Bloggers as Reviewers: Tell me how you really feel

That's right  maybe it is just dawning on some that hello we make choices so read or don't read, spend or don't spend. Or react or don't react,  create and be part of a  better set of paradigms that take us All to the mountain top ..... 

Vita

One can actually combine sacred ethics and commodity ethics on ones site and live with integrity!! it does work BUT ITcomes with courage  a long climb  tenacity and a belief in the whole

I totally agree all that ad  on pay for clicks etc,,, is just too much and is frankly a very predatorty and I think lazy  way to value add .., I am constantly pushing the buttons and setting standards of those who procur my content and link ..

As we say at Vita " love what you do love what you become, but do it with integrity and mutual benefit for the whole.....

Having been working and writing online for nearly 10 years ... I am compelled to say I suspect Twitter is not value adding ( and I mean as a voice or usefull content driven materia)l  from what I see happening,,, It would apppear it offers an oppotunity to spill all over the place and really appears  to me to be a new form of spam .. Accept ironically you can opt in to recieve all that stuff....Bless those that feel the need to that.. But call me old fashioned or call me a modern miss   you can NOT sell anything people make choices...  So we have to ask ourselves who is the victim and who is the oppressor as this new world order evolves

 Maybe you could contact them Erin and find out what occurred Maybe disucss their business ethics and how they operate.. It could well be a knowledge sharing situaion that creates ideas for everyone to learn something new from 

As one might say " nothing wrong with being straightforward and going to the source to find out more

Yes  I am with you I am perplexed about what the issue REALLY  is and who and what the actual concern is about as on my site it is quite clear who  is a client and what is a sacred

ethic...  I am not part of the Blogher ad thingy and choose not be so maybe that is what is being discussed here  My site model is not based on "freebies' and endorsement it is advertising and  copy that I choose to write for clients....And more to the point we all have a choice of whether we visit a site or  NOT or buy a product that may appear on a site .

Definitely disclosure!  It adds credibility for one thing, and if you don't have credibility, then the review is shot.  One of the reasons I've stopped buying things that magazines "recommend" is that many of them were terrible!  I highly doiubt anyone tried some of the products I bought, or if they did, they didn't compare them to anyone on the market.  I love reviews when they are honest - full transparency makes me feel more comfortable that I'm getting a genuine review. 

That being said, I'd also be interested to hear opinions on bloggers who contact retail websites and demand free samples! 

Laurel McCarthy AKA The Sling Lady

www.CarryMeAway.com ( http://www.carrymeaway.com/ )

 ...such and such company sent me this game to review. And leave it at that. With the BlogHer reviews there are written out guidelines that anyone can read and yes, BlogHer is good about things like making sure people are fairly compensated for their work. Despite that, it's still possible for a blogger to be out there saying, "Despite what's been offered to me, I still say no, because of XY and Z". Which is something I mentioned doing in a previous post on this same topic; I didn't do a review of something I wasn't going to use anyway. I suppose there are varying levels of transparency and it's up to the individual blogger. 

Heather B. 

No Pasa Nada: www.nopasanada.org ( http://www.nopasanada.org )

BlogHer: http://www.blogher.com/blog/heatherb

All set up and ad free. It's just waiting for that call from Coach. Anyday now...

Heather B. 

No Pasa Nada: www.nopasanada.org ( http://www.nopasanada.org )

BlogHer: http://www.blogher.com/blog/heatherb

I flat out think disclosure, 100% transparency, is the only way to go.  I have "reviewed" lots of things on my site in my daily life, but not because I was paid or asked to do so.  Therefore, when I do a paid or sponsored review, it goes on a separate section of the site, it's disclosed, and it's APPARENT that i am compensated in some way shape or form.  I don't get the confusion on this or people's unwillingness to do what to me seems black or white.  By not being transparent, we diminish our own credibility as writers. 

This is a pr company run by a mom to focus on MOMs.. http://www.limelitepr.com/

Are moms who listen or work with such a mom pr person sell outs?  Is she evil for doing this?

I don't think so....I really like her....met her through twitter...awesome lady....

Big crowd tonight at THIS event DESPITE the Canucks playing at the same time...

http://blog.yoyomama.ca/2009/04/game-on-not-the-ca...

I don't think so....again....if FULL DISCLOSURE is there...fair is fair...

Everyone blogs for different reason...whether you are a mom or not....just because we are moms doesn't make us all touchy feeling and caring..lots of people do just want to make a buck.

I think there is room for all kinds of bloggers in the blogging world.

There are room for the dooces and the non dooces and the pay per posts and the reviewers and so on and so on...

It again just shows that being a mom is not some static wearetheborg copies of one another. 

Look for me at http://crunchycarpets.com or check out the ladies at www.wetcoastwomen.com ( http://www.wetcoastwomen.com )

....should we disclose that we did NOT get paid as well as that we got paid?

I'm just not sure how this will work.  You know I'm for total disclosure - do you like my new "product provided" button? - but I think I'm just not understanding this part.

Do I also need a button that says, "Hey, BlogHer reviewers got some cizzash for this, and I'd bet some other big cheeses did, too, but I'm kind of a small to medium cheese so they just sent me the Wii game.  No money."  That way no one will think I got the same deal that they did and I'm just not admitting it?

I'm still going to try to keep the faith and hope this was all a misunderstanding - call me a Pollyanna.  AND I'm going to still continue to disclose.

Sadly I do not.

Disclosure is the only way to know for sure.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

Erin, I am fascinated by your comment!  When I read your Carpet
Baggers post I was incredibly curious (nosy...I admit it) who you were
talking about.  I read tons of reviews and I've been kind of impressed
with their disclosure both in the post and on their sites in general,
so I kept wondering....how does she know that they're not being
transparent?!?

But now I may get it!

You said in your
comment that you were offered $250 to post product info on your
personal blog, and you later saw this product info on other sites with
no disclosure re: receiving payment. You wondered if they were paid and
didn't disclose.  Let me tell you my guess: They weren't.

Again,
this is just my guess, but I found out just this evening that a review
that I am doing for free about a fun new product that I genuinely like....well, that same review is being posted on BlogHer at $200 a pop
to the reviewers.

So maybe this could all be a misunderstanding?  Maybe what isn't being disclosed also doesn't exist?  Just a thought.....

This really is shocking to me; most product mentions I read I assume are because the person legitimately bought the thing, tried it out, and these are the opinions.  Unless, of course, they come out and say that so-and-so sent them X product.

Which is exactly what I say.  It only seems fair to be completely transparent, to avoid misleading anyone.  I certainly would not sugar-coat a review, though there is a certain finesse to offering constructive criticism.  For example, I recently tried pomegranate juice and, when I talked about it on my blog, I mentioned that the stuff--along with most fruit juices--are way to high in natural sugars for me, a diabetic, to even consider as a beverage straight.  That's my warning to other insulin-challenged people who read my site.

I just heard about a new Food Blog Code of Ethics ( http://foodethics.wordpress.com/ )--it looks to be a promising document for the foodblogging community.

Amanda
Mrs.W's Kitchen ( http://mrswskitchen.blogspot.com )

After reading Queen of Spain's post, I was prompted to think about what exactly my review policy ( http://reviewplanet.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/revie... ) is and where I draw the line.  My feeling is that my time is valuable, my readers' time is valuable, and whether I should be involved in recommending products should make sense.

For instance, one of my core principles is no TV for kids under 2.  When I get offers to review shows for toddlers, I say no.  That's my belief, so it's now part of my written policy.

I've also changed my stance over the past year or two I've been doing a review blog in that now I will turn down opportunities that aren't directly related to the spirit and topics on my main blog.  I won't review Swiffers.  I will, however, review books about cancer, raising children, or children's books.  

No, those reviews don't pay as well.  But they're true to my content and my beliefs.

The discussion this week helped me understand more about advertising and content, and I decided that I'm not a vehicle for advertising.  I won't accept honoraria or payment for product mentions.

So I have a review policy ( http://reviewplanet.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/revie... ) now that reflects me and my values, and I'm happy with that.

Susan

Susan blogs at http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com and http://motherswithcancer.com and reviews books and such at http://reviewplanet.wordpress.com.

So would you drop out of the BlogHer ads network to do that Coach review of the opportunity came up? Or would you set up a whole new review site just for that one great opportunity? 

I don't do a lot of reviews. I do a few, maybe one per month and my standard format is to talk about what I liked and what I didn't like (present both sides). I have only received free product so far for the ones that I have done (i.e. no $$), but having recently joined the BlogHer ads network I'm having to be more restrictive about what I can accept due to the $40 value maximum.

I'm having to turn down the opportunity to review some potentially great products worth $60, $70, $80 and$150 because that expense doesn't fit into my budget right now (so I can't buy the product myself) and I don't do enough reviews to make it worthwhile to set up a separate review blog. 

I love being part of the BlogHer ads network. I think it brings value beyond the few dollars it drops into my bank account each month. However, I wish there were more/easier opportunities to pair that with other ways of generating revenue on my blog. 

I'd love a policy that says do what reviews you want to do as long as you fully disclose what you got in return. I've seen great suggestions out there (mentioned in Kelby's post I think) for a "product provided" button.  

Thanks for pulling all of those posts together into one place. It is something we need to keep talking about. 

PhD in Parenting - http://phdinparenting.com ( http://phdinparenting.com/ )

Quality bloggers can get away with more, I think, because if you're entertained, it doesn't matter all that much what you're writing about. I don't mind product reviews, contests, giveaways, recommendations, and that sort of thing, when I'm reading them on a site I LIKE.  

Mommy to a tween and two sets of toddler-age twins - eeek! Blogging at LaLaGirl - Twinfinite Chaos ( http://lalagirl.org ).

...of where I felt things crossed the line between how either blogs or traditional media reviews products or services...

Just yesterday I received an email for my personal blog to 'mention' a product in exchange for $250.

I said no thank you, told them my policies, and moved on.

Not 2 hours later I saw blog posts mentioning that product on other blogs, without any disclosure they may or may not have been paid to do so. (I don't know if they got the same offer I did, so I don't want to speculate too much)

It all comes down to trust and credibility. While some great review blogs are above the board and some great sites do product mentions well, others are really taking advantage of this current atmosphere.

Just another reason to be thankful that BlogHer has lead the way in editorial/advertorial/ad standards. We might all be navigating new territory, but there is a way to do it and do it well, and with full transparency.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain ( http://queenofspainblog.com/ )

I started a review blog a while ago. It started as a place to review martial arts products since most are all catalog based. We have over 150 reviews now and there are four of us writing. I personally refuse to do the press-release type reviews. If I don't have a product to try, I'm not writing about it. And I'm honest too. I like most stuff, but if I don't, on my site, we tell it like it is.

The people who send me products and work with me know that if I don't like it, it's not getting a good review. I've had companies tell me they appreciate my honesty.

That being said, none of us do pay-per-post stuff. Not a one. I looked into it because it sounds good on the surface, but I'm not interested in pimping out my blog like that. It has to be on my terms.

Link Text ( http://www.blackbeltmama.com )Black Belt Mama

But since you asked how we feel, those are my feelings on the topic that translate into the action of if I don't like it, I don't read it. I don't read stuff I don't like, and I don't take the time to slam those who do. But, like I said, when the discussion is brought tous via Twitter or something else -- or when a disaster becomes too widespread to ignore (I'm looking at you, J&J and Fishfulthinking), then I will say something -- not about anyone in particular, but about the topic in general, because it's very, very odd to me, how upset people get about it on BOTH sides (those being asked to review, but weren't asked in the EXACT PRECISE WAY to make them happy, and those who feel slighted because they weren't). 

 Like I said, it's the kind of thing that will make me stop reading if it gets out of control or if I feel like the authenticity is gone because it's all about making money, gaining visibility or getting free shit. And again, I'm talking about PERSONAL, journal-type blogs here -- and not those who do it only occasionally, or with a separate review blog. And I'm not self-centered enough to think my eyeballs are that important to them. So I just stop reading without fanfare or commentary. The end.

www.jonniker.com ( http://www.jonniker.com )

You're the sweetest! Glad we're fellow BlogHer members :)

green LA girl ( http://greenlagirl.com )

But my feelings on this have always been pretty cut and dry; do what you want on your blog. The end. Whether that be pay per post or reviews every other week. It's your blog. If you want to use your PERSONAL blog as a revenue stream - especially in this economy where people are trying to get all the extra income they can - then I say go for it. I guess I don't understand why others care so much. And this goes back into the days when ads on blogs and people making money from their blog became the popular thing to do and people were livid. My thought is that if you don't like something, then don't read it. 

Am I just being too simple-minded for this. 

Heather B. 

No Pasa Nada: www.nopasanada.org ( http://www.nopasanada.org )

BlogHer: http://www.blogher.com/blog/heatherb

... that my comments were speaking specifically around personal bloggers who otherwise would be blogging anyway -- when that type of blog becomes an outlet to make money, I queston its authenticity. It's their right to do so, but I'm not as into it anymore.

I'm not, for example, talking about folks like Green LA Girl or other "review" type blogs or shopping blogs.  (By the way, I LOVE Green LA Girl. LOVE. And am mildly squee-ing that we're commenting in the same space.) (Am Internet dork, clearly.)

www.jonniker.com ( http://www.jonniker.com )

But they usually don't want to pay - and since to me, getting a product to try is not that exciting while getting money is - I say no.

My blog is not that small anymore. It is now a mid-size blog, with about 1,000 subscribers, that attracts about 30,000 unique visitors and 50,000 page views per month - so I don't see why a company shouldn't compensate me for writing a review.

I don't rule out writing the occasional PAID review, as long as it's an honest review (meaning I write what I really think about the product even though I was paid,) with a NOFOLLOW link ( http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-watching... ) to the product, and a disclosure saying it's a paid review.

Having said all that, I also don't see why this issue needs to be so emotional. If they want to pay, great. If not, I just say “no.” It's a business transaction. As long as Mommy bloggers agree to do unpaid reviews, companies won't have any real reason to pay anyway, so I don't really expect to make money that way.

PS. I agree with Green LA Girl that pay-per-post reviews are something completely different. I wouldn't do those, because they are not honest reviews and they lack transparency, which is probably why Google punishes blogs for doing them by lowering their PageRank.

----

A Mommy Blogger ( http://momgrind.com/ ) and a Blogger For Hire ( http://momgrind.com/hire-me/ )

Since many of the bloggers quoted in the post itself compare / contrast blogging with "traditional" journalism, I think it's helpful to note that newspapers / magazines too often do reviews of products. Writers for newspapers / magazines get samples of the stuff to try -- It's part of their job!

Consider the alternative -- which we certainly see a lot of in the blogosphere too -- which is product writeups WITHOUT reviews, aka rehashing of corporate press releases. Those, not reviews, to me are the blog posts that're really annoying, since they basically always big-up products (since press releases are always positive) despite the fact that the blogger, not having tried the product, has no idea if the product lives up to its promises.

I think if you keep a personal blog and don't want to do reviews / run ads, then that's great -- more power to you. But for many of us, blogging's not only a hobby / personal outlet -- but also a job. Income issues aside, I think many people DO benefit from reviews of products they need -- That's why Consumer Report, etc. is so popular.

Some of the debate here seems to be less about product reviews though, and more for pay-per-post type deals, which are v. different....

green LA girl ( http://greenlagirl.com )

Perhaps it's because I'm late to the blogging world, but I think that people should be able to do whatever they want with their "piece of the web".  

Personally, I'm an information junkie and I prefer review/information based type blogs more than memoir ones (unless I know the person who is writing them - then I care more about the details of their day to day existence).

So, that's the type of blog that I have - informative.  I do giveaways, reviews, "expert" interviews, etc. with "sprinkles" of my personal life mixed in.  I'm not someone who has the desire to put all of my family's personal business out there, but I have no problem with bloggers who do.  To each her own.

In any event, I don't like extremes/people calling others out (not by name though - which casts doubt on an entire genre of bloggers).  I'm more of a "talk to, not about" type of gal.  I do agree though that bloggers who receive items should be open about that and if they're paid to review products, they should make that clear too.  I know that a lot of moms really value reading other mom opinions before making purchases.  So when bloggers aren't being honest about marketing relationships, it messes things up for the rest (I would hope, the majority!) of us who are really trying to provide a valuable service to our readers!

-Kimberly/Mom in the City ( http://www.mominthecity.com/ )

But I'm not against reviews, per se.  I'd just like you to tell me what you're getting for it.  And I like seeing the occasional not-so-positive review...  PastaQueen does that well!

My opinion on reviews depends on their frequency, and how well they fit in with the content of the blog. If someone is a 'green' blogger, for instance, and they're reviewing a product that is anything but, it rings of hypocrisy. And if every other post is a review of something-or-other, the blog can become sort of tedious. 

I believe that blogs, at their best, foster a sense of community. They gather like-minded people who can communicate and exchange ideas. In that context, occasionally sharing info about a product your community might enjoy is OK. I would do this with my own friends if I found a really great kid's store or product, for example. But if I was the girl holding a sales party every weekend people would lose my number. And I expect they would lose my blog's URL if instead of having a meaningful exchange I was all about selling them something every day.

As for myself, I don't currently have ads and I haven't received any sort of compensation. I'm fine with that. Blogging is a hobby. I would consider having ads, but I feel like it has to be worth my time, and I have to have some control over them. Otherwise, why bother? I see people on some ad networks 'running' ads that I know they would disagree with, and probably making next to nothing from it. So they're destroying their credibility for pennies. Not worth it for me, although I wouldn't fault another blogger for receiving compensation for their work.

~ Amber

www.strocel.com ( http://www.strocel.com )

That's about what I make on my blog.  I blog to a niche group of readers.  I have written one review and it was a book specific to the subject of my blog, cancer.  I was also able to giveaway copies of the book direct from the author.  I respect the author and had I thought the book was crap I would not have posted a review or given it away. 

As for ads I've got em, I've made less than $100 and am certainly not quitting my day job but I'd eventually like to make enough to go to a few extra cancer conferences and keep people up to date. 

And Twitter?  I don't know who can keep up with Twitter. My blog posts directly to it and some people follow me but I'll be darned if I understand how they keep up with it either. 

Kate

I blog at http://www.aftercancernowwhat.blogspot.com 

I'm not against reviews on principle, but I will say that 99% of the time, they are not as compelling as regular, personal writing. If a blogger starts doing reviews more often than posting good personal stuff, I'm probably going to stop reading.

My preference is at best for bloggers to keep a sideblog for reviews, like quite a few popular bloggers do now, and at the very least to tell me up front when it's a solicited review. 

Personally, I'm so far on the outskirts of the blogosphere that none of this really applies to me. I don't have the traffic to justify ads, and I've never been asked to review anything or go on any trips. Maybe if I had a kid it would be different; who knows?

The only thing I review regularly is books, and the only times I have a giveaway, it's for a copy of a book that I was given for free and not obligated to give away or say anything nice about. I'm not even sure that counts.

I don't really mind giveaways on other blogs, as long as they are honest about how they got the stuff to give away, and as long as they don't whore the giveaway out on Twitter five times a day for a week. That shit gets old SUPERFAST.

 So, my personal view is that I don't do reviews or giveaways or anything like that, and I don't really read reviews by others. It's not that I'm ethically against it -- I have ads, after all, and fully support those who do. But I *am* disgusted by the "gimme" attitude by some that bleeds over into places like Twitter on occasion. I don't think we're owed anything here, and if you choose to do reviews, I think the attitude should be a little bit more lax. So what if a PR company fucks it up? Politely decline and move on. It's not personal to you -- these are businesses doing business. Handle it the way you want to handle it, but public histrionics do no one any good.

 Personally, and this is not a popular opinion, I don't think that we should expect, or have the *right*, as personal bloggers, to be compensated for our work. Some do, and some deserve it, but it's not all of us, I'm sorry to say. For me, it's a personal blog -- a hobby -- I expect nothing, and want nothing, in return for it. I have ads simply because I can, but if they were to go away, it wouldn't mean a thing to me.

I am very (VERY) turned off by those who make efforts to monetize their efforts on a regular basis. And I know -- I KNOW -- the arguments to the contrary, and I'm not saying this to sell out the sisterhood, it's just how I personally feel.  I like blogs to be authentic views of an individual and when they turn over to business-y type machines, I'm out, yo. 

 (Was this coherent? Jiggling baby and glass of wine.)

www.jonniker.com ( http://www.jonniker.com )