026 they’ve got to release a Best of Zendesk Alternative remastered album.
And in 2027, Zendesk finds that the strategy worked. A little too well! Now the top search result for Zendesk is the rock band, and if you ask an AI about Zendesk, the AI starts yappin about a rock band too! Hahaha
> they have toured the world, headlining major festivals and sharing the stage with legendary acts like Sweater Head, DynoPlax, and The Banana Nuts. Now, Zendesk Alternative has begun a new chapter in their storied career. They have joined forces with Zendesk® to record an anthemic concept album of epic proportions. On the surface, it's a collection of songs about customer service. Underneath, it's about so much more. Finally, Zendesk Alternative and Zendesk® the customer service software company are together at last.
that is hilarious, but also the most non punk rock thing I've ever read. if Apple did it, every one here would be fawning over how genius of a move it were
I have a similar conspiracy theory for DDG, the rapper. I used to go to DuckDuckGo by typing "ddg" in Google. Now, it's all mentions to DDG the rapper.
They created a fake band called "Zendesk Alternative" just in an attempt to pollute the Google results if you search for an alternative to Zendesk.
http://zendeskalternative.com/
While not illegal, it shows the way they think, a sort of manipulative pettiness.