LOS ANGELES: A blogger who reviews a product - but leaves out whether he got a payment, high-value gift or free vacation to write the review - could run afoul of new United States federal regulations on advertising.

The blogger rules, announced on Monday by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), are part of revisions to the agency’s Guides Concerning The Use Of Endorsements And Testimonials In Advertising. The last time these guides were revised was in 1980. At that time, there was no such thing as a blogger or social media.

‘The post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement,’ said the agency in a news release. ‘Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.’

There is nothing in the rules, which go into effect on Dec 1, that specifies how the disclosure must be made.

‘That’s left up to the endorser,’ said Mr Richard Cleland, assistant director of the FTC’s division of advertising practices. ‘It can be a banner, part of the review. The only requirement is that it be clear and conspicuous.’

The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter.

The move suggests that the government is intent on bringing to bear on the Internet the same sorts of regulations that have governed other forms of media, like television or print.

Sites like Twitter and Facebook, as well as blogs, have offered companies new opportunities to pitch products with endorsements that carry a veneer of authenticity because they seem to be straight from the mouth of an individual consumer.

A spokesman for Singapore’s Media Development Authority said the agency would ‘take into consideration the requirement for disclosure rules for bloggers’, but declined to elaborate further.

Popular food blogger Leslie Tay ‘fully endorses’ the FTC regulation.

‘Honesty is the best policy. Bloggers should always declare any conflicts of interest upfront,’ said Dr Tay, who already declares that the food is sponsored by a restaurant as part of his review.

LOS ANGELES TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, NEW YORK TIMES

Source: Straits TImes (subscribers only)

Dear readers,

A good friend of mine in the Secondary school days have opened a new milkshake palour in the CBD area. Words cannot describe how good his milkshakes are, so check out these two video reviews from RAZOR.TV.

Feeling the sugar craving in you on the rise? Try out for Once Upon A Milkshake’s creamy milkshakes and let me know what you think!

The outlet is located at Maxwell Chambers, 32 Maxwell Road, #01-08 (Mon-Sun: 11am to 11pm).

Hi everyone,

It’s been a while since I last blogged because I was busy with some other projects that my way unexpectedly. But that doesn’t mean I have forgotten about this blog, or Internet Marketing in general.

In this post, I’m going to share with you how I managed to get a blog ranked number one in Google search results using Twitter in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS!

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Dear readers,

I’m finally debt free after fully repaying my education loan to the bank. No more monthly deductions and no more stress over working for the sake of money.

Here’s my story…

When I started my part-time degree course two years ago, I made up my mind not to take up any loans and pay cash every semester by prudent saving my salary. This was not a problem for me as I made careful calculations and budgeting before I signed up the course.

So why did I eventually take up an education loan? Did I miscalculate? Was I wrong?

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After four weeks of fermenting and slightly more than a week of aging in the bottles, I’ve finally opened my first bottle of homebrew beer.

Palett Taste: 7/10
The taste was definitely better than than the usual Tiger, Carlsberg, Tsingdao, etc. It’s also more bitter. Carbonation was good. Have bubbles coming up consistently like what we see in commercial beers.

After Taste: 3/10
After taste was not very good. The beer taste remained, but there was the wierd after taste that comes with young red wine. I am guessing that with age, the after taste should improve.

Initial Head: 5/10
It’s probably similar to Carlsbergs, but nowhere near the head we see in Erdingers though. Rated 5 because this is my first homebrew and I want to use this beer to benchmark future homebrews.

Head Retention: 5/10
The head disappeared within 10 minutes (okay I wasn’t timing). I want to use this to benchmark future homebrews as well.

Clarity: 7/10
Could easily be an 8 but I want to keep some ratings for future homebrews (rate too high later must rate above 10…). It’s clear like a lager, considering that I did not do any filtering. What’s more, the bottle that I opened was from the bottom of the fermenter.

Chris Rating: 6/10
Though the beer is definitely drinkable, I’m leaving more ratings for future homebrews, benchmarking with this beer.

Dear readers,

During my trip to Australia a few months back, I purchased a Cooper Microbrewery Kit after being inspired by Solidghost when he shared his home brewing experience. In many countries, home brewing is very common. Singapore however, has a small community of home brewers, probably because of the higher temperature that makes it a challenge to home brew.

Being a beer lover trapped in a country where alcohol is heavily taxed. Home brewing seemed like the perfect solution. In Singapore, individuals are allowed to brew any form of “fermentable” alcohol such as beer, alcohol, cider, sake, etc. legally for home consumption. The limit is 23 litres per month for beer, and another 23 litres for other forms of alcohol.

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Hi everyone,

It’s that time of the year where friends and family gather together and have a glorious spread of turkey and ham. It’s also a spirit of giving and sharing. Remember to make some donations while on your way to the party!

How are you celebrating this Christmas?

I’m going to be have a potluck party at one of my classmate’s place. There’s going to be lots of food and drinks to go around while we party our way through the night.

Here’s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and lots of joy in the year to come.

Dear readers,

Barack Obama is officially elected the 44th president of United States!

When two political powers clash in a contest to be the most powerful man in the nation, it takes a huge amount of effort to come up top.

Marketers around the world has got to give credit to Obama and his team for the brilliant use of the Internet to give themselves to promote their campaign. This is probably the best case study ever, demostrating the power of the Internet in international marketing.

Here are some examples of how Obama used the Internet to propel himself into presidency, reinventing the way campaigns are run with modern tools.

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Dear readers,

In recent months, we have seen huge moves of the volatile market in these troubled times. Even commodities such as gold which is considered defensive, have been moving in difference of US$20-50 in many occasions.

The question in the minds of most investors are, how is this crisis going to fare as compared to the previous crash and depression.

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Dear readers,

Let’s face it. Nobody is indispensible to companies!

In such times of uncertainty where even giant corporations suffer in a sea of red in the stock market and dark clouds cover the economy, one has to make contingency plans and create escape routes.

So what are you going to do, should your company collapse or if the top management decides that you are redundant and gives you the sack?

Instead of looking at making money for the short-term, I always advocate to aim at sustainability. That is, having long-term money making plans.

Here’s what I may do for the next three months if I get retrenched.

Expanding clientel in my Webhosting Business
I’ve been running a webhosting business for the past two years and revenue has been consistent. It’s high time that I focus on expanding my clientel to generate more revenue for the business.

Make more money online
My approach to internet marketing has always been passive. Build well-designed websites with good ad placements, that are more or less self-generating in terms of content and visitors. With little or no work needed, passive amounts of income would pay for my bills. With more time in, I could take on a more active approach.

Turn my hobbies into cash cows
Having always been interested in photography, I’ve always been thinking of taking up a full-time photographer role. Having little flair for designing, I’ve also been accepting long-term content management jobs for both static and flash websites.

Yup, so that’s pretty much me. What are your plans?