Hate The Grind

ReviewMe launched a new product called Advertorials yesterday. I didn’t see the e-mail from ReviewMe until this morning so I decided to check it out to see what it was all about and if it could help me out.

Here are the main selling points for Advertisers and Publishers:

For Advertisers:

• You control the message. Enter up to 250 words including links back to your website and also an image of your choice.
• You can login and get full impression and click tracking on your campaign.
• You choose which top blogs to place your Advertorial.

For Publishers:

• Less work. Simply cut and paste our code into your blog.
• All advertorials are by default marked as a “SPONSOR POST:” so the disclosure is done for you.
• You retain full control. Accept or reject any Advertorials purchased.

In short, an advertorial is essentially a paid blog post that is written by the advertiser. The publisher looking to make some quick money now only needs to hit the accept button, copy and paste the post that is already written and publish it.

Advertorials are billed as a “huge step forward in the world of paid blog reviews”. That may be true, but in terms of credibility for the blogging world, I feel it is a huge step backwards. I feel that any blogger that accepts advertorials are basically selling out and taking commercialization to a whole new level. I read blogs because of the personal touch each blogger puts into his or her posts. This advertorial product completely takes that away as the paid post will be written by a third party with no editorial control for the blogger. The blogger can, however, reject an advertorial completely.

It will be interesting to see if any big name blogs will accept advertorials. What about you? Will you accept Advertorials on your blog?

Other posts you may be interested in:

How To Earn Six Figures From Blogging

Blogging To Get Out Of Debt? Make Sure You Do It Right

10 Mistakes To Avoid When Blogging

March ReCap - Blogging Past The Quarter

If Content Is King, Credibility Is Divine