Jeremiah posted first on this, then TechCrunch put it on a larger stage, pay-per-post. The first major organized foray into this trend comes from Orlando-based MindComet. It's called PayPerPost.
We've seen this before though.
MindComet tried something like this almost a year ago with the BlogStarNetwork. Visiting that domain you see that it's now called the new service. Back then I had some questions about the service which never got answered. I am not sure why the rebrand, perhaps the original idea never took off.
In the TechCrunch comment's Ted Murphy the CEO of MindComet is responding. Ted's position is that things like this happen all the time in traditional media. His point is valid, but just because it happens there doesn't make it right on the blogosphere. The 'traditional' media is inherently one-way. We listened to those ads because we didn't have a choice. Now we do.
What's refreshing about blogs is that you can read open (and in most cases) honest discussions about topics. The big question is who will be reading this pay-per-post content? Yes I might stumble upon a blog that is written by a paid-blogger but once that bias is exposed (after being hidden) I probably won't read them anymore or use the product. Case in point this quote from the BusinessWeek article about PPP:
But media today is so cynical that you have to come out and say that shilling without disclosure is a bad idea. Like Murphy, one BlogStar client shrugs off such concerns. "With a large enough network, you get a good representation of [bloggers] who disclose, who disclose partially, and others who go another way," says Mike Friedman, director of interactive marketing services for Darden Restaurants, who worked with BlogStar this spring for the 32-location chain Bahama Breeze. Friedman says BlogStar built Web traffic, and stats from blog tracker Technorati show that mentions of Bahama Breeze spiked during the promotion.Guess what, I just stopped eating at Darden restaurants. The blogosphere is not a market it's a community. It's a community the talks in a conversational tone and is hyper-aware of marketing spin or pitches.
The question back in July of 2005 and still remains today is does Ted and MindComent 'get' the blogosphere, or is it just another market to them? I've never met Ted but he and I traded e-mails last year. I offered to talk/help them with their blog initiatives but he wasn't overly interested.
Marshall Kirkpatrick brings another aspect to the discussion with this comment on his TechCrunch post:
If you visit the Mindcomet.com website you’ll see that they do advertising for some very high profile clients. I can imagine many of them wouldn’t want to be associated with a project like this at all. Like EarthLink. They have a major campaign underway to improve advertising by paying people to make authentic promotional materials for them. How ironic.
Interesting point. Dave, what are Earthlink's thoughts?
Update: Postbubble has some more thoughts.
Visitor Comments
Nice article. As long as a blogger tells that he or she is paid for writing the post then it is perfectly ok. When it is hidden then it may sound good in the short term but as soon as we know about this matter they suffer the risk of losing credibility.
Posted by: Razib Ahmed | July 1, 2006 4:24 AM
I was on a plane on my way back from Anaheim when the discussion started on TechCrunch, and haven't been back into the ATL office yet. I'll get you some of EarthLink's thoughts once I've had a chance to reach people.
Personally, I agree with you and your original entry on this, Josh -- that disclosure of pay-per-post deals like this is key to maintaining integrity and makes the difference between advertorial and editorial. What do you think about this, though -- Some of the question rests with the blogger as *publisher*, not writer. If a blogger was paid to *publish* something, he should disclose that part. In a magazine, it's the "who's paying for the space in this publication?" issue that's central. Similarly, on your blog if someone else is in a sense paying you for the space, you should disclose that. If you write something on their behalf and give it to them to publish elsewhere, is that much different from freelance writing?
Posted by: Dave Coustan | July 1, 2006 12:53 PM
I like the arguements presented on the following blog, that it's not advertising payperpost is after, but SEO:
http://www.durbinmedia.com/brandstorming/
-Mark
(Full Disclosure: I used to work for Mindcomet until 2 months ago.)
Posted by: Mark Baratelli | July 5, 2006 1:48 AM
Josh,
You hit the nail right on the head:
"Guess what, I just stopped eating at Darden restaurants."
The best way to put payperpost out of business is to put pressure on their customers. If ppp becomes a laughing-stock of the blogosphere, companies won't want to be associated with them.
Posted by: Jeff Risley | July 6, 2006 2:23 PM
EarthLink doesn't participate in payperpost and isn't interested in doing so. But this blog entry and the one at Techcrunch served as a good opportunity to revisit discussions around the office about what's going on elsewhere in the blogosphere and what constitutes best practices. Those conversations are always good to revisit, and in the course of a normal day you don't necessarily have the chance or obvious reason to bring them up.
Posted by: Dave Coustan | July 11, 2006 11:52 AM