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If you agree with the basic anti-Nehruvian premise that earning a profit is not a bad thing, then even a casual blogger might not mind earning a few bucks on the side especially if you aren’t contracted to anything that takes you away from your real-world job. But the ethical lines of confusing your readers with paid promotions can get a little blurry. PayPerPost is one of the first ones out there that tried tempting bloggers - “write about web sites, products, services, and companies and earn cash for providing your opinion and valuable feedback to advertisers.” They started out without requiring a disclosure policy and got panned by blogging purists who rightly claimed that the readers would be deceived. And they were right, readers who normally trusted the blogger would not like it not because they knew he was getting paid but because they didn’t know which posts were paid for and which weren’t. So a harmless and genuine book review would be viewed with skepticism even when the blogger really meant every word and was not paid a dime.
But what if the blogger put in place a disclosure policy? That is, the blogger clearly specifies not only that he or she is getting paid to write a particular post but even discloses the amount. Would you trust the content? ReviewMe was a similar service to PayPerPost launched sometime late last year. Except in this case, bloggers had a choice of accepting to review a particular product, service, or website and had no clause for only positive reviews in addition to a full-disclosure policy. The reaction was mixed. TechCruncher Michael Arrington said:
While we applaud the fact that ReviewMe requires disclosure and prohibits advertisers from requiring a positive post, we still think the very act of paying bloggers to write about a product is a very bad idea.
Whereas Paul Stamatiou not only reviewed the site but also posted a full-disclosure on the amount he was getting paid to do it. I am not sure what I feel about this but considering that ReviewMe does not force you to accept review requests, or require positive reviews, it makes a compelling argument. And you get $20-$200 depending on how popular your blog is subject to condition that your review is at least 200 words long. If you choose to sign up [I haven't yet], here is a good primer on how to get more review requests and writing good [positive and negative] reviews for ReviewMe.
Bloggers have always received freebies in hope that they review them. Even to the extent of getting free laptops [I have gotten mostly books which I've reviewed]. Intangible [or even tangible] benefits that bloggers get for opining are numerous [ad clicks on Adsense for a unpaid review-post on MS Office 2007] and generally not noticed by the reader.
So here is the question - do you think bloggers should not accept money at all for reviewing anything? Or is it acceptable if they disclose that it is a paid review and/or disclose the amount they are getting paid? Would you trust the blogger any less?
Full disclosure: I am not getting paid to write this post.
by Patrix | on Saturday, January 27th, 2007 at 11:02 am | 
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January 27th, 2007 at 8:44 pm reply
too much linking happening these days.. hidden agenda?
personally, i think your new format looks a little too crowded as you scroll down, but hey,if that helps you get more readers…got for it![:)]
January 27th, 2007 at 11:06 pm reply
Sqrl, chyala! too much linking is bad? You mean, in the post or the sidebar? Sidebar ho to, just want to share my surfing habits re, no hidden agenda-vagenda.
Update: Anyway, I found a lil cluttered after you mentioned so I’ve reduced the number of links.
January 28th, 2007 at 8:42 pm reply
maybe it just needed a lil time to get used to.. but it does look ok now..:)
sir, chai khatam ho gaya.. coffee chalegi?
January 28th, 2007 at 10:20 pm reply
Sqrl, kaafi ho gaya. Thanks for your seal of approval.
January 31st, 2007 at 8:41 pm reply
[...] making this post on bloggers being paid for reviewing products, I opened an account on ReviewMe to give it a shot. I didn’t expect many requests but I [...]
February 1st, 2007 at 7:14 am reply
well i dont think getting paid to review is such a bad idea. it opens up a new stream of revenue for those who desires, but i do believe is you are getting paid to do the reviews then you should disclose that matter for sure.
February 1st, 2007 at 11:38 am reply
Sinu Kumar, I agree. The blogger should always differentiate between a paid review and other content.