Is money in your pocket from sponsored posts or paid reviews worth the controversy?
Is there really a controversy over blogging for pay? Or is this just a non-issue, raised by those who don’t have a good grasp on making money online (or offline for that matter)? What roles do blog readership and government watchdog organizations play? Is this even an issue for international blog owners? How does this controversy relate to performance marketing?
Aside from the assertion that blogging is better than FaceBook, there seem to be more questions than answers about blogging for pay. The controversy over making money with sponsored posts and paid reviews generates opinions galore, both for and against the practice. Moving away (a bit) from purely “internet marketing” types of blogs, today’s topic includes those engaging in this strategy for monetizing blog content like travel blogs, fashion blogs, and mommy blogs. Let’s talk about it a bit and see what’s being said around our global town.
Two “Blogging For Pay” Camps
Money makes the world go round. At what point can we as media makers (old and new media) stop feeling like we have a apologize for wanting to make money in our field? — Comment by Susan Murphy on Forrester is Wrong About Paying Bloggers, ReadWriteWeb.com
The debate rages hot and heavy about ethical and not so ethical ways of monetizing blog content while staying on the right side of the FTC, search engines like Google and Bing, and readers who trust your voice. Bloggers love to write, share, expose, and promote but they also have to eat.
There are myriad ways to monetize blog content but one arena that continues to gain popularity and momentum is that of sponsored posts, paid reviews, and paid links within content.
This is nothing new. As Google weeds out the trash that has traditionally blocked legitimate blogs from rising in the SERPs and as advertisers acknowledge the value of organic traffic generated by focused bloggers, the opportunities increase. Whether blessing or curse is determined in equal parts by ethics, disclosures, perceptions, and big brother’s interpretation.
The main arguments for and against blogging for pay run the gamut and also encompass some gray areas that we don’t hear much about. The primary arguments for say the bottom line rules and disclosure satisfies both readers and government watchdogs. The main arguments against decry unprofessionalism and underhanded tactics aimed at fleecing the unsuspecting. Which is loudest?
It is really a toss-up.
FOR: Count Me In!
I agree that sponsored posts are opening up many more possibilities for us as bloggers. We just need to be careful not to lose the trust of our readers. — Todd Wassel, Travel Blog Advertising Survey Results
Going somewhere? Business travelers, vacationers, day trippers and those that make travel arrangements look for more than just price comparisons; they want more information about a wide range of topics concerning their destinations.
Travel blogger Todd Wassel is a member of a huge network where requests for gifts, perks, and requests for paid reviews are prevalent. His recent travel blog advertising survey did not show enormous revenues in the sponsored posts category, but the presence of the question indicates how commonplace these kinds of posts are in his segment of the blogging industry. Both Heather on Her Travels and 2 BackPackers show hefty fees on their advertising and public relations pages for the inclusion of paid blogging content.
There are numerous bloggers who agree that incorporating sponsored posts and paid reviews into your blog makes sense when done the right way. In the interest of space, let’s move on and see examples of who is clearly against mixing the streams of paid and free content.
AGAINST: I Wouldn’t Touch That!
So-called “mommy bloggers” pack a powerful punch in the marketplace because they are vociferous about products that encompass the entire family, household, and extracurricula activities.
Generally speaking, the mommy blogger movement recognizes its own ability to impact opinion and has been at the forefront of accepting sponsored posts and paid reviews. However, in response to Jennifer James’ question, “[D]o you the think the prevalence of sponsored reviews in the mom blogging community weakens and cheapens our collective influence or is it simply a part of the evolving landscape of brand and blogger partnerships?” commenter Margot Finke had this to say:
As a consumer, I shy away from products that feel as if the reviewer has been paid in some way – whether in money goods or services of some sort. If you want readers to trust a reviewer’s opinion, it needs to be clear that the reviewer is completely independent of the product and the company. . . My opinion is that a fair and honest review can not involve payment or goods in kind.
Definitely a thumbs down.
Millions upon millions of smartphone apps have been sold – many of them based upon the reviews of Android, iPhone, and Blackberry users. Tech gadget writer, Juli, is vocal about Why Paid Reviews are Bad for Consumers and Developers, and How to Avoid Them. She warns: “While it is not illegal or technically against Apple rules for an independent publisher to be paid for a review, it does cause people to question the credibility of both the site and the developer of the app who bought the review. App reviews should be truthful, informative, and helpful to readers, not marketing ploys to fool readers into making unwanted purchases.”
With a title like Fighting the Rise of Paid Reviews, there is no doubt about where Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence stands. And Brian Notess asks this question in response to TentBlogger’s article on accepting paid reviews and sponsored posts: Have you ever done a sponsored post for a product or organization you weren’t thrilled about? If so, how did it feel to lose your soul?
The sentiments against blogging for pay run high and deep!
Gray Areas and Uncommon Issues
As if the discussion were not already polarized enough, how to handle sponsored posts and paid reviews can fall into gray areas and raise some uncommon issues. A few areas for consideration:
- retroactively tagging old content
- selling reviewed items
- endorsements and testimonials
- social media
- sponsored videos
Marking Old Content As Paid or Sponsored
Louis Gray raised the question of whether or not it made sense to go back and mark old content as paid or sponsored. This became an issue for him as he took on consulting clients and increased the likelihood of writing reviews that could be construed as paid or sponsored content. Once the question came up, he had to also consider how far back in his archives was far enough.
Writing about older content reminded me to take a look at my own. Looking at my sitemap, I came across a pseudo-review of an autoresponse system I own and for which I’m an affiliate. I’m crafting a disclosure for it as soon as I publish this article!
Have you faced this issue? How did you resolve it?
Selling Previous Reviewed Gift Items
In discussing this with so many amazing people, it really struck out to me (and many of them) what a grey area selling is and how many factors are so personally based. Unless FTC mandates come out, I’m not personally sure that there will be a right or wrong answer about how to tackle the subject. — Ashley Mischief, Ethical or Not: Selling Gifted Items, Independent Fashion Bloggers
Fashion bloggers, like Mommy bloggers, make up a sizeable community. Because of their collective voice (and resulting power), they are sought after to give a nod or a thumbs down to men’s and women’s clothing, accessories, and personal grooming products. To this end, they are showered with items to review, possibly resulting in overflowing closets.
The problem presents itself when they consider what to do with all this bounty once they’re done writing or podcasting about it. Since they are not always compensated with hard, cold cash, selling the items is a way to convert bounty into bucks, but everyone is not in agreement that this is the way to go. The conundrum is akin to blogging for pay.
Social Media
These voluntary guidelines apply to anyone who’s providing an advertisement or testimonial. In addition, though, social media strategists, consultants, gurus, masters, superheroes and PR agencies and their employees should be well-versed on this topic because they, too, may become liable if they are advising clients or bloggers to engage in action that is clearly contrary to the guidelines. Social Media Examiner, Are You Disclosing
Gray areas extend to social media.
One-hundred and forty characters flying across the screen at breakneck speed might not seem like enough conversation to grab the attention of bureaucratic agencies, but if what it says includes a pointer to a post that you’ve been paid to promote, it just might. How do you disclose a material relationship with a company as a part of your stream of pithy conversation conducted via social media like Twitter?
As Louis Gray pointed out in his article mentioned earlier, “automation prevents disclosure“. Items accessed through an RSS subsciption cannot be easily (if at all) marked up to include disclosures on the individual feed items, at least not through a service like FeedBurner. Items added to FaceBook or Google+ could have a disclosure added but not if they are published to these media through an automated process.
Does the FTC speak clearly on this issue?
How does this controversy relate to performance marketing?
From the standpoint of advertisers tracking performance marketing, there are a few things that can (and should be) done. I’m not fond of exclamation marks at the end of every sentence, but in this case I’ll make an exception for these three points:
- Remember the Alamo! (That is, remember the firepower rained down (aka the hefty fine levied) by the FTC on Legacy Learning Systems, Inc. concerning how it gathered testimonials for its guitar DVD training course.
- Require disclosure! (Take note of the FTC-related events that sparked retail giant Ann Taylor’s institution of a blogger disclosure policy.)
- Do due diligence! (Carefully select ethical bloggers, especially when they are also affiliates, to blog about your product. See the first two items above.)
The founder of TopRank Online Marketing Blog cautions performance marketers to measure the risk carefully: “Consider your larger objectives and strategies carefully and ask yourself if sponsored posts are the tactic for you.”
Resources
- May 30, 2012 – FTC Will Host Public Workshop to Explore Advertising Disclosures in Online and Mobile Media — From the FTC site: “The workshop, to be held on May 30, will cover revising the Dot Com Disclosures so they illustrate how to provide clear and conspicuous disclosures in the current online and mobile advertising environment.”
- Samples of Disclosure Statements from Author and Blogger, Michael Hyatt — Several complete examples that can be used freely; part of 5 Ways to Comply with the New FTC Guidelines for Bloggers.
- Cute & Fun! A Package of Humorous FTC Disclosure Graphics, courtesy of Louis Gray (now a member of the Google+ Team) and artist Jeannine Schafer (@neenerbot) – The graphic in this article came from this package.
- Writing Help from Sharon Hurley-Hall‘s Get Paid To Write Online tutorials.
Share Your Insights
I’ll leave you with the words of fellow technology consultant, John Saddington of TentBlogger.com, to chew on: You’re ultimately going to do what is best for your blog and your community as it relates to your business modeling and monetization strategies. Just like you can’t fault one blogger for doing it ‘one way’ no one else can fault you for making a few dollars off of sponsored posts.”
Thanks for reading! Let’s hear your thoughts and insights on the questions below . . .
Besides “pro bloggers,” what other industry segments do advertisers seek out for paid content?
Do you think a clear disclosure should be placed on every blog post?
Are Google and the FTC minding your business too much?
Should bloggers use sponsored posts or paid reviews as part of their blog monetizing strategy?
