Something I haven’t really done in a while

Shopping.

I’ve been asked to write about Elib.org, a shopping directory. They claim to be a human-edited international directory of quality shopping websites. A quick check in the Singapore category shows no entries there whatsoever. Since this is probably quite a new site and almost definitely not an Asian directory, I’m not surprised.

The thing that gets me is there is no ‘About’ page. Maybe the proprietors think if it’s only a directory, it’s not important. But it is. I’d like to know why Elib.org is better than other directories. I’d like to know who they are, and what their revenue model is (advertising, presumably).

Design-wise, it’s decent. Like everyone and their grandma, they’ve got a weblog. The article that makes me think they’re a UK site is on debt consolidation. The author sings the praises of debt consolidation loans in this short article, but never once mentions changing one’s spending habits and moving AWAY from debt.

I have my suspicions about This site’s weblog is all advertorial. I don’t oppose it on principle because they do not appear to hide this fact (but they don’t advertise it — haha — either). The trend is for almost all weblog authors to try and at least earn enough revenue to pay for hosting — I’m writing this for a small payout, myself.

As long as people are aware that this is pretty much a pure advertising / advertorial site, it could be pretty handy. For the listings, anyway. As long as you’re not in Asia!

This post is sponsored. It’s a delicious irony.

• 9 Feb 2007

• Thinking