Text Link Ads has just come out with ReviewMe. Apparently I’m pre-approved to review ReviewMe and potentially win $25,000.
From Patrick Gavin of Text Link today:
We have just launched a brand new blog advertising system called Reviewme.com. Your blog has been pre approved into the publisher system! Please note that unlike TLA, Reviewme works on any blog including: Typepad, Blogger, etc because no ad code is needed (if your site is not a blog my apologies for this message as this network is for blogs only).
Please visit Reviewme.com and also check out our promotion where we are giving out $25,000.00 for bloggers who review Reviewme!
I’ve briefly checked out the site, and it sounds a little dangerous. I see nothing about revealing in your review that this is a paid review.
People ignore ads. In much the same way that banner blindness set in, many publishers have noticed their contextual ad click through rates and earnings drop over time.
Because our reviews are not formatted to look like ads, publishers are able to deliver more attention and value than through advertising via any other marketing channel.
More later …
[tags] pay per post, text link ads, paid reviews, john koetsier [/tags]
I got the same email. I believe you do have to reveal your interest, and you’re allowed to be negative in your reviews. Which is a lot more ethical than PayperPost.
Trouble to me is:
(a) why am I going to visit a blog where the author cares so little about their readers that they’ll accept money for including posts about ‘stuff’?
(b) Why am I going to read a blog post that has been paid for by a third-party and so is not about what the blogger really cares about?
(c) Rather than a means of conducting market research or achieving engagement, some companies are going to use this as an SEO trick to boost their PageRank.
hey John, just fyi, Reviewme.com does NOT require positive reviews,
http://www.reviewme.com/faq.php#reqpos
thx! Patrick
They also added a notice re., disclosure that a reviewme.com post is a sponsored one.
We have a similar service and are hoping that bloggers will try out our database, too. However, we’re not scouting for advertorial — we’re looking for editorial. Our goal is to hook up PR/marketing types with bloggers who want to review stuff. They choose the blogs, send the pitch through our system and if the blogger wants to check out the product/service, they let the PR/marketing person know. We started this after my personal blog got yet another pitch (probably through blogads) inappropriate to my blog and my readership.