Dear Facebook, Google, PayPal and other On-Line Giants

To my dear readers, if you agree with this, PLEASE FORWARD it until the on-line giants take notice and action!

Dear Facebook, Google, PayPal and other On-Line Giants:

Please step up to the plate and accept responsibility for the companies you allow to open up accounts and advertise in your name.

Responsible companies do NOT accept advertising dollars from everyone who knocks on their door. Responsible companies investigate who they decide to associate with. They make sure that companies and individuals who knock on that door are reputable, honest, of high integrity and are not fraudulent – BEFORE they let them in. Before they enter into a business relationship.

Responsible companies put their customers first – OVER their business partners, and their bottom line. They do not wait for their customers to flag fraudulent companies – because responsible companies have already weeded out the bad eggs.

I am just one of many small creative businesses whose images have been stolen by fraudulent companies and who YOU ALLOW TO ADVERTISE in your name. Waiting for your customers to flag before you vet these companies is like asking patrons of a restaurant to send out water samples for evaluation before drinking the water that is served. This is a backwards and completely unacceptable practice. Customers need to trust that the companies they do business with IN YOUR NAME are trustworthy, above-board, reputable.

Customers need to know that YOU have already researched and vetted all companies and individuals who place ads through your site. The responsibility for this rests with YOU, not the unsuspecting buyers of stolen goods, nor the artists whose works and images are stolen.

Step up to the plate and accept responsibility for researching all companies who want to place ads BEFORE you agree to enter into a business relationship with them.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your willingness to reduce your income to do what is right.

Beverly Ash Gilbert

p.s. attached is a sample of my one-of-a-kind shawls that is now showing up on fraudulent sites that advertise through you.