Bloggers Being Paid to Post: Is It Ethical?
The immense value of a blogger's personal endorsement of a product or service has long been recognized by the business world. Many companies have hired teams of bloggers to post positive commentary as an effective marketing tool. The blogosphere has exploded with hundreds of millions of blogs---many top bloggers enjoy millions of visitors each year and can live comfortably off of the advertising revenue that the blog generates. And, as a business leader, you'd be foolish to ignore the power of that this medium of publicity can provide. But, has the blogosphere become corrupt with all of the cash that passes hands behind the scenes?
Several sites including PayPerPost and ReviewMe have gained popularity by connecting bloggers with advertisers who pay the blogger for mentioning them in a post. Each of these blog/advertiser brokerage sites works in much the same way for bloggers:
1) The blogger creates an account
2) Bloggers can then search through dozens of opportunities that have been offered by advertisers
3) The blogger selects an opportunity that he or she wants to write about and then does so
Advertisers will always specify certain criteria that the post must match in order for the blogger to be compensated. This almost always includes a minimum word length and at least a link to the advertisers product or service. It's a great way for advertisers to gain inbound links and create buzz with word of mouth advertising. And, bloggers don't mind picking up a little bit of cash either. I've seen opportunities like this that range from paying out $5 up to $200 per posting (for higher Google PR bloggers). As an added bonus, bloggers aren't forced to write a "positive" post about the company. The blogger can say whatever he/she wants!
But, the question remains. Is it ethical for bloggers to receive compensation for their posts? I personally believe that it is (not just because I'm a blogger !). But, only if the post meets certain criteria:
- The blogger should declare within the post that it is a sponsored posting
- The blogger should provide his/her true feelings about the product/service--not just a positive endorsement because he/she is being compensated.
- The post/compensation should never compromise the integrity of the blogger--otherwise, you'll quickly lose credibility and therefore lose your readers
I think that if your posts meet the criteria above and you can stay true to your readers, then it's okay to receive compensation for your posts. Heck, you probably would have written about many of the products/services whether you were being paid or not anyway.
What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave comments.
6 comments:
I agree, I think paying bloggers is ethical.
Compare it to the tactics that are being used by every company in America in every advertising campaign on the radio, television, newspaper, web, billboards, and magazine's. In every media in America you see well known celebrities, sports stars, and hot chicks promoting products they themselves have sometimes never even used or cared about. I think of every Nike ad that I have seen with Michael Jordan doing some 360 dunk with his shirt pulled over his eyes and his tongue hanging out of his mouth but he never says a word about the quality of his Air Nike high tops. Than the commercial fades to black with a Nike emblem reading "Just Do It".
This is what the advertising industry calls a "Implied endorsement", MJ never even said a word throughout the entire commercial about why, or even if he likes Nike shoes (I assume he has about 60 million reasons per year why he loves them) but he never actually gives a review or an opinion. Nike may tell a different story if they paid people to give reviews on the products instead showing basketball god's performing mind blowing dunks. Personally I have had dozens of Nike shoes and I have never once dunked a ball (I have come close though on a 7 foot rim).
My point is, advertising has always been about paying people to endorse your product. I think paying an opinionated (know-it-all) blogger to give an honest or even slightly biased review of your product/service is just as, if not more, ethical than any other form of advertising.
I'd rather find another way to be compensated for my expertise yet you lay out the best criteria I've seen for those who do want to get paid for posts.
It may be regidity - kicking in from my work as a journalist.
As you know, I'm taking the leap into offering an online social network model where membership is free, great posts (as tips) are rewarded with recognition and gifts when members' tips are among the ten most popular - as voted by the community each month. Our hope is that the membership will grow sufficiently that we can have underwriting sponsors, with a firewall between user-generated (member) content and sponsors.
Contributing members get some additional fame as other members view teir tagged tips on site - and the tips are syndicated elsewhere as "shorts" - and when their winning tips are compiled in an end-of-year published book. Your insights would be much appreciated. - another fan, Kare, SavvyHer
Every media on earth is already saturated with ads, but the distinction between editorial and ads is usually clear. Bloggers are usually seen as informal writers and thus seem to get more trust from netizens.
Still, stuff like PPP are insidious. What they are doing is as close to bribing an impartial jury as you can get. I don't think insincere stuff can get much trust in the long run.
Overall the credibility of bloggers will go down and smart readers will wise up and migrate to the opinion leaders that have demonstrated their credibility.
That's how the market works.
That's right and the market will sort itself out. If a blogger a tells me a product is good and I get it and don't like it then quess what, I won't listen to blogger a anymore. There is a lot editorial and advertising mix going on that most consumers aren't aware of. Same mazim still holds true, Buyer beware!
Thanks for your thoughts Kare. You have an interesting social networking concept--providing recognition and gifts to "expert members" who provide advice to your audience. However, I'm not sure that these incentives alone will be enough to ensure a solid adoption rate for your site. Stated better, I'm not sure that you'll need these particular incentives for your members. Sites like About.com and ExpertsExchange.com have managed to get their members to pay to be an "expert"! Of course, these experts receive quite a bit of exposure from the enormous traffic that these sites bring in. Another interesting site is Kasamba.com--where the experts charge a predetermined (per minute) fee in exchange for their advice. Kasamba obviously takes a cut from the fees that are charged.
In short, I think you can use a different revenue model to achieve better success. And, you have the luxury of drafting behind some of the bigger players that I mentioned above in your industry.
I personally do not see a problem with compensating a blogger. The blogger is not being paid to "endorse" the product or write a glowing review; he/she can say that the product is crappy.
Motor Trend gets new cars to test drive and then write a review about. Their compensation comes from people purchasing the magazine.
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