Paid Reviews – Yes or No?
January 23, 2009 by BloggerNewbie
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“Question of the Week? Vote in our Poll!”
Paid Reviews – Yes or No?
What do you think of a blogger writing paid reviews?
I recently signed up for PayPerPost.com and have written a few paid reviews. PayPerPost connects advertisers with writers. I always check out and review the product, service or website before I accept the offer. Not all post opportunities are accepted.
Are paid reviews acceptable if the reader is aware the post is a paid review? Are they sometimes helpful or just annoying?
All of the posts that I wrote for paid reviews are categorized under “Reviews”. Is that enough disclosure?
Are paid reviews different from affiliate marketing? Do you think a paid review of a product or service is dishonest simply because the writer is getting paid? Do you think that makes the writer unethical?
What do you really think about paid reviews? Do you like them, tolerate them, find them useful, would you write a review yourself.
What do you think? I value your opinion.
Toodles – Blog Happy!
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“No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious…”
~ George Bernard Shaw
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Paid Reviews - Yes or No?
- No (75%, 3 Votes)
- Yes (25%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 4
Loading ...Popularity: 14% [?]
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Hi Dee – I wouldn’t do a paid review. I don’t really mind others doing them but I think there should be full disclosure. Do they pay enough to really be worth it?
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I am not opposed to paid reviews as long as you are very up front with your readers that you received money for the review…full disclosure = fine with me. I would be careful what you review though, your reputation is worth more than a pay-per-post offer I am sure.
Matt
Matt | Small Biz Bee´s last blog post..Twitter Fest Friday – January 23, 2009
Kim:
I think paid reviews are very similar to affiliate advertising. Are you opposed to reviews because they are paid which could possible slant the review? My thinking behind a review is what it says. I review the product or service and if I like it I will give it a positive review. Some advertisers require a positive review but if I am not positive about the product I wouldn’t write the review.
The pay of course depends on your traffic and rank.
Matt:
I agree with full disclosure. I don’t know if tagging the reviews or putting them on the reviews page is enough disclosure? What do you think?
Paid reviews must have a negative connotation to them or others in the past have given a positive review on products or services that just were not worth it. Living by your reputation and ethics just goes without saying.
I agree – there should be full disclosure. I have done 1-2 reviews unpaid because I wanted to do them and I liked the product, not because I got paid for them (because I didnt). I dont know if I would ever do it for my blog. I review my own products; I think that may be enough for my readers.
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i said no, but i mean maybe sometimes. i know bloggers have to make money and they should, but if i have to read a blog full of paid advertisements, i won’t bother. i want something, words, that come from the heart, the person, not something they are made to write. occasionally, okay.
Carla:
I agree on the full disclosure. I have changed my reviews to their own page and category with an icon that shows “payperpost” but I don’t announce the post is a paid review. I am hoping that is enough disclosure.
We have probably all done reviews without really considering them reviews. When we discuss something (product or service) on our blog (favorably or not) it is really a review, whether we are paid or not.
I just think paid reviews have a negative connotation because some reviewers have made them that way. Some people have given a favorable review to a product or service they didn’t like or didn’t know anything about. I wouldn’t take a request if I didn’t agree with the product or service.
Natural:
A lot of great points in the comment section. That is what I like about this series. Yeah, if I wanted to read a bunch of sales hoopla I would got to a sales site. If I am interested in a product or service, I find an occasional review interesting and helpful. Thanks for your input.
Here’s the deal with paid ‘reviews’. What the buyer is actually paying for is the Google PageRank for your site. They want your PageRank in the form of a contextual link with their preferred anchor text. This is the PageRank that you’ve worked hard to build.
The downside is that Google frowns on this and will, sooner or later, strip your blog of its PageRank unless you disclose the paid link by using the nofollow tag on the links, something that PayPerPost doesn’t allow you to do.
It’s essentially quick money that can hurt your blog in the long run so I recommend against doing it. Besides, I’ve found it much more profitable to do your own reviews of products you own or try out and link those up with eBay, Amazon, ClickBank or other affiliate offers.
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Frank:
Thank you for the advice. I did not consider the whole PageRank scenario that I have been reading about in regards to the “good link – bad link” as it works with or against PageRank. There are some paid reviews that don’t require a PageRank so I am a little confused?
Yes, I do do paid reviews and I think they area a great way for bloggers to make money. My focus is on the consumer and providing them with my opinion on a product, not whether other bloggers feel comfortable doing them, or the opinion of other bloggers. More often then not bloggers are not my consumer or source of income.
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I agree. I guess if all of the paid reviews were of your attitude they wouldn’t get such a bad rap. If I don’t like the product or service and I am not able to write my true opinion then I just don’t write it.
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