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RSS FeedsJames Soriano’s column: ‘Filipino is language of the streets’
August 26, 2011
The original column written by James Soriano, entitled “Language, learning, identity, privilege” which appeared in the Manila Bulletin on August 24 has already been removed from the newspaper’s website.
Below is a reprint of the column as posted on that site.
In the controversial piece, Soriano branded the Filipino language as the “language of the streets.” He concludes by saying that Filipino “might have the capacity to be the language of learning, but it is not the language of the learned.”
ENSOGO advertises as ‘Cash Cash Pinoy’ and ‘Deal Grocer’; METRODEAL poses as ‘Emsogo’
August 11, 2011
The battle for supremacy among group buying sites in the Philippines continues to heat up, with most sites resorting to massive advertising on Google and Facebook. But when advertising online, isn’t it unethical (and possibly illegal) to use your competitors’ keywords to deceive customers into believing that you are who you are not?
For example, we have screenshots below showing Ensogo advertising themselves as “Cash Cash Pinoy” and “Deal Grocer Philippines” while another site, Metrodeal, is advertising themselves as “Emsogo.”
I don’t know if these tactics of playing dirty bode well with their customers.
(July 2011 update) Top Blogs in the Philippines
July 4, 2011
On July 11, Monday, we will release the PinoyMoneyTalk’s list of the Top 100 Blogs in the Philippines for the first half of 2011. (Update — The list can be found here: Top 100 Popular Blogs Posts in the Philippines)
As in the previous 2010 list, websites will be ranked based on Website Traffic and User Engagement, explained in detail in the article The 100 Most Popular Blogs in the Philippines.
Beware of Gordion Hotel and Ensogo group buying site
June 16, 2011
Bad customer service can take a company down. Sadly, this basic marketing tenet seems to have been lost to Gordion Hotel (a Vigan-based hotel) and group buying website Ensogo.
It’s been one month now and my problem with a voucher I bought from Ensogo is still not solved. (For details on how this all started, read the other post Problem with group buying site Ensogo.)
Yes, Ensogo has been contacting me in the past weeks saying they are “working” to solve the problem. In fact, in the first week I made the post, they said they are already finding a solution — so they are requesting that the blog post be removed.
Shrewd, right? No solution yet but they want all negative publicity removed.
But the worst they did happened on Friday last week. They offered me a “compromise” — that is, they will issue a full refund IF AND ONLY IF I remove the blog post about the problem with Ensogo and Gordion Hotel.
Does Ensogo and Gordion Hotel really think can bully their own customers?
Problem with group buying site Ensogo
May 17, 2011
I’m having problems with a deal I bought on Ensogo, a popular group buying site in the Philippines.
A few weeks ago, I bought a voucher for the supposedly low-priced deal of P8,999 for a 3D/2N accommodation at Gordion Hotel in Vigan. It turns out, I’m not getting any discount at all and I’m even paying more compared to making direct reservations with the hotel.
Here’s the story.
Top 5 Group Buying sites in the Philippines
January 31, 2011
Without a doubt, group buying websites have invaded the Philippines. We scoured the Internet and our latest count shows that there are at least 20 active (and legitimate) group buying sites operating in the country.
What is a Group Buying Site?
A Group Buying site banks on the power of “collective buying.” It is a well-accepted fact that individually, people don’t have much bargaining power versus the seller when buying a product or service. When these people unite, however, they can as a group negotiate for lower prices or better deals.
PLDT SWUP – spam, spam, spam!
July 13, 2010
I don’t know if it’s some sort of online guerilla marketing by PLDT, but the PMT Forum is recently being swamped by dozens of people posting — no, spamming! — about PLDT’s newest product offering: PLDT SWUP.
There’s nothing wrong with making a post or two in the Forum to promote it, especially if they are properly posted in the Classified Ads board, but if around 5-10 posts are made by 3-5 different people EVERYDAY, that is bound to be annoying.
Free Google Adwords advertising credits
November 6, 2009
Earlier I saw a Google Adsense banner ad here on our site announcing the free use of Php2,000 ($42) worth of Google AdWords advertising credit.
The free advertising credits program is dubbed as the “Philippine Business Stimulus Package,” a program by Google and local partners STI, GoNegosyo, and the Philippine Marketing Association aimed at helping Filipino businesses put up and build an online presence.
List of Philippines’ best blogs – 2nd Quarter 2009
August 13, 2009
It’s time once again to bring you the quarterly report on the performance of Philippine blogs. Our latest update was in April 2009 where we gave you the list of the Philippines’ Top Blogs of 2008.
The list for this quarter is quite interesting because a variety of new blogs are entering the Top 50. Nine out of the Top 50 blogs are new, meaning they were either established during the quarter or were previously unknown but are starting to be popular.
PRC.gov.ph blocked, reported as attack site
July 20, 2009
Two weeks ago, we reported that Filipino online portal site Yehey.com was blocked by Google and Firefox for being an “attack site.”
Yesterday, I visited the Philippine’s Professional Regulatory Commission‘s (PRC) website at www.prc.gov.ph and was greeted by the same warning.
