When is a blog an ad?

Following on from my previous blog about the EU directive on flogging. I came across an interesting blog….http://www.globaltravelblog.com/

A very sophisticated blog with RSS feeds, podcasts, videos, tag clouds, categories and very well managed content (possibly too well managed when you read some of the posts).  The posts and members are currently dominated by Flight Centre consultants with email links back to a Flight Centre.

In my quest to understand Web 2.0 and the implications for the travel industry and how word of mouth is spread about destinations and products I found this site quite intriguing.

My first thought……is this a community of practice I should be  a part of?

It looks a lot better than the Travelzine (the site I have chosen to study) and definitely has a comparatively improved technological framework.  I was keen to find out more about this site so I clicked on the “about us” section and yes it definitely belongs to a commercial operator perhaps on the biggest in Australia …Flight Centre. 

The Flight Centre Group Product Ads which exclusively dominate the site should have given it away plus if you read the conditions - you will see some interesting conditions of advertising which the owners of the site have clearly decided does not apply to them.

Look the site is a clever use of Web 2.0 and is a great way for Flight Centre to engage with their customers and build customer loyalty.  I am however suspect at the efforts to profile the site as a global travel blog when it really is one big advertisement for Flight Centre and the community primarily consists of travel agents of the company. 

Happy that I have chosen my community the Travelzine.   I go back to my previous blog where trust is a key element in Web 2.0 and that people will trust their community when taking recommendations for products and services.

I suspect Advertising blogs will face the fate of TV advertising, similar to the power of the remote control, Net users have the power to selectively filter out the “ads” with the click of the mouse.

Ramblings, Tourism |