17/07: Sponsored Blog Posts

There has been a debate raging over sponsored blogging since it first made an appearance and it doesn't look likely to go  away anytime soon. It has grown into a very high brow discussion of "ethics" and the waters have become so muddied it's very difficult to see who is right or wrong or even if those two standpoints have any validity. Many of the original critics who failed to sink companies offering sponsored posting opportunities to bloggers, rallied after their initial failure to announce that they now believed that anyone being paid to post on their blog should disclose the fact clearly and transparently on each and every such post, and so, our ethical guardians continue to draw attention to themselves and their often hypocritical standpoints. Many of the "anti-brigade", class themselves as "journalists" and pontificate loudly from their "holier than thou" pulpits about ethics, morality, transparency, disclosure, rules of journalism etc etc. and get so caught up in their ravings that they miss the point that the vast majority of bloggers are not professionals and as such are not bound by any "code of practice" either verbal or written. Why do they believe they have any more right to "control" the internet or blogosphere than anyone else?........

For those who don't know what sponsored blogging is, here's the short version. Advertisers pay a middleman to sell their product reviews, service reviews etc. on blogs. Bloggers sign up with the middleman and agree, in exchange for a fee, to make a post on their blog about the advertiser's product or service. 

Many thousands of bloggers have seen the potential of getting paid to blog and it soon took off. However, there are many out there who believe sponsored blogging is one of the worst threats to ever darken the blogosphere, claiming it to be shady practice and unethical in the extreme. Their stance tends to be along the lines that people read blogs because they like the blogger's style, or content, or both and that once a blogger starts endorsing and writing about any subject for financial gain, their integrity is compromised and they are selling out to the highest bidder with no regard whatsoever for their readership. There is a strong call from the anti sponsored post brigade for bloggers to be duty bound to disclose if they are being paid to write about anything. This position is fair enough but it annoys me that these extremists have to bandy about terms like "Shill" and hurl insults around like petulant playground bullies. 

At this point I think I should make my personal opinion clear. There is nothing unethical about it in my view. I can't see that monetizing a blog in this fashion harms anyone per se.

There has been so much name calling and vitriol expended on this already with everyone and their dog weighing in with their opinions. I have linked to several of the discussions at the foot of this post.

I concede that there are bloggers out there who will go totally overboard in the quest to make as much money as they possibly can, and, in the process, probably destroy any loyalty their readers may have had, by turning their blog into little more than a billboard with no cohesive subject and very little original thought. A short term cash cow it may be, but greed is unattractive and most people will soon see past the advertising and lose interest/faith in the author. For example, writing a glowing review about a company or its services, purely because they compensate you to do so is probably not the smartest long term strategy for your blog - however, a well thought out and relevant posting on a subject likely to be of interest to those in your readership demographic is, to my mind, perfectly legitimate and done well negates the fact that the author is being paid, disclosure or no disclosure.

Used sensibly, sponsored posts are a great way for bloggers to share in the advertising revenue pie and why shouldn't they? Many bloggers are familiar with the struggle to earn through traditional PPC ads and other forms of advertising and have long looked for more effective ways to monetize their blog real estate. When they are finally given realistic alternatives, somebody cries foul and appoints themselves the blogger police. It often strikes me that it seems to be the high profile bloggers who cry the loudest and it smacks of wanting to keep the little guy down once again. When you dig a little deeper, you often find that these people of such high moral and ethical values have long been raking in advertising revenue for themselves because their high traffic sites can command it. Hmmmm.... Bloggers don't have a boss  or a set of corporate rules to which they have to adhere and yet it is apparent that far too many people take blogging and themselves a touch too seriously.

As I see it, sponsored posting will become self regulating over time. The example given above, of the crazed sponsored poster, will ensure that their blog will ultimately be seen for what it is and it will suffocate itself as people get fed up of reading endorsement after endorsement.  On the other hand, the blogger who is selective and demonstrates some level of restraint, continuing to give his readership a balance of relevant content, sponsored or otherwise, will continue to flourish and earn some income for his trouble at the same time.

If you blog for the love of it and don't plan to ever monetize your blog, fair enough. If you then feel compelled to embark on witch hunts against those who seek a little financial compensation, not so fair. Bloggers are all individuals with their own views, they will never all agree with one another and that is the root of the whole blogging dynamic - people expressing their opinions in a free for all environment.

Sponsored blog posting is not a crime, it's not unethical or immoral. It is what it is. Speaking personally I read what I choose to read, online and off. I choose to disregard advertising that doesn't interest me, I  choose to take note of that which does. Online or offline I have a choice and to be honest, I get pretty sick and tired of those who would interfere with the freedom of  choice of others. As  if the nanny state is not interfering in our personal lives enough, now we have to put up with self righteous, self appointed, internet moral guardians doing it too? There are those expressing "fears" that sponsored blog posts will pollute "their internet experience"  and make it difficult to decide if any review they read is genuine or bought.........if you really are so lame that you can't make decisions for yourself perhaps you should hand control of your life to someone a little more competent......but hang on, isn't that what you're claiming the high ground on; your ability to decide what's best for everyone else?  

Ultimately, if you are a blogger, you choose how to use your blog. If you write about something that is of interest to me I will read it and don't particularly care if you got paid to write it or not. If you're endorsing something, whether or not I believe what you have to say, is, once again, my decision. Should you be obliged to tell me you're getting paid? (Some sites require that you do so in their TOS) This is really what gets the blog Gestapo's panties in a bunch - their view being that if you don't disclose your dirty little secret, you are the spawn of Satan, deliberately misleading them, poor little innocents that they are, and you should be publicly humiliated for your sins against the moral vanguard. What a load of nonsense. Product endorsement is a fact of life and has been for a very long time. If it's OK for the big guns to do it, it's just as OK for you, the humble blogger. 

If I decide to write a sponsored post through any of these kinds of services, I will happily disclose it as such. If I feel it is relevant to the theme of a blog, and likely to be of interest to my readers, fair enough. I would not consider posting a glowing endorsement of something just because someone throws me a few bucks.

As an individual affiliate my blogs carry advertisements for a variety of companies, many of which I admit to having no direct experience of and many that I do. Often I will post about a service or company who will pay me as an affiliate, should someone decide to use their services, buy something from them or perhaps complete a desired action. If readers discover a product or a service through my blogs but ultimately buy somewhere else I have no reason or right to cry about it, but I like to think that by giving exposure to relevant businesses and blogs I am providing useful information to people who are looking for such things - this is after all a blog about marketing, affiliates and blogging. The fact that I try to earn money through blogging and affiliate marketing makes me just like thousands of others, including so called "A-List" bloggers, I just don't care to be so pompous about what I do, nor about how others use their space on the web. (Just to be clear, nor will I enter into a p***ing contest with anyone who feels they know me well enough to pass judgment on me or my ethics or morality. I am quite comfortable with these aspects of my own character). Do feel free to comment however ;-)  

Ultimately you are responsible for your blog and your readers will vote with their subscriptions and that's that.

For more about the whole sponsored blogging fiasco you can check out the following resources:- 

PayPerPost Ic Now Officially Absurd (At TechCrunch)

Reasons For Developing Paid Blog Post Ethics (At Tomrafteryit.net)

PayPerPost Will Fail (At http://www.revenews.com)

PayPerPost Disclosure (at CentreNetworks.com)

Pay Per Spam (at Buzz Machine) 

For anyone who would like to take a closer look at sponsored blogging whether as a publisher or advertiser you can start with the following companies:-

PayPerPost

Sponsored Reviews

Blogitive

Blogsvertise

Review Me

CreamAid 

TCH

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