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One fifth of animal and plant species are under the threat of extinction

A global conservation study has warned. BBC

Chinese baby milk powder scandal manufactured by competitor

As it turns out, the Chinese baby milk powder scandal (where infants grow breasts due to the chemical additives) was manufactured by a competitor's PR agency, using online forums and micro-blogging services to spread false rumors. Full story in Campaign China.

OFT to investigate hotels online booking industry

"Allegations of collusion between hotels and online booking operators to keep room rates artificially high are to be formally investigated by the Office of Fair Trading." Consumer wins. FT

Europe according to stereotypes

Europe as seen from France. More maps by alphadesigner.

Facebook overtakes Google on time spent

Internet users now spending more time on Facebook than Google (including Gmail, Youtube...). CNET.

Paul's extreme sound stretch

Create your own ambient epic soundtrack with Paul's extreme sound stretch. It makes pre-teen idol Justin Bieber sound like Vangelis. Read on Lifehacker. Mac version here.

Strategic Online PR and Media Relations Forum Asia

I am speaking at the Strategic Online PR and Media Relations Forum Asia (23 – 25 August 2010) in Singapore on how brands must move from advertising to advocacy to succeed with social media.

Can Facebook fail?

It seems that Facebook fatigue combined with the sudden re-discovery of basic concepts such as "privacy" are weighting down on Facebook's exponential growth. While I am not cheering for the demise of the platform that allows me to stay connected with otherwise too loose connections to bother sustaining, I am of course concerned about who gets hold of my status updates. And it seems that I am not alone. The BBC is running a good article summing-up why Facebook should worry and highlights a number of promising alternatives such as Diaspora.

Social networks urged to 'raise ad rates or die'

"Datamonitor's Business Insights study predicts that charges for advertising on social networks will have risen steeply by 2015 (...) the report predicts social networks will only make £4.14 per user per year (US$6.03)". Looking at the backlash against Facebook's move to make its platform more advertiser friendly, fair to say that it will be a tough battle to convince users to gobble more ads and let go of more personal data, and to convince advertisers of a premium ROI.

Full article on Brand Republic.

Russian study shows GM soja causes infertility, genetic defects

This 2 years study will be published in July unless it is "killed-off" before that. Truly frightening when we know of the considerable resources deployed to suppress any scientific paper showing harmful side effects of GM food consumptions. The issue is that GM crops contaminate natural crops thus reducing consumer choice. The GM food industry has also been successful at aborting government initiatives to label food containing GM ingredients as such.

Eat organic whenever possible.

Huffington Post

Comprehensive article in French here.

Toyota battling Chinese bloggers

"Toyota Motor Corp.'s recall of millions of cars globally has created a PR fiasco for the Japanese car company. In China, the company now has one more thing to worry about..." Bloggers!

AdAge

Watch US TV shows outside the US

http://tvgorge.com

US teens don't blog, don' twitter.

Only 14% blog and 8% tweet. 73% use social networks. Speaking of Twitter, a Pew researcher commented that teens may have a "reluctance to put their thoughts on such a public forum when they can post them to their Facebook page instead". Didn't Mark Zuckerberg announced the end of privacy?