Written on March 9th, 2007 at 02:03 am by Darren Rowse
Do You Read Paid Review Posts?
It’s been months since programs like PayPerPost and ReviewMe launched - offering bloggers money to review products, sites and services.
In that time there’s been a lot of controversy around the ethics of paid reviews and whether disclosure should be compulsory or not. I don’t really want to get into that again here - but I do have a question.
- When you see a paid review on a blog do you read it?
- If you read it - do you give it any more or less authority or credibility than a non paid review?
I’m asking the question(s) without any agenda - but out of my own experience of seeing more and more blogs writing paid reviews (some blogs are doing them daily and are making good money doing so).
My own experience is that while I don’t ethically have a problem with a paid review as long as it’s clearly disclosed - that I can’t remember too many times when I’ve read them beyond the first paragraph.
Perhaps I am not a typical blog reader and have become a little hardened in my old age - but I’d really love to hear of other people’s experiences. Do you read paid reviews?
I’d also like to ask a question or three to those doing paid reviews:
- What type of response (positive or negative) have you had from readers to your reviews?
- Do you find comments on paid reviews are higher or lower than your other posts?
Again - I’m only asking this out of a genuine interest. While I’ve not gotten into the paid review game myself because it doesn’t quite fit with my style of blogging I’d love to hear from others who have - particularly around the questions of whether you feel the reviews have impacted the quality of the interactions you’re having with readers.
89 Responses to “Do You Read Paid Review Posts?”
Skye
March 9th, 2007 2:34 am
I have read several paid review posts on blogs I nornally read. If it’s a product I’m interested in, and a blogger I like anyway, then I usually want to know their take on it. When I discover a blog where it seems like a majority of the posts are paid reviews, though, I tend to leave, especially when it seems like they’ll review anything and everything.
The TriniGourmet
March 9th, 2007 2:34 am
I have found the comments to be similar in tone to those to ‘regular posts’ - i.e. curious to personal anecdotes … i have found the number of comments to also be similar to those for ‘regular’ posts…
Trent
March 9th, 2007 2:52 am
Not only do I not read them, I delete any feeds that try to sneak a paid review by without marking it clearly as a paid review. I don’t have time to deal with people trying to be “sneaky” with their content.
james
March 9th, 2007 3:08 am
I tried paid reviews on my blog when ReviewMe came out. The writing experience was unpleasant (I’ve become accustomed to choosing my own topics) and — even though I know I could give a bad review — I felt somewhat restricted because I was taking someone else’s money. I think that was reflected in the quality of the posts, which definitely didn’t feel “100% me.”
That was enough to ensure that I never post paid writeups on my site again. I make it a practice to skip paid post on other sites, because the “This is a paid post” tagline usually warns of less than stellar writing and mild (and perhaps unintentional) hucksterism ahead.
45n5
March 9th, 2007 3:12 am
i don’t read them. It takes a few sentences usually to figure out it’s a paid review then i quit reading.
Andrew Flusche
March 9th, 2007 3:19 am
I read them, but I honestly don’t see that many on the blogs I read. Or perhaps the bloggers disguise them well and don’t disclose that they’re paid. Credibility varies; if the writer has actually used the product/service in question, that’s credible to me, even if it was paid.
I write my fair share of paid reviews. The couple comments that I have received are neutral toward them. Comments do tend to be lower on my paid posts, but I don’t get lots of comments generally.
Note: I always disclose paid posts with “Sponsored Post” in bold at the top. You’d have to be blind to be misled about them.
Random Good Stuff
March 9th, 2007 3:20 am
I mostly turn down the offers through reviewme, because the sites I get offrered to review look really, really shady.
Stan Schroeder
March 9th, 2007 3:21 am
I would read such a post if it’s from a blogger I trust, but I do feel it diminishes the overall credibility of a website.
I actually like the idea of ReviewMe, as I get lots of requests for reviews by Web 2.0 startups, and as much as I’d love to review them all, I simply don’t have the time. ReviewMe would be a perfect way to sift through these requests.
But, the really big sites I follow every day don’t have that Review Me badge, and since my ambition is becoming one of them, I feel that it’s best for me not to have it either.
Matt Coddington
March 9th, 2007 3:21 am
There are a couple blogs that I know of that *only* review products or services that they find useful and worthwhile. However there are plenty more who review anything and everything under the sun just to make a couple bucks. You can usually spot the difference.
I personally don’t have a problem with paid reviews as long as what is being reviewed is relevant and worth taking the time out of my day to read.
Mark
March 9th, 2007 3:25 am
I generally kind of read through the review (I skim it) vs really paying attention to it like I would a normal post. It seems if someone is paid to review something I’m not as willing to spend as much time reading it, because I feel they may be biased. It’s different than someone just letting me know about a product they use and really love and something they are paid to review.
I must say, though, I have tryied out one product because of a paid review.
Maki
March 9th, 2007 3:30 am
I rarely read them unless it’s on a topic that I really like. I usually take a glance at the title, do one or two lines and stop.
Michael Moncur
March 9th, 2007 3:32 am
I don’t read them. I don’t have any particular ethical problem with them if they’re disclosed, but I still consider them worthless to read. There are plenty of non-paid reviews out there that give me unbiased information - why should I waste my time reading paid ones?
It also makes me think less of a site when I see such a review, and I’m not the only one. (Look up The Apple Blog - he posted an offer to do paid reviews, and was hit with tons of complaints.)
Wendy Piersall :: eMom
March 9th, 2007 3:33 am
I must admit that I write reviews more for the business than for the readers - which is why I do them sparingly. They create such great SEO traffic, and are more easily monetized posts (paid and unpaid reviews, that is). So in order to balance writing for my blogging audience, and non-blogging audience (wink), I think writing reviews are a smart strategy as long as they still fit in with the blog voice and niche.
On the reviews I’ve written (paid and unpaid), comments seem to be a little lower than usual (or non existent).
And frankly, I usually skim them myself, if I read them at all. But if it’s a product I’m interested in, I don’t care whether the review is paid or not as long as it’s valuable information.
TheBikerWeb
March 9th, 2007 3:35 am
I haven’t done any myself.
But so long as it’s disclosed on the blog that it is indeed a paid post, it seems OK–after all, info-mercials, radio spots, etc. etc. have been following a similar model for years and years. A blogger’s gotta eat too!
I’ve only seen a couple on the sites I visit, and what I’ve seen has been pretty close to what James (comment #3) noted.
Alison
March 9th, 2007 3:35 am
This is the only part pay to view blog I know of: http://blog.eogn.com/
Its target audience is the genealogy crowd, leaves generic genealogy content free, however exploits genealogists lack of knowledge when it comes to tech. Or their lack of confidence re searching. It also exploits people’s lack of RSS usage too, through a no advert newsletter.
This blog annoys me *a lot*, because it capitalises on ignorance (isn’t all business about that?), and more to the point searching skills. E.g. 6 March post on Multiple Computers on your desktop. Which is basically paying for getting information on a KVM switch. Put key search terms into Google mutiple computers + one monitor + solution or something, and you’re likely to arrive at KVM. You get my drift …
Dan
March 9th, 2007 3:35 am
I read the ones that John Chow has on his blogs. The reviews are pretty down to earth and for the most part the sites are related to his blog’s content. I think it really depends on the topic of the blog and the topic of the paid reviews.
Sara
March 9th, 2007 3:36 am
I do paid reviews regularly, at the start I told my readers, this is what is going to be happening, this is why, all the posts will be fully disclosed BUT everything I write here is going to be well written & funny. I got several comments along the lines of “bring the paid reviews on, or it doesn’t matter it just means you’ll be posting more”. Sometimes my paid reviews get more comments than my non paid posts. I think this is because I try to make my blog useful, & the information in my paid reviews is still a good read, at least I think so.
Mike Perry
March 9th, 2007 3:38 am
I think that, as with any post, it depends on the subject matter and also how interesting the first sentence is. Quality is always readable.
Too many sponsored posts are about subjects that don’t interest me so I pass them by. I don’t want a loan, car insurance and so on. I feel that they should always be marked as being ’sponsored’, though many aren’t - which I view as being slightly dishonest.
As to comments. I have done three sponsored posts only, to find out how they work in practice, and they get very few comments.
Mike.
pixelPruner
March 9th, 2007 3:39 am
In my opinion, these are ruining some good blogs (http://www.pixelpruner.com/2007/03/01/reviewme-makes-me-feel-half-empty/)
I havn’t really read any paid reviews that are useful to me. If bloggers are going to post them (and it should be occasionally not all the time like greedy son of the devil john chow) they should make them beneficial for their own readership. I have not seen any bloggers really do this. Their agenda is to make money, so they want to please the person paying for the review, and they are just having it done to get their link all over a high PR high traffic site, not to get the opinion of someone more experienced.
I’m just fed up to death of them to be honest. Please don’t contaminate ProBlogger.
Having said that, I would happily have my own site reviewed on a big blog if I had the spare cash! It is up to the blogger to take responsibility, or loose readers.
pP
Josh
March 9th, 2007 3:41 am
I do not read paid reviews. They are almost always not the bloggers best work.
Darren McLaughlin
March 9th, 2007 4:03 am
Life’s to short to read link spam designed as ads on blogs. But that’s just me ;)
Glen
March 9th, 2007 4:15 am
It really depends on the topic. If the topic seems to be on the latest spam craze then I pass it by. If the information seems for real I continue to read and comment.
Nick
March 9th, 2007 4:25 am
If I spot a paid review–disclosed or undisclosed–I don’t read the article, and I quit reading the site in question altogether.
Chris M
March 9th, 2007 4:41 am
I skip them, and have unsubscribed to (at least) one feed because the item reviewed had nothing to do with the site’s topic.
John
March 9th, 2007 4:46 am
A paid review gets all of about three seconds to make me care. Most aren’t worth reading.
I created an account on ReviewMe a while ago for schnicks and giggles, but I can’t imagine using it much; if I wouldn’t write about it in the first place, I wouldn’t review it, either. -j
Simonne
March 9th, 2007 4:48 am
Yes, I read paid reviews, and if I trust the author, then I see them as being credible. If I find them on blogs I don’t usually read, then I check with other sources in case I want to use those reviewed products or services.
Brett Nordquist
March 9th, 2007 4:53 am
The problem I have is being able to determine if the review is paid for or not. If I determine someone is being paid, I will normally read a few sentences and move on.
Jean MacManus
March 9th, 2007 4:53 am
The question is interesting - and whether justified or not - I think less of the site when they do paid reviews. If it is a site that I frequent, I do skim the review - but I certainly don’t give it the attention that I do a non-paid article.
Elaine Vigneault
March 9th, 2007 5:01 am
I hate paid reviews.
In theory I actually like the idea because the reviewer does work and should be compensated for their work. They also have the choice of whether or not to do the review and they can offer a bad review. I love all that.
But when I see them on other people’s blog I automatically don’t trust the writer. I feel like the writer is blogging for profit and it just feels sleazy. It’s weird to me. I can’t exactly describe it.
It feels like product placement in a movie. There I am, watching the movie, getting into the story, and along comes a giant sign for Coca-Cola. It distracts me and makes it hard for me to continue to follow the story. I feel like the director and producers don’t care about the content of the movie, they just want to make money. Rationally, I know it’s not true. Product placement isn’t always bad and it doesn’t have to affect the story. But emotionally I feel betrayed.
I think blogging is sort of like that. Therefore, I shy away from most content-based revenue schemes.
Mike Panic
March 9th, 2007 5:06 am
It really depends who is writing them. John Chow’s are great, everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt, but they are fun to read and I don’t feel like he’s trying to sell me anything.
MasterSparky
March 9th, 2007 5:10 am
I breeze them. If it’s interesting I’ll keep reading.
Otherwise it’s on to the next post.
Philip Liu
March 9th, 2007 5:13 am
My personal experience on paid reviews have been very positive, if done right. Generally, they have to be “on-topic”. But even advertisers who want you to review a product/service/site that is at first blush “off-topic” you can accept it so long as you link the subject of your blog to the review. I made a post about that today so this is a timely question. If anyone wants to read my take on how to make “off-topic” reviews “on-topic” my blog is in my name.
Rhea
March 9th, 2007 5:15 am
I don’t like the paid posts. I hate being ‘marketed’ to.
terra
March 9th, 2007 5:32 am
Nope, never read them. As many others do, if I suspect a post is paid, I quickly move on to the next blog. A blog is a tool in a sense…but not that kind.
Stephanie
March 9th, 2007 5:38 am
I do paid reviews, but I’m pretty picky and don’t do that many of them. My preference is for those that actually interest me and the site in question is worthwhile.
In many ways, it’s not so different from seeing a lot of people recommend affiliate products. One guarantees a set rate of pay while the other gives you the chance to earn if people buy from your link. If the incentive weren’t there, a lot of bloggers wouldn’t post about the products they use affiliate links on.
Gayla McCord
March 9th, 2007 5:51 am
I’ve found myself reading the “paid reviews” more often, mostly because I want to see how ’sincere’ the writers are in the review of the product. I absolutely refuse to review a product that I haven’t tried or that I would not want myself. I just can’t pimp myself that way.
I’ve completed 4 paid reviews via ReviewMe.com - but I’ve had a nice little gig going with a PR firm for some time where they send me the actual products to test and review - and I guess that’s when I realized that not all “reviews” are paid. Some are actually tried and true reviews.
I think it goes without saying that you can’t always judge a book by the cover.
Jeff
March 9th, 2007 5:55 am
I would read them, but I’d be very skeptical of any good review unless the points they made were more objective than subjective.
I remember finding out that someone had been paid to write favorable amazon reviews on a product I was considering, so I completely discounted them.
One way I would consider a paid review useful was if the reviewer had a history of giving products bad or average reviews even though he was getting paid. I would give his good reviews more weight, because I’d know he wasn’t just giving everything a blanket “thumbs up.”
http://averageidea.com
Deb Ng
March 9th, 2007 5:59 am
Honestly, I don’t read them because I don’t find them credible. The best reviews are the ones coming from the heart and not the wallet.
Doug Green
March 9th, 2007 6:02 am
We can bat around the morality/ethics of this ad nauseum but I’m curious about whether it pays off for the companies involved. All media use celebrities to sell and review stuff - why not the web? But the only people who know the truth of whether the cost is worth it are the websites that paid for the reviews. Did the review generate the traffic that it paid for and what was the cost of individual customer acquisition (and how was that cost measured?)
I’m not saying ethics aren’t important but let’s not by hypocrites here. If we use celebrities everywhere else in society to shill stuff (even if only to get freebies) why not the web?
And no - I don’t bother going to the sites mentioned.
Bes Zain
March 9th, 2007 6:09 am
Good question, I think it depends on how a review is done. If I can convince or if a blogger can convince how a paid review can benefit a reader, it can be good. Saying “You may find this interesting as it is related to blogs” is not a good reason.
If I see a paid review where a blogger puts more effort on glorifying the nice things than they usually do, while at the same time mentioning negative things, I think it is a biased review and I don’t like it. I give it less credibility, but only that post. I try not to pass the judgment to the entire blog because of one post.
Also, if a paid review comes along that one would not have done normally [if they were not paid], it is most probably a biased review. So far, I have only done one review of ReviewMe itself, as it seems a bit biased to review things I usually do not review.
One thing that can be experimented: having more quality content or fresh things around the site at the time when a paid review is done. That may offset any drawbacks of having that paid review on your site, like having some other interesting content making up for the paid review that people might find to be biased or simply something done to earn money.
Jen
March 9th, 2007 6:13 am
I’m among those who don’t read paid reviews because it’s hard to feel you can trust the opinons in them, disclosure or no disclosure. Yes, I’ve written a couple of paid reviews, but as James said up in comment 3, it just feels… wrong… somehow.
So what happens is, I bend over backward to write something original and thoughtful and useful and personal… so the extra effort just means that the price of the review is nowhere near commensurate to what it costs me in writing time…
And even though I turn down 9 out of 10 offers. it still feels like my poor old blog is “sleeping around” like we’re all still back in the disco decade!
Nah, paid reviews are soon going to be the province of low-end cookie-cutter blogs, I think… dime a dance…
Paid reviews?
Heck, I’m even starting to get paranoid about establishing an (ethical and above-board, fully disclosed) affiliate relationship with anyone — even if I’ve been loving their products for years!
Malin
March 9th, 2007 6:14 am
I read them when they are “on-topic” for the blog. If a personal blog where the blogger talks about kids and what not and then adds a post reviewing ie a russian dating site, I skip it, or skip the whole blog…
So far I have done two paid posts. I chose “topics” that would interest myself. I just added a poll to my blog asking if anyone noticed that I blogged for cash, so far, only one noticed one of them.
Nocturnal
March 9th, 2007 6:55 am
Personally I don’t come across many sites that do paid reviews except for John Chow and a few others. I do often read it just to see what they’re about. Well not really read but mainly skim through the post. If it’s something that peaks my interest I will check out the site being reviewed. Other times I just ignore them.
Chris
March 9th, 2007 6:57 am
I actually don’t mind the paid reviews that are more an introduction to someones services or product rather then giving them an actual rating. For example, John Chow’s reviews generally just introduce you to a site, what they are all about, and some reasons why you might want to check them out. He never says, John Chow uses this product, you should too, or give them a rating which would be pretty fake since you know he really didn’t use the site/software long.
rodtempleton.net » Speedlinking - March 8
March 9th, 2007 7:26 am
[…] Darren wants to know if you read paid review posts. […]
VC Dan
March 9th, 2007 7:41 am
As an investor in PPP, I read sponsored posts quite regularly and find that the blogger and the topic make all the difference in the world. Blogger’s who recognize that quality is the common ground for everyone (blogger, sponsor, audience), write great posts sponsored or not.
The topic also makes a huge difference, given that reviews are just a subset of what is possible with consumer generated media. As I learned that sponsored blogging isn’t just about product reviews it opened my eyes to what is possible.
For example, I’ve seen sponsored bloggers write very entertaining “horror stories” about the last time they dumped their cell carrier — not as a review of cell carriers, but as fun content sponsored by a call center software company who helps address customer churn. PPP has used sponsored posts to prompt entertaining user-generated “PPP vs. ?” videos, wacky recruitment videos, and even PayPerDili to gain valuable user-generated due diligence on potential partners — in a matter of hours instead of weeks. Also, as a means of video distribution across blogs, sponsored blogging has created great viewership for trailers such as SpeedTV’s “Pinks” about drag-racing for pinkslips — multiplying domain-centric/YouTube.com viewership by orders of magnitude.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen plenty of great sponsored reviews, but reviews are just the tip of the iceberg when you unleash the creative talent of the masses. As an audience, would we rather watch one $100,000 Nike commercial or choose from 1,000 user-generated (for $100/each) Nike videos with their own humor, perspective or commentary? I prefer the latter and that’s what sponsored blogging models like PayPerPost unlock…
rangga
March 9th, 2007 7:53 am
I intentionally read them, most of the time not because curious about the product — it’s how the bloggers manage to get his/her task done.
some say in the middle of the post that they “regret”, feel guilty for get paid and cannot focus on the product they review, instead they talking about themselves and reviewme/payperpost — although they already stated their disclosure on the upfront. That’s funny it’s like saying “oh I don’t know why am I doing this, honestly, I don’t agree with paid post”
I think there’s nothing wrong with paid-post, especially if you’re using other form of ads like adsense, etc. Both method, you’re get paid from your blog — the difference is just, instead of you position your ads on the sidebar, you position your ads on the whole post.
it’s less more like fashion/gossip magazine where almost all the content are just ads or advertorial but most people are happy to read that (and even pay for the it!!) — so long as it gives info and presented well, why ignore your favorite blogger just because he “get paid”? he still the same person after all. Of course, too many or bad quality adsense devalue any blog — and so paid review
Gee, I’m talking all these but never bold enough to try paid-post, maybe in the future — even for now I put disclosure every time I review product from affiliate sponsors and it doesn’t affect my blog readership, well I’m not sure actually.
Harry Maugans
March 9th, 2007 8:24 am
I have no problem with paid reviews, as long as they aren’t overdone. If they don’t degrade the quality of the blog itself, let the author make a few bucks. However, when people start posting 1-2 reviews a day, that’s when it’s time to remove that blog from the RSS reader.
TheMadHat
March 9th, 2007 8:26 am
I will read paid reviews if I have previously read and respect the blogger in question. If I stumble across one on a blog I haven’t seen before, or if there is an over abundance of paid reviews, I’ll skip it.
Daniel Scocco
March 9th, 2007 8:27 am
As others said I skim through the review to see if its revelant, but I must say that I already discovered some good sites and products through sponsored reviews.
The Bargain Queen
March 9th, 2007 8:49 am
I don’t read them.
In the fashion / beauty / style space, if your product’s great, you don’t have to pay people to write about it — so the only companies that pay are the ones that don’t have ‘it’.
Writing about crappy products for a few dollars really doesn’t do the blogger any favours. Personally, I’m inclined to drop any blog with too many paid reviews from my RSS reader and stop reading them altogether.
andrew chen
March 9th, 2007 8:50 am
I rarely pay attention to the content of pay review post but I do tend to visit the reviewed web site.
Andrew Ferguson
March 9th, 2007 9:39 am
Paid reviews are tricky.
Unmarked ones are ignored outright once I’ve figured out it’s a pay-per-post. I also won’t hesitate to email the blogger or leave a comment saying that I’m disappointed.
Clearly labeled ones are different. If it’s a blog I normally the read then I’ll skim it a bit. If it’s interesting it gets a further read, but I keep in mind that they are being paid for the post.
It’s not something that comes up much. I don’t read many blogs that do Pay Per Post.
Stephen
March 9th, 2007 10:28 am
My view is that it depends on how the paid posts are used. If they are on topic or otherwise worked fittingly into the blog then I don’t have much of a problem with them.
Like many here I skim over paid posts. If it’s a service that interests me then I’ll pay more attention to it. If not then I’m likely to skip on to the next post.
I think that the idea has merit and so I’ve began to use PayPerPost myself. The catch is that I will not post about any’ol offer that’s available. It has to be something that ties in with what I would already be writing about.
This is an example:
http://steph.shadowsinmotion.com/college/college-cold-weather-sandals/
Seeing the offer to write about sandals reminded me of something that happened on campus. It was a win/win situation in that it was an amusing situation to share and it also fit perfectly with the PPP offer.
Ironically I’m still waiting for them to OK that post.
Anyway, the blogger has to have limits. They need to respect their readers. These are limits that I try to stick to, myself.
-Steph
George
March 9th, 2007 10:32 am
I tend to skim paid reviews since I found some value in a few of them.
I recently did a paid review. It basically generated no response from my readers. I thought I would get complaints but I heard nothing.
I also did not receive any comments, which is a bit strange. I usually get a few comments per post. Maybe my readers were all distracted by the stock market gyrations this past week. I know I was.
ian
March 9th, 2007 10:34 am
I used to read them, but to be honest, I am now starting to switch off reading them, I think a responsible blogger would set a percentage limit on the number of posts that are reviewme posts, otherwise the site just turns into one big advertisement.
Alex
March 9th, 2007 11:07 am
John Chow is a man whore, 50% of his content is either affiliate marketing ads or reviewme’s of sites he has looked at for approximately 5minutes. He is just a greedy greedy man and I and others now don’t bother with his site because it takes too long to wade through his crap.
Renée
March 9th, 2007 11:20 am
I usually skim them. If the topic is something of interest I will read them with a grain of salt. I might check out the site but the final judgement is base on my experience.
I don’t mind if bloggers do it once in awhile but when it happens too regularly then I’m put off. There is one blogger who posts once a week or two with good content and ever since reviewme came out, this blogger posts nothing but paid post twice in a roll per week. If this goes on, his feed will be history.
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March 9th, 2007 12:39 pm
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March 9th, 2007 1:04 pm
[…] Problogger.net actually just did a post today to ask for people’s opinions. However, I want your opinions. […]
ZeMMs
March 9th, 2007 1:10 pm
I’ve seen many blogs in my feedreader who’s getting addicted to write paid posts.. most of their new posts starts to circulate on unrelated stuffs just so that their posts are accepted by the paid program to get the commission. To be honest with you, I’ve deleted most of those type of blogs from my feedreader… although I used to like it before they signed up with those things.
Broc
March 9th, 2007 2:21 pm
Ive found myself barely skimming most paid reviews but on occasion the writer/reviewed product or person will catch my eye and I will continue to read the review all the way through but those eye catching posts seem to be coming fewer and fewer in between.
Randa
March 9th, 2007 2:21 pm
I don’t read them at all. I think it’s a waste of time reading a recommendation of a site or product that someone was paid to promote. The one exception would be if it was a blogger I respected who started out the post saying that this happened to be a paid post, but they might have written about the topic anyway because they were sold on the product.
JosefVirek
March 9th, 2007 2:48 pm
i read the first few paragraphs if i’m interested in the topic/product being reviewed and if i like the blog.
Swiss Metablog » Werden bezahlte Blog-Beiträge gelesen?
March 9th, 2007 5:32 pm
[…] Der Problogger Darren Rowse hat vor kurzem folgende Fragen gestellt: Do you read paid review posts?: […]
reptile
March 9th, 2007 6:54 pm
I usually do not read paid reviews . However, most of the blogs I visit do not have paid reviews :)
Peg
March 9th, 2007 10:26 pm
I typically scan right over PPP entries. I find if the proportion of PPPs starts to dwarf ‘regular’ posts, I drop the blog from my reader.
I’m all for bloggers making a few bucks, but when a personal blog becomes a PPP machine, I’m done.
David Airey
March 9th, 2007 11:00 pm
I recently wrote a review through ReviewMe (the first ever paid post on my blog). At the end I asked a question of my readers, “was I too harsh or overly critical of the website I was reviewing?”.
I received a less than average response, but those responses appreciated that I offered constructive criticism rather than praise.
Rui Augusto
March 10th, 2007 12:56 am
As long as the blog content is usefull and the reviews are in some way related to the blog content, I will read them.
I started 2 weeks ago to do payed reviews.
Mark Shead
March 10th, 2007 1:32 am
If the blogger takes an approach where they see the review as being paid for their time and honest opinion, it can be interesting to read. Paid reviews help pay for a bloggers time to genuinely give their opinion on something. I’ve paid for some reviews of my site and the constructive criticism was well worth the cost.
I think where most bloggers fail with paid reviews is by reviewing things that are irrelevant to their readers or not providing an honest review.
As a reader, I will read a paid review as long as the blogger keeps the honesty and perspective that makes me want to read their blog anyway. If the blogger brings their insight to the post a review can be very worthwhile to read.
To do a good review takes a lot of time though. For example if a blogger is paid to review a web application, they may need to spend a good amount of time actually using it in order to write an informed review.
Laura
March 10th, 2007 3:40 am
I have a different take on this one, I think.
Personally, I have not been doing paid reviews on my blog. Most of the paid reviews that are out there would probably not fit into my niche.
However, I don’t object to bloggers doing paid reviews any more than I object to paid reviews being in the newspaper, magazine, or any form of media. (It’s interesting that many writers fuss about writing for free, yet expect blog posts to be written for free. Sometimes I actually wish that I had a blog where paid reviews would fit into the theme.)
I do think disclosure of paid reviews is important as is objectivity. This is true of advertisements found in other media as well. I want to know who paid the reviewer. Was it a professional blogging outfit, the manufacturer of the product, or somebody else?
As a consumer, I turn to reviews (including blog reviews) only when I am actually interested in the product. Otherwise, I skip over them. That’s true whether the review is on TV, in a magazine, or on a blog. If a blog were made up of nothing but paid reviews then it probably wouldn’t hold my interest.
To summarize, I think paid reviews can be an excellent income source for bloggers who might still be waiting for that elusive ad revenue to trickle in. If it’s done sparingly and openly it can actually enhance a blog.
ReviewMe’s nasty loophole - franticindustries.
March 10th, 2007 3:59 am
[…] While on the topic, I’d like to take the opportunity to comment on an ongoing debate whether paid-for reviews like the ones ReviewMe offers are worth reading, and whether they hurt the credibility of a website. […]
Andy Beard
March 10th, 2007 6:52 am
I look on paid reviews as a consultancy thing, and to a lesser extent links and traffic. I find people read the reviews I write and have no problems with with the ethics.
I even have people linking through to the reviews I write as an example of how paid reviews can be beneficial.
I have recently as an additional incentive added the new RMP (Review My Post) links from PayPerPost - I have never written a review for them, but think this is an excellent viral marketing system that is win/win
Rob StGeorge
March 10th, 2007 9:10 am
I do a few paid posts but always mark them as such, I certainly don’t expect people to read them - I believe that as my site is about different ways to make money (paid posts being one of these) that readers would probably expect a few here and there.
I normally disallow comments on them as I would rather get comments on my other posts.
Also I try and drop them under a “normal” post so they are never the first thing you see on my site. The money from paid posts keeps the fridge full of beer which is a benefit of course and important fuel for blogging!
Orvindra
March 10th, 2007 5:55 pm
yes i read paid reviews if they are of my interest, but with the time bloggers are writing anything i.e. for paid reviews and are diverting from
their premier topic. If the blog is reviewing the product in its domain i will surely read but if there are too many different products are involved i will stop reading that blog at all.
Baz L
March 11th, 2007 10:03 am
I’ve just started the paid review thing, so I can’t really comment on my reviews and comments. However, doing a few paid reviews has helped me to understand the motivation behind them.
Now I see a lot of you guys mention ReviewMe. ReviewMe has minimum traffic requirement that they have. None of my blogs have been accepted. If you’re receiving that amount of traffic, then usually AdSense would do just fine for you so you don’t really need paid review money.
As with all revenue for bloggers, it depends on how it’s done. If I go to a site and AdSense is splattered all over, then it turns me off. Some sites do a very good job of either blending or placing their Ads where they actually compliment the rest of the site.
Most of the sites I’ve seen that do Paid Posts have the disclaimer at the bottom of the post, so do you guys scan the post and look at the bottom before reading? Why are we in such a witch hunt for paid posts? The companies that I do paid posts for usually allow you to give a good or bad review. If the topic is relavant to my blog, then why not? I’ve read countless paid reviews on other blogs: a lot of which I didn’t even know were paid until I reached the end.
IMHO, paid posts are a great way for new bloggers to help pay their hosting fews, instead of waiting months (some years) to see AdSense revenue trickle up to $100.
Atul
March 11th, 2007 12:05 pm
Yes Sir Darren Rowse is right , by posting review on good running blog may effect to your traffic and feed readers .Because traffic is reading and visiting your blog because they want to learn and know some thing new through blog owner they are not their for buy products.
Otherwise if you need few money you can post one or two reviews a week .
Baz L
March 11th, 2007 1:18 pm
Did my first comment just disappear?
Oh well? Here’s a quick review:
Adesnse takes too long for small sites. It’s really hard to sit and wait for months and months for your revenue to slowly climb to $100.00. Doing a quick review is a nice way to knock off some hosting fees. You stick a few review posts on a well updated blog and everyone’s happy.
As with all other methods or gaining revenue on a blog, it all depends on how it’s done. I’ve seen blogs with gaudy Adsense and sites with nice layouts. Same with paid posts. Some or ridiculously off topic and other blend right in.
What I don’t agree with, however, are READERS that give up on a blog for a paid post. If it’s relevant and well done, then why not? Also, most paid posts have disclaimers down at the bottom of the post, so do you guys scan to the bottom to determine whether it’s a review? I don’t think that’s right.
My Two cents
Lynn
March 11th, 2007 3:12 pm
Yes, I will read paid reviews or blog postings. Most of the paid posts that I’ve read either fit into the blog or have interesting content. I have paid posts on my blog. I try to take opportunities that fit my blog. Sometimes I stray, but I always write what I feel. I think that is true for most of the paid posts that I’ve read as well.
Paid Blogging - Do You Read Them? | Wordpress Tutorials And Blogging Tips
March 11th, 2007 3:35 pm
[…] After reading Blogging Guru Darren Rowse question on his blog - Do You Read Paid Review Posts? I have come to notice that paid blogging may have indeed opened up a new stream of revenue for bloggers but the model itself may bring disaster more than benefits to the bloggers in most cases. […]
Ajay
March 11th, 2007 8:38 pm
I treat paid reviews as just about any other blog post I read. I skim through the first para or so to see if it is of interest to me.
If so, then I read the entire post in detail, otherwise I let it be.
Baxter Tocher
March 11th, 2007 10:14 pm
Nope, I skip them. I’ve seen a couple where the blogger forgot to mention that they were paid posts, but it was obvious that they were, and that didn’t feel very pleasant at all.
cikgu azleen
March 13th, 2007 10:48 am
I also do paid blogging.. but only up to products or services that are related to my topic.. most of the time, when I was offered to write about something I dont think is related, i turn it down..
Glen
March 13th, 2007 3:46 pm
I’ve only done a couple, but so far they’ve done pretty well. The trick is to not just approve any. It has to be relative to the site content. Otherwise, people run far, far away.
I do know that the couple I’ve done, I’ve had positive response across the board.
Blaine Moore
March 16th, 2007 5:42 am
Paid reviews don’t really bother me. If I trust the author, then I’ll take their words at face value. If I haven’t read much from them, then I’ll take the review with a grain of salt. No skin off of my bones.
Besides, most of the paid reviews on sites that I see are negative and fairly humorous anyway as the person asks what on earth was the person thinking paying for them to review their site.
Manas Kabiraj
December 13th, 2007 12:05 am
I dont think there must some restricions to read paid review contents.I think its mostimportant the content of post and whether it suited your choice rather its paid or not.If you find some interest on those topics then you might get back or left some comments there about your interest.Freely speaking most of us want to earn some money by creating some beautiful contents.You may think they are using their writing skill or somewhere some bloggers are just encouraging people to visit some sites.You only trust them when you believe that the bloggers has good reputations.One thing Iwould remind you nobody would prefered to read or stay attached with such a blog who are writing only about paid reviews,even the addvertisers are seeking them are also reject them as they dont have general visitors.Many of paid review sites are accepting bloggers who are 3:1 ratio blog content with non paid to paid .I am a new here in paid review writing,just have taken three or four post but I can understand the situations when a blogger feels by seing a such contents from his favourite bloggers.I found this article from your blog very interesting and sit to write my opinions.i hope you will visit my blog and would left a comment for me that my paid review (which is hardly few) are good content oriented or not.I think so that you should have time to manage this.that’s how the bloggers like me would get a clear position about newly starting programme to earn.Thanks everybody and very very special (coming) christmass wish for both of you.May god bless all of us and blogger world too.Thanks and byeeeeeeee.
Speaking of the Blogging A-List: Calacanis Interviews PayPerPost at Henricus
January 26th, 2008 10:59 pm
[…] this month, Problogger asked “Do you read paid review posts?” The general response was in the negative. But then, many of us don’t watch […]
Sommer
April 12th, 2008 12:02 pm
I’m having problems with this right now. My blog fills a niche and is becoming more popular. I like what I am doing but it doesn’t pay and I do have a family. Having free stuff sent to me even with full disclosure is nice and I don’t feel obligated to write a good review. I just give my opinion but it takes time. My husband says any good business person charges for their time. A lawyer gives one free consult and then your on the clock. A doctors visit isn’t free. Why is my time for trying a product, researching it, organizing a giveaway, marketing my blog and writing the post not worth something? That made me think. Charging is more for my time, energy and honesty with full disclosure. Should I state this at the beginning of the post or just have the disclosure policy and leave it to that? It gets confusing.
Vidyut Kale
June 15th, 2008 4:29 am
I’ve done some paid reviews with reviewme on a blog I write on. My blogs don’t really have many comments, but for whatever its worth, the comments for paid posts are similar to others.
I don’t really use these paid blogging thingys seriously, as I go through sites and only pick those that “work” for my interests. The others come and go.
For me, this opens an arena of sites I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise and I learn a lot from seeing them, which I wouldn’t have, if I remained with my “usual sites”. So yeah, for me, this works, though I don’t take up every offer.
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