Should I feel bad about a sponsored post? | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

Just like everyone else, I wouldn't feel bad about your sponsored post either. Blogging IS a business and your advertisement wasn't a bad one. If one of your readers wants to sell their house fast, perhaps Gateway would have been a good option for them. It's not as if you are advertising for a company that would do damage to their well-being. Keep accepting those sponsored posts. It's good money and it keeps your site up and running.

Sustainable PF said:

Interesting take mbhunter.

I actually look at your site as a model to work toward so I really appreciate the opinion here.

That being said, we've had a number of posts that were paid by some entity or another.

We also got a zero to 4 PR upgrade – with such posts on our site.

I find that these posts, as long as they are of quality, and I add links to our own site – don't damage our rep/site. 

Thanks for the compliment. :)

I know I probably swing too far on the conservative side on this topic, but I believe that any activity that tends to game organic search engine results will be factored out eventually, at which point the gamers will pay.  It might not be tomorrow or three months from now, but the Internet is more or less forever, and Google is caching it all the time and doing massive amounts of crunching and testing to improve the quality of their search results.  They have to.

mbhunter said:

Thanks for the compliment. :)

I know I probably swing too far on the conservative side on this topic, but I believe that any activity that tends to game organic search engine results will be factored out eventually, at which point the gamers will pay.  It might not be tomorrow or three months from now, but the Internet is more or less forever, and Google is caching it all the time and doing massive amounts of crunching and testing to improve the quality of their search results.  They have to.

I couldn't agree more with this.

mbhunter said:

Sustainable PF said:

Interesting take mbhunter.

I actually look at your site as a model to work toward so I really appreciate the opinion here.

That being said, we've had a number of posts that were paid by some entity or another.

We also got a zero to 4 PR upgrade – with such posts on our site.

I find that these posts, as long as they are of quality, and I add links to our own site – don't damage our rep/site. 

Thanks for the compliment. :)

I know I probably swing too far on the conservative side on this topic, but I believe that any activity that tends to game organic search engine results will be factored out eventually, at which point the gamers will pay.  It might not be tomorrow or three months from now, but the Internet is more or less forever, and Google is caching it all the time and doing massive amounts of crunching and testing to improve the quality of their search results.  They have to.

Out of curiosity, MBH, what is your monetization model? Are you relying mostly on AdSense? Affiliate sales? Just wondering what it would look like if someone didn't accept text links or sponsored posts?

Hey Kris,

Don't go boiling yourself in water! People sometimes feel iffy when cash is involved, but that's partly because of all the moralizing we've received as kids and as young adults and the mysteriousness of money and partly because as humans we are fallible and get green or feel weird when cash is involved. It's a known bias of humans. Your friend needs to understand that all things have value, and we are always buying, selling, and trading in everything we do, whether there is a dollar figure or not.

Ask your friend if they believe that they sold their soul for selling their bodies, minds, and time to their employer. Since it's your good friend, you can say it in a nice way, but when you work for someone else that is basically what you do.

Now, your friend does have one point — sites that run too many sponsored posts and are too blatant about them may lose value, even if they do gain some cash. It's then a net loss overall. That is something you always need to weigh when you decide to accept a sponsored post. She might also be right if you're deliberately trying to mislead people and harm them.

However, if you believe the content is beneficial or can be beneficial and you're not out to screw anyone, then whether you were compensated via cash or not (which is only one way we can be compensated), there's nothing immoral or wrong abut a mutually beneficial exchange. Did you tell her that we contribute toward a Yakezie writing contest, and without advertiser revenue that would be much harder to fund?

Life would be great if resources were unlimited, but they aren't, and this is the reality we deal with. We trade our bodies, minds, and time all the time, and there is nothing wrong with that so long as it's agreed to by people on both sides of the trade. I've read your blog for a long time, and I really don't think you're out to screw anyone nor that you're deceiving anyone. I see the guest posts, and I see them for what they are. I'm glad that others see your site as being valuable enough to pay you to be part of it and that you can get that kind of benefit. Feel good that you've built something valuable, and remember your friend is right that too many of those posts can cheapen the site and thus hurt you, but you're definitely not a bad person! :)

everydaytips said:

Like many bloggers, I occasionally have a sponsored post on my site.  (Maybe about once every ten days.)

Today, I wrote a guest post for a company called Gateway Homes, which is located in the U.K.  Gateway Homes will basically come to your house and offer a certain amount of money for your home.  You don't have to take the deal, the company just buys houses.  (Although I am betting they do low-ball.)

So, I wrote a post today about keeping debt to a minimum, watching expenses, just general PF stuff.  In it I mentioned that sometimes people get into trouble when they buy a home without selling their previous home, and I put Gateway homes as a possible option (with a link), along with other house selling possibilities.  At the bottom, I stated "I wrote this post on behalf of Gateway Homes".

A good friend of mine read the post and then emailed me saying posts like mine are what makes her hate the internet and she asked if all bloggers were doing this kind of thing now.  She implied that I had sold my soul for cash in a sense, and I have been feeling awful all day.  Keep in mind, this was not an ad-like post at all.  Had she not seen my disclosure at the bottom, she probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.

I wrote her back saying that blogging is a business, there are certain advertisers I refuse to deal with, blah blah blah.

What are your thoughts on this?  I feel like I need to go boil myself in water or something…

 

In the past I have sometimes published these for free if I liked the post enough and it was well-written. I might not do that anymore because otherwise I'd be flooded, but for me cash is one part of value and one part of the true bottom line.

Sustainable PF said:

Interesting take mbhunter.

I actually look at your site as a model to work toward so I really appreciate the opinion here.

That being said, we've had a number of posts that were paid by some entity or another.

We also got a zero to 4 PR upgrade – with such posts on our site.

I find that these posts, as long as they are of quality, and I add links to our own site – don't damage our rep/site. 

The Family CEO said:

Out of curiosity, MBH, what is your monetization model? Are you relying mostly on AdSense? Affiliate sales? Just wondering what it would look like if someone didn't accept text links or sponsored posts?

Right now, AdSense, affiliate arrangements, and cost per action ads.  I ran in-text "double-underline" ads until I hit my payout threshold, then took them down (a little too ugly).

I get lots of offers for text links, sponsored posts, and the like.  I try to ask if they'll do image ads.  I'll take those (on a per-month basis at some cost per thousand impressions).  Haven't had one of those go through in a while, though.

Advertisers sure do like the text links.  They like even better not to have to pay for them.

Wow, thanks so much for all the responses everyone!

Regarding my friend, it was only the sponsored post that bothered her.  I have since removed sponsored posts from going through my feeds, so my dedicated readers won't be reading them.

I do wonder if something I am doing wrong in my advertising is what is killing my page rank.  (Was recently upgraded to 4 and then smacked down to 1 again…)  The thing is, I post almost everyday, and I have a sponsored post about once every 10 days or so.  As a percentage of my posts, it is very minimal.  I have 2 text links, which maybe that is what makes Google hate me.  Or, perhaps it was just an error when they gave me a 4 and I truly deserve a 1.  I have no idea.

I will say I do get the point that you have to be careful about getting information from the internet, and a sponsored post can possibly mislead people.  There are definitely 2 sides to the story, that is for sure.

mbhunter said:

The Family CEO said:

Out of curiosity, MBH, what is your monetization model? Are you relying mostly on AdSense? Affiliate sales? Just wondering what it would look like if someone didn't accept text links or sponsored posts?

Right now, AdSense, affiliate arrangements, and cost per action ads.  I ran in-text "double-underline" ads until I hit my payout threshold, then took them down (a little too ugly).

I get lots of offers for text links, sponsored posts, and the like.  I try to ask if they'll do image ads.  I'll take those (on a per-month basis at some cost per thousand impressions).  Haven't had one of those go through in a while, though.

Advertisers sure do like the text links.  They like even better not to have to pay for them.

Thanks. That's good info.

Kris, I think your tailored guest post was just fine, and your friend needs to keep these kinds of opinions to herself.  They don't help.