lander - you are exactly correct! The notion of 'all publicity is good publicity' is just plain wrong.
OK so a few people on a portal are talking about them, but would this kind of 'stunt' actually instill the ideas of trust, professionalism, in a place where you will get paid quickly etc in the players? I doubt it VERY much.
Makes us all look bad, especially to newcomers to the market (players) if they visit the portals showing this stuff.