In last week’s Reader Poll I asked bloggers whether they had ever written a paid review on their blog.

Paid reviews on blogs have been something that have been going on for numerous years – however it’s only been in the last 18 months that they’ve become more mainstream as a result of the launch of numerous paid review services (including PayPerPost and ReviewMe).

The launch of these services (particularly PPP) caused a lot of controversy around the blogosphere – particularly because PPP launched with a policy which stopped bloggers disclosing that their post was a paid review) – but also because some bloggers didn’t see how a paid review fit on a blog at all.

PayPerPost and ReviewMe have both evolved in their services, changed policies and added features and many bloggers have made considerable money from the writing of reviews – however the debate continues (although has perhaps become less prominent.

My hope with this poll was to look at Paid Reviews 18 or so months after they rose to prominence to see how many bloggers had experimented with them.

The Poll Results

The results were illuminating (read below for both the opinion of 10 ProBlogger readers and myself):

Keep in mind that this is just a survey of ProBlogger readers (just over 500 of them) and will not be representative of the whole blogosphere (I’d say that the ‘yes’ vote is probably higher here than in the wider blogging community as this blog is read by people actively experimenting with different ways to make money blogging).

More interesting to me than the actual results of votes was the conversation around the poll. Let me pick out a few of the common themes mentioned in the comments thread there that highlight some of the debate:

Readers Pro Paid Reviews

“I see no problem in doing a “paid” review as long as you’re actually honest and upfront about whether you liked the product or not. And of course state in your post that it is a paid review.” – Sue

“I would write about products and services anyway so I’m happy to get paid for them. I’ve never done one yet that I wasn’t allowed to disclose as a paid review though. That sounds underhand to me.” – ChisB

“I make a significant amount of money doing paid reviews. It also helps me brush on my writing skills. I want my review to be accepted well among my readers, as well as, the sponsor. This has made my writing skills progress in a positive direction. My reputation for honest reviews is starting to take off too. All this equals respect, which is why I started doing reviews in the first place.” – Lori

“They allow me, as a mother of three, to work from home – and have more control over my working life. So I would say that – yes, I love them!” – Lisa Marie Mary

“I write paid reviews occasionally but I ‘bury’ them in between good, relevant posts so I will not scare readers off. The ratio is maybe at least 7:1. Seven good posts and one paid review.” Grace

Readers Anti Paid Reviews

“I think in the grand scheme of things, there is uncertainty about a blogger being paid to review items. Really, the uncertainty comes from the unscrupulous few that write anything to make the product presenter happy, rather than writing honest reviews, though sometimes the payment is based upon the writing writing what the prodcut present wishes them to write.” – Bill

“I do not do paid reviews. I worry that if I started doing them, it would taint the perceived credibility of my other posts. Even though I would not write falsely positive review, and even with full disclosure, I think that credibility questions remains for many readers.” – Carleenp

“I think paid reviews are biased, bloggers just write to please the who is paying, and hardly touch the truth on things. but heck; if you can please the shepherd, why would you care about the sheeps right?” – Nelson

“Just a hypothetical question: Would you want to eat at a restaurant where the reviewer/recommender was paid by said restaurant? Not saying I wouldn’t do them, just….” – Mark

My Thoughts on Paid Reviews

My own opinion on paid reviews has not really changed in 18 months. Here’s how I quickly summarize it.

• I’m not anti paid reviews – but I choose not to do them (and never have).
• I don’t mind other bloggers doing them as long as they disclose that they are paid and as long as they are free to give a true opinion of the product or service being reviewed.
• I would advise bloggers who do paid reviews to be aware that there are potential ‘costs’ of doing paid reviews on a blog. As mentioned above in numerous places by others – the issue of trust and credibility come into play. Some readers will not appreciate them and some will even react against them. This is of course the same for other ways of monetizing a blog (ie some bloggers react against advertising and affiliate programs too). I see some bloggers particularly hurting their reputation with paid posts by either writing too many of them, writing obviously biased reviews and/or writing reviews of products and services that are not particularly relevant to the normal content of their blog.

As I’ve written previously on the topic:

“The key with successful paid reviews is similar to the key to successful content of any sort – make it worthwhile for your readers and you’ll not only earn a few extra dollars for your review but also help grow your blog into something worthwhile.”

I’m sure the debate will rage on though – if you’ve not yet had your say – you’re welcome to continue to discuss the issue below.

This week’s Reader Poll asks bloggers how much they earned from blogging in October.

This is a poll that I ran in 2006 and I’m interested to see whether there has been much of a change in the results.

Before you vote – here are a few things to keep in mind:

• I’m asking about ALL forms of income from your blog – from direct income earners like Advertising, Selling products, writing Paid Reviews and using Affiliate programs through to indirect earners like consulting or speaking work that you might have picked up BECAUSE of your blog (more on the distinction between direct and indirect earnings here).
• I’m also talking on a personal level – what YOU personally earnt from ALL of the blogs you work on.
• Don’t answer straight away – tally it up, give it some thought and then let us know.
• If you didn’t earn any money from your blog in October either because you tried and didn’t have any success or because you don’t try to then there is an option for you in the poll also.
• If you’d like to comment on your vote or on the poll in general feel free to do so on this post.

Here’s the poll.

I will be posting about the results of last week’s poll on whether you’ve done paid reviews on your blog in the coming 24 hours.

A couple of weeks back I asked readers to respond to a Poll with the question – ‘Do You Disclose Affiliate Links?‘

Over 800 readers responded. 19% said that they didn’t use affiliate links – but of those that do use them the break down was as follows:

It’s a fairly even breakdown isn’t it?

The discussion on the post was fascinating also with a real range of opinion shared.

Below I’ve included a few quotes that highlight some of the threads of conversation, diverse opinions and practices. My hope in sharing them is that the conversation will continue to develop.

What do you think?

Those that Don’t Disclose:

“I mask them using a php redirect. I find it’s better to hide the URL, because people who don’t want to give me the affiliate sale could just mouse over the link and see the actual domain and go straight there on their own. If it’s hidden, they’re almost always forced to click.” – Chris Jacobson

“I don’t for the simple fact that I think that people assume that they are anyways. And just because I have an affiliate link to the place doesn’t mean my opinion is biased…. I do php redirects, but not for the reason of masking, but for the ease of changing those links that it affords.” – thatedeguy

“I don’t hide affiliate links. I also don’t publicly broadcast them either. In all honestly most people don’t realize they’re affiliate links (or don’t care) and I can’t be bothered with the effort to hide them.” – Staphane Grenier

“When you go to a bookstore, employees don’t run around to all the customers, “I should let you know that we’re going to make a profit if you buy that magazine.”” – Dave C

Those that Do Disclose:

“All my aff links are clearly marked. If your neighbor suggested you buy a certain type of insurance and you later found out that he received a commission for suggesting it, how would you feel? Deceived? Used?” – Michael

“I have a disclosure policy that I link to from within every article, but in general I don’t disclose each individual link. I am more inclined to disclose whether I purchased the product or received a free sample, which I think makes more of a difference, or even whether I am writing about something I haven’t purchased.” – Andy Beard

“People who try to hide affiliate links are scum, IMO. It is absolutely unethical to go around accepting money and trying to hide that fact. As far as disclosure goes – I think it is a bit foolish to not inform your readers you’re getting paid (a simple “this post contains affiliate links” is enough for me) – but it isn’t as bad as purposely hiding them.” – Jeremy Steele

“I disclose affiliate links, but I only really think this is an issue if you are recommending the product being linked to. The reason is twofold. One, if I’ve said anything positive about the product, I feel like I am ethically obliged to disclose this to readers, because the disclosure gives them the opportunity to decide for themselves whether they feel their was any sense of bias. Second reason – to me, it almost makes me more inclined to buy if I see that the affiliate link has been disclosed, because it makes me feel that the recommender is so comfortable with the integrity of his advice that disclosing his economic interest would not negatively dissuade me from buying. It’s a weird bit of reverse psychology, but it actually works for me, at least as a consumer.” – Jonathan Fields

Those that Sometimes Do and Sometimes Don’t:

“I don’t always explicitly label affiliate links as such at the actual link, but I don’t go out of my way to hide that they are affiliate links either and I try to make clear on my sites that I do have affiliate or referral links….. I suppose a real internet newbie might be surprised to find out that when I link to a book on Amazon, I get a nickel if they buy it, but I think most people recognize an Amazon affiliate ad by now and most readers are more than happy to use one when they want to buy something at Amazon.” – Tom Hanna

“Yes, if I write a review of a program, product or service and it’s obvious that I am promoting it. Then I mention that the links are affiliate links. No, if I just write an article about a topic of internet marketing or blogging; then I include affiliate links to products and don’t mention them.” - Tomaz Mencinger

This week’s Reader Poll is sure to cause some interesting discussion as there’s lots of debate about paid reviews with some bloggers dead against them and others who see them as a great way to make money from their blogs.

So lets see what the community thinks. Have you written paid reviews on any of your blogs?

I’d love to not only see the result of your vote – but to hear some of your reasoning why you responded the way that you did in comments below.

• Do you think Paid Reviews are a good thing?
• Have you done them? Do you still do them?
• If you stopped – why?
• If you do them – why?

Looking forward to seeing the conversation that this one generates.

Last week I asked readers a simple demographic question – ‘how old are you?’

My reason for asking wasn’t because I’m gathering data for advertisers (although I’m sure they’d be interested) but to test a theory that I’d been hearing a number of commentators say recently – that blogging is just something that ‘young people’ do.

In constructing the original poll I messed up the categories a little by having some 5 year ranges and some 10 year ones. This made it seem that the 31-40 year old range was the biggest – however when you add the 21-25 and 26-30 groups together it shows quite convincingly that the biggest group is actually 21 to 30 year olds.

Here’s how the spread of results look:

For those of you preferring to see the percentages:

• 57% of respondents are 30 or under
• 77% are 40 or under
• 88% are under 50

I guess the question of whether blogging is just for young people depends how you define ‘young’!

Don’t forget to vote in this week’s Poll which asks whether you disclose affiliate links.

It’s time for another ProBlogger Poll. This week’s question is:

Do you Disclose Affiliate Links?

It is a question that I’m sure many of you will have strong opinions on and which others of you are probably grappling with on a regular basis (I know I do).

Vote here or in the sidebar:

I’d also be interested to hear your reasons why you answer as you do in comments below.

I’ll post the results of last week’s poll in the next 24 hours.

Today is Blog Action Day – the day where thousands of bloggers around the world are all blogging on the same topic – this year it’s ‘the Environment’.

So on a day like today I thought it might be good to have some discussion around the topic rather than me just spouting off on my theories – after the stated goals of Blog Action Day are to ‘get people thinking, discussing, questioning and talking about the environment’.

So my question for us bloggers is:

‘how can we as bloggers be involved in saving the environment?’

Surely there are a at least a few things specific to bloggers that could reduce our ‘footprint’ on this wonderful world we live in.

Here’s a few to kick us off:

• Get a more energy efficient monitor
• Turn off Your Computer at the End of the Day
• Donate a Days Earnings to an Environmental Cause
• Keep your computer longer and learn how to recycle it when you do upgrade (learn more about the ‘computer problem’)
• Consider offsetting the carbon emissions from blogging with some tree planting

I’m sure there’s a lot more we could do – keen to read your suggestions.

Here is a quick question for your discussion. I’m writing a short column on the topic for a magazine (ironically) and while I’ve already written most of it thought it’d be a better article with your ideas. The topic:

Will the growing popularity of digital user-generated content pose a threat to the traditional journalist?

I’ve been given the task of writing in the affirmative and presenting the case for digital user generated content – although don’t have to take the extreme.