Reading Review Posts - Paid or Not
Problogger had an interesting discussion going on a couple of days ago on the topic of Reading Paid Review Posts.
I found the topic most interesting, because I write reviews on a wide range of products - some paid, some not. Does that mean some review posts are worth reading and others are not?
If you subscribe to blogs via a reader and you recognize a post as a "review" do you read it?
When it comes to MomGadget, all my review posts are obvious from the title alone because I've chosen to name them the specific item name - with "a MomGadget Review" following.
Some of the posts are paid reviews while others are actual products that I personally try and/or use.
I managed to be lucky enough to be found by a PR firm that sends me items from time to time to examine, test and review. Does that make my reviews less readable? Less interesting?
This topic has genuinely sparked my interest because I would like to know if I am wasting my time, advertisers money and my readers interest by writing them.
1 comments:
Great post!!
I know a lot of writers and bloggers are up in arms about this and there are some strong opinions both ways.
I just left a comment on the Problogger site, but I'll try to summarize it here.
1. I think it's okay to get paid to write blogs (it's ironic that many of the same writers who cry out against writing for free are the same ones who think bloggers should blog for free).
2. If a paid post is not objective or is undisclosed, it's unethical.
3. Paid posts should fit within the theme of the blog. A paid post reviewing, say, a kitchen gadget, would be out of place on a gardening blog.
4. Paid posts should be used sparingly. A blog of nothing but paid posts is worthless. Personally, I wouldn't want to see one on a site more than once a week.
5. I only read paid posts if I am interested in the product being reviewed.
6. Paid posting can be a way for a blogger to get paid while waiting for that elusive adsense revenue.
7. I don't currently do paid posts because they don't fit in my niche. Maybe, in the future, I'll have a niche blog where I can post a few paid reviews.
I hope this answer helps.
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