The recent teacup-in-a-storm over flogging the Wal-Mart way has just been put in perspective by the release in London of survey results demonstrating just how powerful the blog can be.

According to the latest Ipsos MORI poll of 2,200 Europeans, blogs are a more trusted source of information than either TV advertising or email marketing, http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews%26storyID=2006-11-11T002723Z_01_L07786851_RTRUKOC_0_US-BRITAIN-BLOGS.xml">writes Reuters. The researchers found a direct link between blogs, or user-generated content, and people's intentions to buy goods or services.

About a third of those Europeans questioned said they had been put off making a purchase after reading negative comments on the internet from customers or other web users, and 52 percent said they had been persuaded to buy after a positive review on a blog.

Such reliance on the gushing praise or faint damnation of others is both flattering and hazardous. A paid shill or a competitor in stealth mode could disrupt the still-fragile online ecology. Early adoption of the WOMMA Ethics Assessment Tool, with its 20 Step Program in support of doing the right thing, is at least some progress in the right direction.