Abe asks why moblogging isn’t hot in the Philippines? This was one of the questions raised during iBlog 3. Jayvee says it’s a pricing issue, I say it’s a usability issue. Abe says that it’s disinterest in blogging in general and he’s probably right. But the points he raised answer the “why aren’t you blogging” and not “why aren’t you moblogging”. We can’t expect non-bloggers to all of a sudden start moblogging; they have to start blogging first before we can even go ask them to do something exotic like moblogging.

I think the better question to ask is why isn’t mobile blogging hot with Filipino bloggers.
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Thanks to InstantKupy for this kick-ass poster - definitely one of the brightest web design minds in the Philippines
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With so many people Googling just about anything online, businesses and individuals are now starting to realize the value of maintaining a positive brand online. Brand managers in particular have a reason to be doubly concerned: the world is full of people out to destroy your brand. Disgruntled employees, dissatisfied customers, competitors…they all have a vested interest in spreading negative information about your brand.

Building brand equity used to be a ’simple’ task. Block off primetime TVC ad spots, publish full-page Sunday newspaper ads, or treat journalists out to lunch. But the growth of consumer-generated media (blogs, forums, messageboards, video sites, etc.) has forced brand managers to rethink their traditional brand management model.

Now imagine thousands upon thousands of “reverse evangelists” publishing negative (not necessarily malicious) content about your brand at the push of a button. Worse, this content is easily found and indexed by search engines, which gives the content the ability to spread at viral speed and efficiency. Whatever brand equity brand managers spent years of offline PR to develop, online buzz can erode overnight (destroy even).

Consider the case of PLDT myDSL.
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If you’ve been paying attention to the messages on your Client Center’s opening screen, you’ll know that Google’s currently looking for Philippine companies interested in securing ‘Qualified Company’ status in the Google Advertising Professionals program.

To become a Qualified Company in the Google Advertising Professionals program, a company must:

• Have a billing and mailing address in a country where company qualification is available.
• Employ at least two Qualified Individuals in the program. Individuals must be qualified under the main company-registered My Client Center account and not their own account. See the requirements for becoming a Qualified Individual.
• Build and maintain the minimum 90-day required total client spend (spend requirements vary by country) for the company’s My Client Center account.

It’s a great way for a search marketing company to differentiate itself in the marketplace, just as it is important for a search marketing consultant to get certified by Google. But the requirements, most notable of which is the $50,000 minimum 90-day total client spend, is just too high for most companies. Nevermind that I know of only 1 other GAP-certified individual in the Philippines. So you’d probably need to hire us both :) or grow your own GAP certified people (contact me for test tips).

If you’re GAP certified, consider getting listed in this directory.

No SEO, no AdSense sites, no clients, no problems, no nothing! I’m off to Bataan with the band for the annual Macalua soul cleansing ritual. Will resurrect this blog after He has risen. Need to refocus on a lot of things.

Happy Easter to everyone!