This is written in response to Vegan Momma’s post Paid Reviews: Can You Go Too Far? She’s got quite a lengthy article there but go read it if you can, it’s quite informative :)
Opal wrote about why she isn’t writing as many paid reviews these days, how she kept her readers despite writing paid reviews, and at the end of the post, she asked her readers a couple of questions, which I will talk about here (yeah, you got it right, I wanted to leave her a comment but it became too long for a comment)..
- What are your expectations from the blogs you visit that do paid reviews?
I actually don’t mind paid reviews because I think it’s like watching a movie on TV and whether I like it or not, the TV stations will still air advertisements. In fact, I take it as a way to learn about a new product or service that I otherwise wouldn’t hear about or learn of. And though paid-to-blog companies say that you can only do paid reviews alternately, I wouldn’t stay for long on a blog if the blogger churns out 3 paid reviews out of 10 posts. So yea, I’d expect the blogger to balance (or at least try to balance) the number of paid posts on his/her blog. - Do the reviews turn you off?
It really depends on what kinds of reviews a blogger writes, you see. Like I’ve mentioned above, I wouldn’t mind learning about new products or services that appeal to me, or at least, benefits me. That being said, I understand that not all reviews are tailored to match my personal tastes and what-nots, but I’d really love to check out new sites, products and services, especially if they’re free of charge. I mean, I know there’s a price tag to everything we see and hear these days, so “being free of charge” is what makes those stuff so attractive. I wouldn’t mind a FREE trial, because that would mean that I’d get to test it out before purchasing it..Now, back to the question.. Reviews that turn me off are those about loans, mortgages, paydays, bust enlargement, Belisi fashion, you get my drift..?? And I am especially turned off by bloggers who write about vacations to the Mexico and Hawaii when he/she has never been there. I get turned off by bloggers who fake a review and make it sound like a genuine one. Well, I didn’t graduate with a First Class Honours but I certainly can tell between a genuine and fake blog post after 2 years of blogging! :)
- Do you like seeing disclosure tags (i.e. this is a sponsored post) in the post?
I am not particular about disclosures, and I’m very OK with a blogger disclosing the fact that a particular review is paid for :) See, I’m generally a good “consumer” :D - Can bloggers go too far with paid review?
You bet! I have known a couple of bloggers who have gone very far with writing paid reviews, I have known bloggers who write normal posts in advance so that he/she can “fill them up” with back-dated paid reviews and I’ve seen bloggers who hide their “sponsored posts” category, but who am I to police them? I mean, they didn’t ask me for my opinions before they started writing paid reviews, so who am I to judge them anyway?
There you go, Opal :)
Hmm… To be honest, about 80% of my sponsored posts are true life stories. I realise a lot of ppl aren’t aware of this, and hence ignore it (the posts). So, I’ve been inserting in “true life” where I normally put my *A post kindly sponsored by..”
20% are of course, real reviews. And, I have never written a paid post about loans or mortgages…simply because I can’t relate to it.
and yes..i wish i could go on a holiday to hawaii or mexico or europe..n have quite a time imagining all the places i can go! LOL!
do u think i go overboard with my paid reviews?
Hmmm…. everybody seems care a lot about their readers but no one care much about the one who’s digging out their pocket – the advertiser!
Perhaps the same question should be asked to those who’re sponsoring the blog directly?
mott: You go, girl! :)
wuching: Err, sir, I am really in no position to comment on the amount of reviews people do on their blogs lar :)
soufulow: Ouh well, would you like to take the baton from me, and blog about it on your blog, perhaps?
I do like sponsored reviews but set a limit for myself and a requirement on how much the minimum should be paid to me.
About the disclosure, I don’t think it will matter a lot if your post is interesting. My sponsored posts still have comments though and I don’t know the reason…
Thanks for answering the questions! I wasn’t expecting the reaction I received from that post, LOL but it has been interesting hearing others’ take on the subject.
I think Google will start policing paid links, actually they already are. If you think about it, that’s what a paid post is. Sure it’s a review but it’s also a paid link. I know Matt Cutts (Google) talks about paid links in a post on his website. One of these days I’ll write about it.
In reading through the long response to that post (over 500 responses) he seemed to suggest that clearly marking paid links/post within the actual post was the way to go. I printed out that article. It was over 200 pages but the amount of information I learned simply reading through the responses was well worth it.
I know they are starting to look at paid links more closely, and in some instances, they will be cracking down on those that abuse the system. I don’t want them to question anything when my pages are checked.
Currently I’ve worked as a publisher but in a few months I’ll be hiring people to write reviews for my business. I’ll be contacting them directly instead of using one of the paid per post type service. I know the readers. I’ll use many I’ve established relationships with already so I’m not worried where the content will be placed.
Oh by the way Matt Cutts post was titled “How to report paid links”. I forgot to include that in my above post. Reading through that post explained why some websites rank higher than others for certain keywords. I never understood how “crap content” got ranked higher than others that kept churning out informative content.