With the move beyond traditional (can we call it this now?!) CPM advertising, advertisers are grasping at any method they can to get eyes looking at their brand. One of these is advertisers approaching popular bloggers to get a mention. I’m not talking about the I’ll-send-you-a-sample-and-if-you-like-it-then-write-it-up concept. Totally fair, totally straightforward and for the most part blog readers know this is widely done.
Where this gets a little blurry is on the ethics of bloggers accepting compensation for mention. It kind of follows along the line of advertorials, with the main difference that advertorials must be labeled as such. So do we regard this blogging for cash concept as a new way forward for online advertising, filling a need? Or is it simply unethical?
The good girl in me is screaming “this can’t be right”. The whole idea of blogging is to get people’s unadulterated opinions. With compensation there is an inevitable sway in position. People are looking for a relationship with the “truth” hence the popularity of blogs to begin with. But I know several bloggers who give mention for the sake of selling advertising on their space – its part of the package. I suppose this is where the line starts to get blurry. And this is also where peeps like be-a-magpie.com step in, making the whole process easy while trying to bring it mainstream. I can’t help but speculate… were the beginnings of affiliate marketing not similar?
And people are using blogs now for so much more than just expelling their thoughts and opinions. Exhibit A is the Equator blog and with that comes a sign of the times and the evolution of blogging. So why not monetize it? Let’s face it – the mere popularity of the blogosphere opens it up to commercialization. Where there are people there’s advertising potential. So let’s sink our teeth into this meaty opportunity and grab hold of some eyeballs before the next guy gets ‘em. But that might just be the bad girl in me talking…
I guess the issue is long-term considerations. Something to consider is that I would assume over time the blog would also lose credibility. Kind of like when a magazine lists a product as one of its favourites then you happen to spot the full page ad 20 pages down. Whether their product review was spot on or not I naturally discredit the product. But that doesn’t stop me from buying the magazine again. I would think the key to using this method of advertising is to properly intersperse ads within worthwhile content for long-term sustainability.