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Not a day goes by where we don't discuss new and exciting suggestions from SmartyPig users. So when we told folks we were in the process of developing a mobile site, they were quick to suggest that we focus not only on the iPhone and iPod Touch but other mobile devices as well, such as Android G1 and the upcoming Palm Pre. So rather than develop a specific app for one mobile device, we set out to develop a mobile Web site that would try and retain the unique iPhone look and feel and deliver that to as many of the newer mobile devices as possible

getanewbrowser smartypig

The idea for SmartyPig came from founders Mike Ferrari and Jon Gaskell, when they started 529 College Savings Plans for their children. They wondered why there wasn't a similar savings option for adults. SmartyPig was thus formed on the hunch people want a way to save cash for purchases they may have previously put on a credit card.

forbes smartypig

"Saving up." It's nearly an alien concept in this "buy with debt" world, but into that breach steps SmartyPig. The site lets you set and save for specific goals in their online savings accounts at a competitive 3.9% APY savings rate. There's all sorts of built-in graphs and widgets to track your progress, but then you can make it social, if you like, by making a page where your goals public and having friends and family or other random people on the net track and root for your progress, or even contribute to your goal.

smartypig getanewbrowser des moines iowa

Just wanted to throw a huge shout out to those who spoke-out on our behalf over the past couple of weeks. We cannot say enough about the amazing orchestrated effort and the passionate tweets, posts, comments and conversations being had supporting the preservation of our brand and technology. It means the world to us.

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Local bloggers - including Nathan T. Wright, Andy Brudtkuhl and Brett Trout - created posts and Twitter messages informing customers that TrustyPig was using the SmartyPig Web design features illegally.

Within a couple days, TrustyPig began replacing its Web designs, Gaskel said.

SmartyPig was launched early this year as the nation's first online savings account with social networking capacity, where friends and family can contribute to savers' accounts at West Bank to help meet specific savings goals.

TrustyPig's Web site says it is an online marketing company. It's not clear where the site operates from, but a post on it explains that the SmartyPig mistake occurred when "a programer from Romania and a designer from China" were hired to design Web pages.

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Mike Ferarri, one of SmartyPig’s founders, expressed to me that he didn’t think there was any possible legal recourse since TrustyPig is located in Romania. That’s when the Twitter community decided to take matters into their own hands. I called for the o

getanewbrowser brandhijack trustypig smartypig

One thing companies can do is to enlist others to reprint details of the webjacking, mentioning the webjacker in the title of the article, while taking great care not to link to the webjacker or the webjacked website. Such was the case recently in Des Moi

trustypig smartypig brandhijack

This is another classic instance of design knockoff. Chinese mp3 players knocked off the iPod. Apple knocked off Xerox. Microsoft knocked off Apple (I joke). For what reason, you ask? Because the other guy did it better and it’s easier to copy than to inn

trustypig smartypig brandhijack

We don’t have many web 2.0 products coming out of Des Moines these days (you can read my commentary about that here). So when something hideous and wrong happens to one of our few entrepreneurial successes, we take notice, and we do something about it.

trustypig smartypig brandhijack

I couldn't believe this when I saw it. This Romanian company, TrustyPig has COMPLETELY ROBBED its brand and Web design from a company that I hold dear to my heart - SmartyPig, How can TrustyPig be allowed to do this!? SOOOOOO shady!

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You hear about it almost everyday… there is a nicely designed web site done by a team (or sometimes an individual) that is not only nice to look at, but is also a unique idea, and a fledgling business struggling to be both born and survive in today’s depr

trustypig smartypig

Noticed today on a twitter discussion that a new pop up website, trustypig.com, totally ripped off and copied their entire site design from smartypig.com. What a blatant move!
Smartypig.com is a local business in Des Moines. Trustypig.com is some Romanian

trustypig smartypig

A local Des Moines web startup, SmartyPig, recently had their entire web design ripped off by a Romanian company called TrustyPig that apparently is an “all inclusive traffic and income generating program”.

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