Spare a dime for the impecunious blogger?

A new survey says 96 percent of PR professionals would feel comfortable paying bloggers to mention their clients, and wouldn’t even care if the bloggers didn’t disclose the payment. And half of bloggers are apparently fine with that arrangement too! Gawker calls this a “disconnect,” but I don’t see why. PR types are on salary or some kind of retainer. Many bloggers, meanwhile, get paid by the click—if they’re lucky. (Even Huffington doesn’t pay. And you probably have to take Arianna’s calls. That voice—like nails on a chalkboard.) Here at AdFreak, of course, such deals may not work, as we rarely find ourselves gushing about much of anything. If companies would like us not to mention them, something could probably be arranged (wink, wink). Maybe we could keep a “Do not blog” opt-out list. Yeah, that could work ...

—Posted by David Gianatasio

  Editor: We will do no such thing.
  Dave: We could post the list. So everyone will know the companies paid us not to blog about them. They’ll all look so lame...
  Editor: No.
  Dave: Gawker wouldn’t say no.
  Editor: Yes, they would.
  Dave (sigh): It’s nice to hear from you. I get lonely sometimes.
  Editor: I bailed you out of jail on Saturday night.
  Dave: Was that you? The weekend’s a blur. I got hypnotized at this agency focus group and can’t stop barking like a dog every time the telephone rings.
  Editor: You always bark like a dog when the telephone rings. You should see a doctor about that.

March 26, 2008 | Permalink