Sam Coates, political correspondent for The Times newspaper published an interesting article on 10th February 2007. It appears that in the UK, a few hotels, restaurants and online shops have been writing “glowing reviews” for their own products or services, in order to win more business. However, from 31st December, such “fake blogging” will become illegal, as a new European directive will ban businesses from “falsely representing themselves to consumers”
I believe that blogging can be rich e-marketing tool. However, how strong is the temptation for a business to embelish its products and services to win more trade? Is a small white lie acceptable in the online world?
Firms must realise that even in the online world, ethics and integrity are just as important as they are in the “offline” world. Its nice to see legislation is keeping up to date with the rapid developments in the blogosphere.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1361968.ece