I have mentioned several times that I have stopped writing sponsored posts because I realize a lot of bloggers are trying to bullsh*t me with posts on how they “would” enjoy a trip to a place they’ve never been to, and how “lucky” we are these days because we could apply for loans and mortgages so easily.
When I started writing sponsored posts, I made it very clear to myself that I would only write about things that really matter to me, about things that I would really recommend to my readers, NOT about things that “I thought I would enjoy” and definitely not about “loans that I thought you should take”.
But of course you could tell me about bloggers who, until now, have never written about products that they had never personally tried, and I would believe you. After all, it would be very unfair to trash a basket of fruits because of a few rotten apples.
But the last straw that broke the camel’s back, or so it goes, was this:
The above image is a screenshot that I captured while browsing the list of opportunities the other day. One of the posties, who is also fairly active in the forums, created this $5-something opp. OK, I do understand that “Please do not write that I am personally a PPP member” doesn’t mean “Lie about it”. It could just mean “Don’t mention it” and I am OK with that.
But to ask a blogger to “approach the topic as if you just stumbled upon my website” is akin to asking bloggers to lie because if a blogger takes the opp, he/she definitely learned about the opp from the marketplace, and did not just stumble upon it, no?
If you think this post might benefit other bloggers:
But marketing is lying! Haha .. I could show you a dozen examples just by walking through any local shopping mall.
Hehe … but anyway, I dislike reading paid posts and most of all I dislike people loading ads onto their blogs (e.g. Nuffnang, Advertlets etc). I go there to read the content, not wait for the advertisements to load up. Hehe …
I think a bit of advert is OK but PPP can be quite annoying at times. UNLESS, the product is actually useful to me. Most of the time, though, they’re not really useful la. Haha.
Oh and about the guy in PPP… For $5, he wants people to act like an idi*t for him?
Saya mati-mati pun tarak mau itu angmoh chabor mia luit. Dia olang manyak suey, mau murah, mau besar habis itu belakang kata kita satu negara semua penipu. Hahaha.
I would say ignore those opps and just do the ones that you like. I don’t do too many Pay Per Post but I’ve come across some like that and I won’t do them.
What it all comes down to is that paid posts is just another form of advertising. With paid posts you do have control since you can choose what you want to write about.
With something like Adsense Ads you don’t have as much control and you only get paid if a person clicks. However you might be featuring a company that you don’t agree with.
For example your post written about PPP has generated an Adsense Ad about Helium and PPP. Can you control the ads that appear using Google Adsense? Somewhat (through competitive filtering) but not entirely.
If you are to judge one advertising company like that than you have to be prepared to judge them all the same way. It’s only fair. :-)
That’s the reason I only write about one PPP per month.
So many opportunity is just plain bull.
Opal: I’m NOT judging any advertising company (did I sound like I was??!!). I was talking about a particular opp, in which the advertiser specifically requested that the blogger lie about it..
Haiya… Everything I write is bullsh*t wan lah! That includes my personal posts too! Hahahahaha
I didn’t see that Opp but I wouldn’t have taken it either. But I will write about mortagages and loans from my perspective, if paid enough
If you don’t like it, don’t write it… With my own domain now, I prefer ReviewMe and Sponsored Reviews which their system is much more favourable to we bloggers.
Anyway, still have to wait for 90 days before I join anything…
I have never trusted any sponsored posts because, IMHO, they are all biased.
I think that bloggers who write sponsored posts lack credibility (to be be trustworthy), integrity (able to discern what is right and wrong) and civility (respect for other people).
If one wants to be a media practitioner, I’d advise one to learn more about media ethics (especially pertaining to what one should/should not do)
Ya, I guess this goes back to the old paid newspaper articles. Now, paying directly might be wrong, but what about wooing them to write something good about them?
For a while I had been wondering why companies dont have Blog ambassadors? Like actors and actress, they can be ambassadors for products, so why not bloggers also become their brand ambassadors online?
Wayne: That’s why I didn’t write it, but instead write about it, LOL.
Avijit: Ouh we do have Ambassadors, look closely enough and yuo’ll see more than a handful in the Malaysian blogosphere