BagTheftBlog

This is a sponsored post.
I’ve just signed up for ReviewMe, which is a site that pays you to review “advertisers stuff”, hence the “sponsored post” at the beginning.

It has launched to much debate in the infamous blogosphere for two main reasons. Firstly because some people view getting paid to write a positive review of an advertisers product as payola (that is “In the music industry, the practice of record companies paying money for the broadcast of records on music radio is called payola, if the song is presented as being part of the normal day’s broadcast. The practice is illegal in the United States” Source: Wikipedia). However the site gets around that by the disclosure being mandatory in the post i.e. I couldn’t have written this post without the disclosure that this is a sponsored or paid-for post. A rival site PayperPost does not require this, it’s optional (and I won’t be signing up for it!).

According to the site:

About ReviewMe: Aims to provide both valuable feedback and buzz to advertisers in the blogosphere, simultaneously allowing bloggers to increase their revenue while mainting their editorial integrity and true voice.

*Minus the buzzwords: Advertisers, you pay to get your stuff reviewed by bloggers. Bloggers, you get paid to review their stuff. And it’s not payola.

Secondly, does getting paid for for writing a review damage the credibility of the writer and the blog? Probably, and then again maybe not (could I be anymore vague?!). I’m getting paid $10 to write this post, yet I am unable to say whether ReviewMe is a good thing or not. I couldn’t find in the terms whether the reviews have to be positive. I imagine they don’t stipulate that they have to be, but when other advertisers look at your recent work and see you’ve slated a product, then it’s unlikely they’ll hire you.

It’s difficult to gauge whether this will be a success or not. Well known bloggers take sponsorship and cross-promote their sites already and this isn’t much different. As long as there’s disclosure, and the topic fits into the theme of the site it doesn’t seem too bad.

Will I write another paid post? It depends on what you think, please post your comments below.

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