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Blogging or Advertising? 部落格乎?广告乎?

 

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Some endorsement deals blur the line between blogging and promotion  有些协议下的代言行为,混淆了部落格发文与营销的界线

 

Consumers researching a product online can find a trove of insightful reviews and revealing complaints. Or, they can get mired in a snake pit of fake blogs, paid testimonials and word-of-mouth campaigns engineered by marketers posing as consumers.

利用网络来研究产品信息的消费者,可能会找到许多富有洞见的使用心得及揭露真相的不满文章。或者,消费者也有可能陷入泥淖,受困于假部落格、有酬推荐证言,以及假装成消费者的营销人员所策划的口碑式营销之中。

 

At the center of itall are bloggers, who find themselves being tugged in opposite directions by big business and federal regulators – with each side claiming the other threatens the vitality and independence of the medium.

这一切的中心人物就是部落客,部落客发现自己夹在当中,遭到相反两端的大企业与联邦监管人员拉扯,而双方都宣称,另一方才是对部落格这项传播媒介的活力与独立性造成威胁的元凶。

 

shifting line between content and advertising is nothing new. But the rules seem murkier online, perhaps because a generation of young consumers seems to have developed a knack for ignoring clearly marked ads and sponsored links.

内容和广告的界线改变也不是什么新闻,但在网络上,规则似乎更加模糊了。也许是因为年轻消费世代似乎已发展出一套本领,已经能对那些明显的广告和赞助厂商连结视若无睹。

 

“Claims that [are] clearly exuberant are pretty easily identified,” said Timothy Keane, the director of the Emerson Ethics Center at St. Louis University.

圣路易大学艾默森伦理规范中心主任提蒙西.柯恩表示,「一眼就知道是在热心说好话者,很容易就会被看穿(是广告,而非单纯的部落格文章)。」

 

New trends in media equal new rules  媒体新趋势相当于新规定

 

As technology like TiVo and video on demand encourages the most desirable, upper-income demographic tune out traditional television commercials, marketers consider Internet marketing a priority. And that hasn’t escaped notice from federal regulators.

由于TiVo和随选视讯等科技让广告商最想争取的中上收入顾客群,不再收看传统电视广告,营销人员因此把网络营销视为首要之务,但这并没有逃过联邦监管人员的法眼。

 

In late 2009, the Federal Trade Commission announced a reinterpretation of its product endorsement rules that, in part, targets bloggers and social media users who vouch for companies and products in exchange for payment.

二00九年末,联邦贸易委员会重新解释产品代言规范,就某种程度上来说,此举无疑是专门针对为商家及产品有偿代言的部落客及社群媒体用户。

 

The FTC said bloggers were within their rights to sell content – even favorable reviews – but that they have to disclose to readers that they’ve been compensated. If bloggers try to conceal paid endorsement deals, the commission could sue them.

联邦贸易委员会表示,部落客有权出售部落格内容,就算是溢美的讨好评论也无妨,但是部落客必须明告读者,他们收受了(厂商的)酬庸。如果部落客企图隐瞒有酬代言的事实,委员会就可以对他们提起告诉。

 

To many, the commission’s stance smacked of big government control over commerce and free speech.

对许多人来说,委员会的立场显示政府有对商业及言论自由加以箝制的迹象。

 

 

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endorsement [ɪnˋdɔrsmənt] n. 赞同;支持

trove [trov] n. 收藏的东西 a collection of valuable items discovered or found

insightful [ˋɪn͵saɪtfəl] adj. 有深刻见解的

snake pit 恐怖和混乱的地方 a place of disorder and chaos

snake [snek] n. 奸险的人,卑劣的人

testimonial [͵tɛstəˋmonɪəl] n.(人、物、资格、品质等的)证明书;推荐书

pose [poz] v. 假装

tug [tʌg] v. 用力拉(或拖)

vitality [vaɪˋtælətɪ] n. 活力; 生命力

shifting [ˈʃɪftɪŋ] adj. 变化的; 变换的

murky [ˋmɝkɪ] adj. 含糊不清的; 难以理解的  describes a situation that is complicated and unclear

knack [næk] n. 本领;熟练技巧

exuberant [ɪgˋzjubərənt] adj. 热情洋溢的 enthusiastic

on demand 按需的; 随选的 at any time that you want or need something

desirable [dɪˋzaɪrəb!] adj. 中意的, 理想的, 希望的

tune out 不再参与, 脱身 to cease paying attention to anything at all

in part 在某种程度上;部分地 to some extent; partly

vouch [vaʊtʃ] v. 担保;保证;作证[(+for)]

favorable [ˋfevərəb!] adj. 赞同的;称赞的

smack [smæk] v. 略有特定滋味,稍带特定味道

 

 

 

 

 

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Difficult to define  难以界定

 

Many bloggers bristled at the FTC’s broad definition of what should be disclosed to readers as compensation, which the commission has said could include sample merchandise or free services.

联邦贸易委员会对于应向读者群揭露报酬的广泛定义,让许多部落客极为不满,委员会曾表示,样品或免费服务也包括在应揭露的报酬之列。

 

Karin McAnaney, who writes a blog that tracks coming specials at St. Louis-area restaurants, believes that anger is misplaced.

追踪圣路易地区餐厅新推出特餐的部落格写手凯伦.玛克安奈认为,这些怒气发错地方了。

 

The advertisements that appear on McAnaney’s site – STLMealDeals.blogspot.com – are independently generated by Google. And McAnaney, a proponent of full disclosure by bloggers, intends to keep that way.

玛克安奈网站STLMealDeals.blogspot.com上的广告是谷歌所放,与她无关,她打算继续维持现况,玛克安奈同时也赞成,部落客必须充分揭露自己是否有收受厂商的酬劳。

 

“Consumers should know whether that long blog post they are relying on …. is only a shill that may be glossing over any negatives of the product,” she said. Disclosing a relationship with a company “is no burden at all, but has the benefit of arming the reader with the proper knowledge.”

她指出,「消费者应知道,他们所依赖的部落格长篇发文……是否只是美化产品缺点的假见证。」部落客揭露自己和商家的关系,「一点都不是负担,而会有利于让读者获得正确的认知。」

 

 

No need to panic  毋须恐慌

 

The FTC has tried to quell bloggers’ fears that the government will sue them over the occasional free meal, a free book or promotional swag.

部落客担心政府会为了偶尔一顿免费餐饮、免费的书和促销品而控告他们,联邦贸易委员会则努力弭平这种恐惧。

 

“We’re not planning on investigating individual bloggers,” said Mary Engle, the FTC’s associate director of ad practices. “We work in a target-rich environment, so we’re going to focus on the worst violators.”

玛丽.安格是联邦贸易委员会广告实务部副主任,她表示,「委员会并不打算调查个别部落客,我们工作上有待调查的对象很多,所以会针对违法情形最严重者来处理。」

 

The commission, she insisted, is much more concerned with the proliferation of websites designed to look like personal blogs that are, in fact, created by marketers to kick-start buzz campaigns or give shady companies the false veneer of consumer satisfaction.

有些网站故意设计得像是个人部落格,其实是营销人员用来展开口碑营销、或是帮不肖厂商做些虚假消费者满意报告。安格坚称,这些网站的激增,才是委员会更关切的目标。

 

One thing is for certain, said Keane: Product endorsements by bloggers are here to stay. Blogging “meets the need for shallow and fast gratification,” he said. Consumers “can look at it quickly and move out. They assume everything in it is true and don’t do any vetting of reality.”

柯恩指出,有一件事倒是确定的,那就是部落客帮产品代言的趋势会持续下去。他说,部落格发文「能够让人们得到浅薄快速的满足」,消费者「可以迅速看几眼后就离开,他们认为文中所言皆真,不会去检验真实性。」

 

by Matt Hathaway

 

 

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misplaced [ˋmɪsplest] adj. 不合时宜的,不得体的

shill [ʃɪl] n.【美】【口】诱饵; 雇用的骗子 someone who pretends to be an interested customer, but is actually promoting a product for reasons of self-interest

gloss [glɔs] v. 掩盖;掩饰[(+over)]

arm [ɑrm] v. 提供,配备[(+with)] to provide with something that strengthens or protects

swag [swæg] n. 促销品; 宣传品 items given for free to promote something, and usually bearing a company’s logo

target-rich 目标丰富的

shady [ˋʃedɪ] adj.【口】可疑的;靠不住的;名声不好的

(be) here to stay【口】固定下来, 普遍认可, 成为风尚 to remain (in a particular position, place, state or condition)

gratification [͵grætəfəˋkeʃən] n. 满足;满意;喜悦

vetting [vɛtɪŋ] n. 数据检查[核对,核实]

 

 

 

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mired [ˈmaɪəd] adj. 使……深陷泥潭的;陷于困境的 involved in a difficult situation, especially for a long period of time

smack of (something) 有…的味道, 有点像… to seem to display a certain quality, especially an unpleasant one

bristle [ˋbrɪs!] v. 发怒;准备格斗[(+up/at)] to react angrily

proponent [prəˋponənt] n. 提议人;拥护者a person who speaks publicly in support of a particular idea or plan of action

gloss over 掩饰, 掩盖 to avoid discussing something; to hide under a deceptively attractive surface or appearance

quell [kwɛl] v. 镇压;平息;压制 to stop something unwanted from happening

veneer [vəˋnɪr] n. 虚饰 something that hides what is unpleasant or unwanted

vet [vɛt] v. 调查;检查 to study something to see that it is acceptable or accurate

 

 

 

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