Would You Accept Payment for Blogging Or Spreading Postive Comments about a Product?

I was listening to a discussion on a BBC radio program last night that was high-lighting a new development in our digital world: Large multi-national companies paying bloggers to promote their products.

This worries me... especially if the pay-for-positive-comments is not disclosed.

Apparently the movie making industry is doing this... paying mum and dad bloggers to write positive reviews about the movies they have taken their kids to see. It seems that they have discovered that the opinion we share as parents can have a huge influence on consumers. I guess BB is a part of this trend (not the paying, just the opinion sharing). I have discovered many a fine product from reading threads in here.

I just want to say, for the record, that I DON'T believe bloggers or mums and dads should be paid to endorse a product. Our opinions do matter BUT we are not and never should claim to be experts in our fields. Once the people we are talking to get wind that payment has been made then all credibility flies out the window too.

What do people think?

Would I accept money to write a positive review? - No.

Would I accept money to review a product/movie? - Yes.

My blog has nowhere near enough followers for this to even be an issue for me, but as far as I'm concerned, I would never lie about a product for the sake of a payday. I'm more than happy to endorse/advertise products I'm happy with, and if I get money/free product by doing that, even better! But it wouldn't change the way I reviewed the initial product/movie :)

Oh and if you would accept payment would you choose to disclose that you had been paid?


Just speaking for myself if i knew that a person had been paid i wouldn't "rate" it as much as an unpaid opinion... i couldn't help but be sceptical.

That's how alot of bloggers make money - endorsing products. In fact there are alot of bloggers being taken advantage of and not being paid decent rates and expected to do all sorts of stuff. Which some of them do without realising cos they are just trying to make some spare cash from home.

and just for the record I'd never flog someone elses stuff on my blog - I think people get jack of it, especially when they will flog anything.....

I'd expect to be paid to review a movie or something, but you would get MY opinion!

They (the companies involved) only pay for good reviews though...

ETA: it's different if an entity is paying for advertising because the traffic level on your blog is high though. I'm talking about specific payment for positive comments about a product.

To be honest and upfront, yes I would say that I had been paid. But I don't tend to be sceptical when it comes to other Mummy Bloggers endorsing products and getting goodies. I suppose that they may be the ones that initially get me to try a product, but it's my choice to continue to buy it, so it doesn't really matter whether they're paid or not, and whether that affects their reviews. DTMS?

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They (the companies involved) only pay for good reviews though...

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But does that necessarily change the product? Fair enough they pay for it - they pay for advertising, whether its TV ads, magazine ads or Mummy reviews. I think the difference if whether or not you respect/trust the blogger to have written a fair review, as opposed to a good review based on the reward.

but why wouldn't a blogger be an expert in a field? Isn't it just about liking a product?

It doesn't change the product but it's like any form of advertising... not trustworthy IMO. Advertising, no matter who is doing it, is not a shortcut to doing your own research and to me that means getting unpaid for information about a product. I trust unpaid scientists (or I should say, salaried scientists) more than i trust ones that are paid by interested parties. Same goes for the opinion of my friends.

Lulu: yes we are experts when it comes to our preferences but if i endorse, say a well known shampoo maker... and make claims that it's sooo good for eczema etc how true is that really? Anecdotal experience isn't the same thing as clinical trials.

hmm... it's a bit like having affiliate links. I avoid these like the plague.. there's a nasty streak in me that makes me not click on these and just go to the parent site myself LOL. I looked into affiliate stuff when I was setting up a website, and I felt bad using them. It felt kind of sneaky.. so I don't click on other people's affiliate links now either haha.

I don't think I would really endorse products for money. If I wanted money from a blog I think I'd just do ads or something, that are quite obviously ads, if that makes sense.

But why would accepting money for what you would've written anyway undermine your opinion?

ETA - If I'm researching a product/movie, I want to hear from my peers, people who are in a similar situation as me. I personally put far more weight behind a mummy blogger recommendation than I would a TV ad, because I assume that the mummy blogger has at least tried the product for themselves yknow?

According to that report it's only in the movie industry and that's pretty harmless - it all comes down to the buyer beware and choosing where you get your info from.

If you choose to take someones opionion over clinical trials that's your problem, yeah?

[QUOTE=Keikemamaki;2444039]But why would accepting money for what you would've written anyway undermine your opinion?

Just because i know that people can be bought and i don't trust bought opinions. Like Liz said: an ad is more upfront... if people want to advertise on your blog then fine... i have no problem with the blogger accepting payment... but weaving in paid opinions as well is different... and for me it's distasteful... just my personal thoughts.

ETA: it's similar to John Law's Telstra Cash-For-Comments media frenzy. People were outraged. Rightly so.

Sorry darl, realised I'm coming on a bit strong - sometimes its hard to remember you're not physically in front of me, seeing the genuinely puzzled expression on my face :) I understand your reasoning too. I guess there must be a fair few people who do put stock in paid blogger reviews, otherwise there wouldln't be a market for it - but that's why there are so many different forms of advertising, to make sure that even if people don't listen to one, they'll listen to another...

That's fine Keike :) Not too strong at all. I hope i'm not being too over-the-top about it as well LOL I'm ok with advertising and it's great to hear of mums and dads getting a little extra $ from simply maintaining a blog (from people advertsing on the site) but payment for the content: the opinions and reviews in the actual blog to me is like Trojan Horse advertising... a bit too subliminal for me LOL

Being paid to review a product is different to being paid to endorse it. If a blog was full of glowing reviews and recommendations I would be very skeptical. There are review sites out there that I'm sure get paid or receive freebies to test out, and the manufacturers would just cop it sweet if it got a bad review.

I think it would be easy for people to get caught up in the whole money making side of it.. especially if the money is really needed, and it would change the whole feel of the blog, and possibly sway their 'opinions' of certain products.

I don't have an issue when it is disclosed that they have received money or gifts etc from that company. If I had a blog, and I did think a product/film was good I wouldn't have an issue with being given something for stating my opinion on my blog, and in my own words, but I would always disclose it, so then people can make up there own mind. People have all sorts of biases which affects what they promote on their blog which are unrelated to being given anything, just the way they are and the experiences they have had so you always have to research advice anyway to make up your own mind. If people give false opinions based on endorsements people will soon realise that the opinions are not worthwhile and the blogger will lose subscribers and then no one will pay them for anything, so I think most people are fairly careful about what they pick to promote.

I hate it. I think it's extremely dishonest. If they were saying they were being paid to endorse the product then that's fine. But the blogs I've read that do these reviews try and pass them off as REVIEWS. That's dishonest. I think it leads to people endorsing products they don't believe in or haven't even tried. To me it's unethical. And anyone who spams me with this kind of crud I stop following :)

I agree Rouge... "dishonest" is a strong word but I think it is essentially that. Imagine if everyone in BB land suddenly learnt that I was being paid by MooGoo, Lindt, the publishers of the book "Eat Right For Your Blood Type", the app creators of Farmville (Zynga), and many other products and services that I rave on about here in BB. If I have a right to sell my opinion then are people saying that doing that is ethical? Maybe people don't really value my opinion as much as I think they do :lol: but to me it would be reprehensible. It's a slippery slope and maybe we are just getting so used to "product placement" etc in our lives that we either don't really notice or care when a line has been crossed? Just putting it out there :) *wanders off to her bedroom to pop on her soooo comfy Peter Alexander PJ's*

*snort, you dag!

I think, that I think *more snort, that 'we' are getting more aware of this kind of thing, not getting used to it. Or maybe that's just me (us?). So far in the blogosphere I'm finding anyone flogging anything is usually upfront about being sponsored, and the ones that aren't lose cred really quickly. Some people are really BAD at it.

Then again, I remember feeling really SUCKED IN after taking advice on some product (can't remember) in the supermarket from a woman that appeared to be browsing the shelves like I was -THEN reading that was the 'new' thing. Planting people in aisles and getting them to point products to people...

Good comparision Lulu! That bloody woman would have made me feel like crap too if i had been sucked in while standing in the middle of the cereal aisle! How can people DO it??? I bet she had no badge or anything...

Nope not for me, I blog for my own reasons, none of them are monetary, I use my blog to get my feeling out there, to share with my family and friends our journey and photos and I find it a real emotional release and FWIW I don't even have any of the optional advertising on my blog because I find it annoying :)

I must have a reasonable amount of followers or people who just read it as my hit count goes up by quite a bit when I blog, but numbers of readers doesn't bother me. TBH if I write about a product I have bought or used, or a company I have used (i.e. taken photos of us), it is because I genuinely like the product or company and I think it/they are great from ym own personal experience, but I have never been asked to promote a product and I wouldn't be interested in promoting someone's by request.

Yep, same with photos of products I take Beema. On the weekend I took a photo of a box of tea bags that I am trying... for several reasons... because it was a tea for something specific: skin health, and i guess i wanted to see if anyone had tried something similar...and also because i liked the packaging. I am a sucker for packaging... it is a weakness i have :redface: I also love using little known locally made cottage industry products and maybe I feel that if the product is good it deserves a rap... because those products rarely advertise. I also like to simply document the types of things i use because often it starts up a conversation... eg like when i posted a photo of Chili Lindt on FB... i wondered if it was fair trade... a knowledgable friend was able to confirm that it was.

Maybe, but I would have to have a series of cow bells in varying tones to signal just how much money I had been paid for it :rofl: (for those that wouldn't remember, when John Laws was busted over his cash for comment scandal, he then had to use cowbells to signal that what he was talking about had paid him for it - the varying tones indicated the amount, so a loud cowbell meant they paid heaps, a quieter one meant they didn't pay as much)

I'm not a prolific blogger, I just don't have time anymore. But I would only do it if I were allowed to speak honestly about what I was reviewing and I would always be open about the fact that I was paid for it. For me, personal reviews of products mean just as much as statistics and studies. Often anecdotal evidence is just as valuable as 'official' information. I would never assume the role of expert though, but as someone who has tried the product etc. I would never accept payment to say a specific thing though, my integrity is far too important to me.

I have had to rethink my stance.

I will do anything for vodka.

YES.

ANYTHING.

*ahem*

Hey Absolut... got mah number?

I'm guessing you would give them a glowing review? ;)

Absolutely (no pun intended!). But I've paid for that privilege not the other way around ;) But should they wish to shower me with thanks in the form of bottles of vodka, I can't say I'd object :)

Yes, it would be a lot easier to just write a review for something that we loved already :)

Hmmm, this one is a goody!
I have been handsomely 'rewarded' by businesses for advocating a product. But only cos I genuinely loved their product enough to plug when relevant either in person or on my FB page. I've been sent free Huggalugs because my SIL asked the business to send me a sweetener for all the WOM I'd been doing. My local boutique gifted me a wrap cardigan I was covetting because I always send people in to find whatever they need for whatever occasion. I scored a free shirt from another business for being so enthusiastic about their product that they let their packing mistake slide and turned it into a gift. I've got heaps of stories like this where businesses just acknowledge how I feel about finding what I need and getting great service which, for me (from the Old School of Myer Customer Service...just before it all went to the dogs...) is part of the product itself.
Payment on top of getting preferential treatment takes endorsement to another level that would erode that very same endorsement. As you say, it would make it less real and more induced.
I don't like the idea of payment as incentive to promote a product. It's either good or it's not. It's either suited to your needs and possibly to those of others or it's not.
The fact of payment, for me, would cloud my judgment on the product and would instantly compromise the integrity of the endorsement. I would rather know if someone were getting paid for an endorsement. I'd rather accept payment in kind, relevant to the product, and only based on how many people I'd managed to convince of the indispensibility of the product (the way that I, myself, had found it to be), not just for 'putting it out there' and planting the consumer seed.
Like Bath, when I plug something on FB, it's cos I actually love it.
It's late, I'm supposed to be studying stats and the girl has just fallen asleep on my lap, so I hope that makes sense!

Yep :) makes sense Maya. Ok so it seems that we universally don't mind the notion of reviewing things that we genuinely love. And in Maya's case I don't mind that she gets some freebies for spreading the word for small local operations, that's just the village spirit in action. But what I was disturbed to hear was large companies offering cash for comments for things like movies. To me it's not the same because, i mean, how passionate can we really be about seeing the latest flick at the cinema? Is it really helping anyone beyond getting an hours entertainment? And what about the temptation to pocket some cash for writing a review about a movie that in all honesty was a bit "meh". Now I could manage that in a very convincing manner ;) people say that I have a "way with words" why not capitalise on it? *rubbing hands together Monty Burns style* what a cushy little earner THAT could be. I could do the same for books! If i knew that some sweet spendable stuff was coming my way i could really go to town. But then if we are living by "Do unto others..." then I shouldn't do it! Simple as that. I can just see how easy this could be for some parents to justify as they struggle to stay at home with their kids in lieu of going out to work. Maybe we should sharpen our spidey senses and think about what members in here really have to gain by endorsing products. But what a bugger to have to do that :( Not wanting to be holier than thou but I do wonder which direction cash-for-comments on the internet will take the average mum and dad. Could it be that it becomes so prevalent that in the end we just become so sceptical and tune out to the positve things people say about genuinely good products?

I remember a time when you'd go to the footy, or watch it on TV, or listen to it on the radio and that's all you'd get, footy... but now EVERYTHING seems to have an ad linked to it:
"And Ben Four-And-twenty-Pies Jones is lining up for another NAB goal of the Year as we bring you this live coverage from Etihad Stadium on Fox FM". Talk about religion being shoved down our throats... door knockers have NOTHING on big business! But we don't seem to care... it's just allowed to become a part of the landscape. :protest:

I DID watch a great movie and suggest everyone watch it, this week! Great Kiwi film that I got free tickets for - THAT kind of payment I'm ok with; watch my film for free, see what you think and if you like please plug vigorously. But not, watch my film for free then I'll pay you for each endorsement. For me, the payment is hoping someone else gets the same messages from the film that I did that just enhanced my lived experience.
I listen to the ABC and my DS has only ever watched ABC - he doesn't know about the big, bad commercial world yet! So, I guess I'm already converted and can only add so much by way of perspective in here ;)

I would take cash or gifts as payment for endorsement of a product, provided I had no problem with the product I was endorsing. Honestly, I don't feel that is is any different to what I do at work. I am supposed to promote products and sell products and services to people. The products that I like and use or see the value in, I have no problem 'selling' these. The products which I beleive are a waste of money, I don't actively try and promote, and if asked I will explain the product and maybe tell them about someone else I know who does like / use the prooduct, or simply tell them that I don't use that product and let them make up their own minds. I don't see how doing this for payment in a blog is any different to me doing it at work...

Would I be upfront and honest about it? Yes and no. If someone asked I would be honest, but I wouldn't nessecarily volunteer the information. I don't feel like this is any more or less 'dishonest' then any other kind of marketing. I can see why some people could feel like this might be unethical. But to me it isn't, and I am not really certain if I could explain why exactly, except to say I think that anyone who is 'listening' to someone they don't know personally, really should be doing so with a grain of salt - especially in regards to the internet. And if they are someone who knows me personally then they should feel free to ask me personally, or already know my veiw on things. But also because I know that even if I am paid I would be honest in my assessments. So for me I guess the unethical part would come in someone outright lying about what they are saying - and then how is that any different to any of these paid actors on TV (anyone watched these political ads lately and wondered if the actors actually agree with what they are saying? ).

What i do have a problem with is spamming. I loathe those people who go onto a forum or facebook page just to push a product or service, without so much as a 'hello'. Is it unethical? I think it comes close when they spin a complet BS story just for purposes of promoting said product / service, but then I think the unethical bit is in lying - the promotion itself is simply annoying.

I just read someone's blog who had a product endorsement and ad on their page - NOW I get a clearer picture of what this thread is about!
Don't like it. It feels like pimping oneself, from my own perspective. I feel dirty, like I do when I find myself watching commercial TV...