The service is a marketplace for advertisers to pay bloggers to write about products for a fee. Commenters to our original post wee polarized into those violently for and those againt the product. The key area of controversy is the fact that advertisers can mandate that posts be positive on the product, and disclosure of payment is optional for the blogger.
If you want to pay people to write about stuff... I guess that's fine. But to not disclose it -or- require positive reviews in exchange for money is pretty reprehensible. (You listening, Armstrong Williams?)
1 comment:
I think this is the type of idea that will eventually correct itself in the marketplace. The problem with this type of hiddden advertising is that it only really wrks once (or until the reader finds out he/she is being lied to). Once the reader finds this out, your blogs credibility is forever tarnished, no matter what you may say or do to repent. Since its hard enough getting a steady stream of interested readers, the last thing you want to do is scare them away for 3-10 bucks. However I can see it tricking the googlers who stop by one page of some random blog in a pathetic attempt to research a product. But I guess the splogs would have gotten them anyways.
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