This is the second in a series of Friday posts in which we’ll cover the best articles we’ve read all week. Most will be new, some will be old, but hopefully they’ll all be useful, interesting or entertaining. The list isn’t huge and it isn’t exhaustive, because if it were there’d be no chance you’d read them all.
Yelp: Extortion and Sensational Journalism
The East Bay Express, a SF Bay Area newspaper, has accused Yelp.com of extortion. The EBE says they’ve interviewed dozens of business owners who claim Yelp sales reps have promised they would remove negative ads from their review-page if the business owners purchased sponsored business listings. There are also allegations that the negative reviews were written by Yelp, not consumers. Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has posted a rebuttal on Yelp.com in which he refutes all of the allegations.
Frankly, the 4,500-word article reads more like an op-ed piece than legitimate reporting (you know, all that objectivity and substantiated facts balogna), and it should be noted that the East Bay Examiner and Yelp are competitors; both fight for the same advertising budgets of local restaurants. The majority of the allegations are also made by anonymous sources. What’s interesting, though, is that these allegations aren’t anything new. CNET raised concerns over the ethics of Yelp’s sponsorship program in April of 2007, and San Francisco’s CBS 5 did the same in August of 2008.
What do I think? Online reviews can’t always be trusted to begin with, but the East Bay Express’ article provides no evidence of the alleged extortion. If there is any truth to the story I think it has much more to do with the practices of inept sales reps who make unsanctioned promises they’d never be able to fulfill, and angry business owners who have ticked off a few too many customers and received bad reviews as a result.
Facebook Changes Terms of Services, Faces Backlash, Defends Change, then Reverts Back to Original Terms
Earlier this week Facebook revised their Terms of Service (TOS) to include language that would allow them to keep user information in perpetuity, even if the account was deleted. The news spread like wildfire on Twitter (ironic, don’t you think?) and every major news outlet covered the story. Facebook users responded in outrage, leading Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to issue a response clarifying the changes. Users and the media continued to bash the changes, though, so Zuckerberg eventually relented and changed the TOS back to their original form.
Microsoft to Open Retail Stores
8 years after Apple launched its first retail store, Microsoft has decided to follow suit. Good to see Microsoft continues to copy everything Apple does is on the bleeding edge. Judging from my Google Analytics I know most of the people reading this are on PCs, so I’ll try not to distance my audience too much and will leave it at that… for now.
YouTube to Allow Charge to Download
MarketingVox and TechCrunch are reporting that YouTube has launched a test initiative in which select video publishers can charge users ($1 each) to download videos onto their computers as a new approach for generating revenue from the site. Users will be able to pay for the downloads via Google checkout.
I REALLY want to applaud this initiative, because the ability to download videos from YouTube would be awesome, but I can’t support it. Why? Because there are already 3rd party applications that allow consumers to download videos off any website… for free! How is it possible that YouTube doesn’t know this? Or, assuming they know about it, how is it possible that they expect to charge users for something they can already do for free?
Related: I highly recommend TubeTV (sorry PC users) as a killer app for downloading tube videos… it also automatically converts videos to be playable your iPhone. But shhhh, nobody tell YouTube!
YAHOO to Introduces Videos and Images Into Sponsored Search Results
The new service, Rich Ads in Search, provides advertisers with the option to use rich media – banner ads or videos – in their paid listings. Google is also piloting a “less rich” service called PlusBox.
Recession Job Hunting Tip #73: Shave Your Head and Sell it as Advertising Space
“Cranial Billboards” are all the rage according to the NY Times. Air New Zealand paid 30 people to shave their heads and display the ad, “Need a change? Head down to New Zealand. www.airnewzealand.com” For shaving their head each person received a roundtrip ticket to New Zealand (valued at $1,200) or $777 cash.
Photo credit: NY Times
Google is Testing a Feature to Allow Users to Block Sponsored Ads
Google hasn’t yet released any information about it, but WebmasterWorld and MarketingVox are reporting that Google is testing a feature that allows users to block unwanted ads in search results, as part of its Google Search Wiki. MarketingVox says the benefit to users is that it “boost organic search listings most relevant to their query” and that the feedback will figure into marketer’s ad quality scores.
Photo credit: Rehan at WebmasterWorld
350 Social Networking Sites
And finally, in case you have an insane amount of free time this weekend, here’s a list of 350 social networking sites compiled by Mashable. Personally, I can barely keep up with the handful of social networking acounts I’m on, but there’s always room for 350 one more, right?
