While scanning the web for mentions of our website, we came across this article on timesofindia.indiatimes.com titled “Booming Business in the time of Swine Flu”. Our website is mentioned in this article. Following are extracts from the article that we would like to highlight.
“Here’s how money is being made (legally) out of an epidemic:”
“* Websites
Even Indian websites on swine have witnessed heavy traffic on Tuesday. People from Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Delhi are clicking away for information. Sites with domain names dedicated to the flu in India like www.swinefluindia.com, and www.swineflu-india.org recorded the highest traffic yesterday. “We have seen an unprecedented growth in traffic on our site. We have received a lot of mails and our page rank on Google has improved drastically,’’ said a spokesperson of swinefluindia.com”
This gives an impression that swinefluindia.com is earning money as a result of the increase in traffic it has witnessed. We would like to reaffirm that swinefluindia.com is a purely voluntary effort and the team does not seek any monetary gains. You will not find any sort of Sponsored Links or Google Ads on our site. This has also been reported in this article by The Indian Express.
To clarify our position, we also posted a comment on the article at timesofindia.indiatimes.com. This comment was posted more than 12 hours ago but is still not live. The text of the comment we posted is given below:
“Hello,
Thank you for mentioning our site in your esteemed news-site. While no-where in your article you mention that swinefluindia.com is making a profit, the title of your article "Booming Business in the time of Swine Flu" suggests that the website is making a profit.
I would like to enlighten your readers that swinefluindia.com is a voluntary initiative and the site does not seek commercial benefits. Hence, unlike the other sites, you will not find any sort of Google Ads or Sponsored Links on our site.
For more info, the readers may please visit blog.swinefluindia.com for the words straight from the horse's mouth.
Thank You for your time!”
Needless to say the team felt very discouraged on reading this article. A voluntary effort such as swinefluindia.com runs on just one fuel – motivation. The encouragement that we have received from the visitors of this site has been the fuel that has kept us going.
We have the highest regard for a leading news-site like timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Given the huge traffic that such news-sites generate, managing comments and content can be a challenge. We just hope to see our comment clarifying our position appear along with that article.
However, as we were not sure when that would happen, we decided to write this post to clarify the matter.
We will continue to update and improve the site so that it has more useful information which will help us in the fight against this pandemic.
Hoping for your continued support and encouragement!
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These media waale have nothing to do but to hype the situation and make money.. BTW who is the spokesperson of swinefluindia.com that they are mentioning?? Are they doing it fakely or did u guys speak to them??
ReplyDeleteNo there is nothing fake reported.... ! We did receive email from a person who said he was from timesofindia and wanted to know the details. whatever has been quoted as the spokesperson is absolutely right as we did respond to that email. Times of India would never report fakely. Its just the way things have come out in that article is what bothered us.
ReplyDeleteI guess they are envious coz you guys are certainly more popular that timesofindia regarding swine flu details...
ReplyDeleteI dont a big media guy like toi need enious of these guys... just a mistake they make unknowingly..
ReplyDeleteBeing a big media guy they are NOT supposed to do such kind of mistake
ReplyDeleteIts really hurting
ReplyDeleteWell guys, dont fret about it. Because of mention of your website, I could get in touch with you and email researched papers on four main issues:
ReplyDelete1) Tamiflu and its adverse reactions including death;
2) H1N1 Tests that seem to give far too many FALSE Positive results;
3) The Best Defense for Flu .... and it costs next to nothing;
4) Vaccines that are coming may be more dangerous than the flu itself;
The Best Defense costs next to nothing! Especially in India, a measly 25 Rupees can provide you year round protection! And its readily available in most hospitals! Yet you wont hear about it much. Do you really expect Mainstream Media or Big Pharma to tell you? Ethics will eventually win though. How many more lives have to be lost till then?
I am yet to see posting of this essential article on your site. I have reiterated I have no personal interest or profit motive other than spread 'ethical' word to the community that they can protect themselves calmly and year-round for next to nothing!
Readers interested can look up the post on my Golden Trails blog http://gkwell.blogspot.com/2009/08/india-focus-h1n1-swine-flu-how-to.html
There are links within the post that are very essential read as well. Once the populace increase their awareness, they will realise how easy it is to protect oneself.
Don't get disheartened friend, you and your team are doing a good job, I agree the people at TOI did commit a mistake, but you should not take that seriously and continue with the good job of providing us with the latest updates while we are away from television and news paper :)
ReplyDeleteGood work guys. Keep it up. We are initiating an effort to go to the people and create an awareness. Have a look at www.spandana.org We need involvement from folks like you... Drop me an email if you would like to involve..
ReplyDeleteThanks
Giriprasad
www.Spandana.org