A few weeks ago there was a release about the new BlogStar Network. The 'network' is a new offering of MindComet, an Orlando-area web firm. A few colleagues and I have had some offline discussions about the validity of this type of network. According to the BlogStar site the service:

...recognizes and utilizes the power of Consumer Generated Media to allow corporations to communicate their message through Blogs by way of advertising, testimonials and product reviews. Bloggers and Blog owners are compensated for their participation in corporate communications based on reach and involvement.

it goes on to say:

Each campaign and project is customized based on the needs of the advertiser or sponsor. Members of the network are selected and approached based on the content and reach of their individual blogs. Compensation ranges from free products to thousands of dollars per month depending on the blog, scope and objectives of the campaign.

There is an 'Apply' link on the site, but no other information on how to contact them directly (other than a link to MindComet) for questions or comments. The main question I have is will the 'paid' bloggers notify their readers that they are being paid to pitch a product. How transparent will they be (ahh my favorite word)? It not, I imagine there is the possibility the paid bloggers could be outed by the blogosphere.

To give them some credibility in the blog space, MindComet launched their own corporate blog about the same time as the BlogStar launch. They're learning, but they don't have all the kinks worked out yet. Some may question the selection of Blogger as a corporate blog platform (Jeremy Pepper would argue with me on that one). Initially the blog only accepted comments from Blogger users (the Blogger default). I advised them to open up comments to outside users, which they did. They haven't mastered tags yet, but it can be tricky using Blogger.

Yet another new service they have launched promises to broadcast your Blog In Space. Not really sure what to make of that.... Blog Herald captures the moment...

Waste of money or interesting marketing ploy I’m not sure, but its days like today I wish I had a “bizarre” category to post this to.

We'll see how blog-savvy BlogStar/MindComet is. If they are listening they should easily find this post, and me, and hopefully they will answer my questions.