Linkworth enters “Pay Per Post” club
Text link advertising firm Linkworth has officially entered the Pay Per Post market.
First off, I like Linkworth. I’ve been a publisher for about two years now and they send a few hundred bucks my way every month. The links have always been on intrusive and I’ve had full control over who I accept as advertisers and who I reject. And most of my advertisers are happy because about 75% of them have been with more for more than a year.
But I would question this new move. Pay Per Post is a marketing scheme that allows advertisers to pay bloggers to write a post about their product or service. Back in 2006 I actually did a couple of these, making sure it was clear that the post was a PAID REVIEW. But since then I’ve been against the practice and will never do it again.
It’s not that I’m against the idea altogether, because if one is responsible about it, I believe it can be done without harming the blogosphere. The problem is… not everyone is responsible and it has started a whole new breed of spam blogs.
The controversy is not new. When PayPerPost.com hit the scene the blogosphere went wild. Many big timers came out against it and the debate grew into a very healthy level of dialog. It’s a debate that has yet to be resolved.
Business Week published a column titled “Polluting The Blogosphere” that you may want to read.
But moving on to Linkworth…
The following was just received via a Linkworth newsletter.
LinkPost – Paid Blog Reviews
The second product is called “LinkPost”. LinkPost allows partners to be paid for reviewing products and/or services from an advertiser. To qualify for this service, you must list your blog/site into our system. Once advertisers select your blog for a review, you can review their requirements and product to be written about. At that point, you can either select to write about it or decline the offer.
There is no mention of requiring a disclaimer. This means that any spam blog can pop up giving paid reviews which can artificially inflate the importance, quality, value, or relevance of a product or service.
It’s encouraging to know that Linkworth is looking to expand it’s product line, but I’m not so sure this is the right direction to move in.
Thoughts?
-Eric Odom
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