SINGAPORE — Food website Sethlui.com on Friday (Oct 6) rejected as “patently false” a Facebook post which claimed that the way it selected eateries for reviews was “a scam” as it involved payment.
On Wednesday, a Facebook user called Yang Charlene Yan said that she was “pretty shocked” to receive an email proposal from Sethlui.com on a S$2,300 package to be part of a “Best place to eat in Everton Park” article.
Sethlui.com is an online publication formed in 2013 that curates food and lifestyle content across Singapore and Southeast Asia.
“Like what happened to actual research, trying then putting in your true recommendations?” wrote Ms Yang.
“Now they just ask for money, content and pictures to be provided and you buy yourself a random spot on the article, disguised as genuine article instead of disclosing as a paid ad.
“Just incredulous,” wrote Ms Yang, who added a hashtag #itsascam in her post.
It is not clear what kind of food and beverage (F&B) business Ms Yang runs or owns. She declined to comment when contacted by TODAY.
Based on a screenshot of the email sent by a Sethlui.com staff, the advertising package includes a listicle feature with accompanying text and photos. It covers a listing period of minimally a year and social media boosting cost.
In a statement on its Facebook page on Friday to address Ms Yang’s post, Mr Seth Lui, the company’s founder, said that communication with a potential client containing confidential business information was published online, which had generated discussions.
He went on to dismiss Ms Yang’s post as “patently false”, saying that it contains a misconception that SethLui.com randomly picks eateries and sends them proposals.
“If it were true, the biggest names in F&B would top all our lists, squeezing out everyone else,” he said.
Mr Lui said that the company uses social media and Google ratings to discover new and trending places which its writers then try out and “write about them honestly”.
“We employ a strict methodology for our ratings and writers try the fare before putting finger to keyboard.”
Addressing Ms Yang’s claims, Mr Lui added that the company had heard good things about her F&B business through its circle.
Further research was carried out on the outlet, which later found that it has a 4.7-star rating from almost 140 reviews.
Upon verification of the ratings, the company felt that it warrants a potential recommendation to its readers and reached out to the business for a potential sales collaboration.
Mr Lui added: “In a client collaboration, one or more members of the team would have visited them, understood more about their story, tried the food, and then written about it.
“If the food quality is far below average, we would still drop the client so as not to mislead our readers.”
According to Mr Lui, the company’s reviews express genuine opinion, which had also resulted in some threats of lawsuits from other companies.
He added that majority of reviews and features are paid out from its own budget, especially for hawkers and small businesses, with a disclaimer for branded or sponsored content appended clearly at the end of those articles.
Mr Lui also addressed the issue in a separate Facebook post on his personal account, saying that he is running a media business and has to balance monetisation with free content, which forms the majority of SethLui.com’s work.
“There is a difference between a hobby and business,” he wrote, adding that businesses have the right to say no when being approached with advertising offers, allowing both sides to “move on”.
“Our goal is to empower and increase the discoverability of F&B brands.
“As a business employing almost 20 staff members, we also need to balance our execution with sales opportunities in this competitive market,” Mr Lui added.
“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience or confusion caused and remain committed to our mission of supporting the F&B industry in its efforts to provide excellent dining experiences.”
Ms Yang disputed Mr Lui’s claim that the communication between them was supposed to be confidential.
“I’d like to point out that nowhere in the email states the document is confidential,” she wrote in an update on her Facebook post on Sunday. “The employee did not mention it is, no NDA (non-disclosure agreement) was signed and there was no contract or agreement.”
Responding to TODAY’s query on Saturday, Mr Daren Oliveiro, 42, who runs the ButterNut and Angmohzichar hawker stalls at Taman Jurong Food Centre, said that it is “common practice” for food review publications to offer advertising packages to F&B owners.
“Since I started ButterNut in 2017, these companies would contact us. They will say where they are from, what reach they have, or who their ‘star’ is and state the prices,” said Mr Oliveiro.
Various packages involving articles or videos would be offered, costing anywhere between S$500 and S$2,400, he said.
“Usually if such food media companies charge, they would be upfront about the cost. I’ll be honest with them that I can’t afford that high of a fee,” he added.
Mr Oliveiro said that while SethLui.com has not approached his business to be included in an article, they did create a free video for the Angmohzichar brand in 2021.
“There was no talk of money or fees. But I did ask what the fees involved would be if I were to engage their services,” he added.