Under Table Pay for Links
Under Table Pay for Links
H/T Peggy K
Disclosure of untrustworthy references.
Originally shared by Peggy K
Blogging Payola: how brands pay to get their sites mentioned on major websites
For decades the music industry would secretly bribe DJs to play their records. Not too surprisingly, this sort of "payola" happens in other industries as well.
John Christian at the Outline details how marketing agencies, PR firms and businesses pay bribes to writers and reporters to include a mention and a link in their articles on major websites, including Forbes, Fast Company and the Huffington Post. What makes it payola is that the payment is kept secret, rather having it be disclosed that the article is essentially a paid advertisement.
Many high-volume sites, including the Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, and Forbes, maintain networks of unpaid contributors who publish large amounts of material. Forbes, for instance, marks articles by contributors with a small disclaimer, but the Columbia Journalism Review has pointed out that those dubiously sourced articles are often cited as though they were normal stories written by Forbes staff. In reality, the editorial process that leads to those articles being published is opaque — a Forbes spokesperson declined to answer questions about how many contributors the site has, whether they’re ever paid, or whether an editor reviews their work before publication. One former Forbes contributor, Josh Steimle, has even offered a “masterclass” on how to get published on the site, an accomplishment he described as “rewarding for both my personal brand and my digital marketing agency.”
For writers willing to accept payments in exchange for coverage, that’s an opportunity.
Some writers who spoke to The Outline claim to have been paid hundred or thousands of dollars to work mentions of brands into their articles.
One of them, a contributor to Fast Company and other outlets who asked not to be identified by name, described how he had inserted references to a well-known startup that offers email marketing software into multiple online articles, in Fast Company and elsewhere, on behalf of a marketing agency he declined to name. To make the references seem natural, he said, he often links to case studies and how-to guides published by the startup on its own site. Other times, he’ll just praise a certain aspect of the company’s business to support a point in an otherwise unrelated story.
And it's been pointed out by Google's +Danny Sullivan that Google is likely to consider these "paid links", meant to influence search rankings:
https://twitter.com/dannysullivan/status/93812917026513715
The companies who responded to the article say they would remove such content from their sites if they are aware of it, but it's not clear how hard they look. And many of these writers likely contribute to multiple sites.
It's not clear whether any site has the resources - or interest - to discover and blacklist such writers.
Read the article at The Outline: "Bribes for Blogs: How brands secretly buy their way into Forbes, Fast Company and Huffington Post stories*
https://theoutline.com/post/2563/how-brands-secretly-buy-their-way-into-forbes-fast-company-and-huffpost-stories
https://theoutline.com/post/2563/how-brands-secretly-buy-their-way-into-forbes-fast-company-and-huffpost-stories
H/T Peggy K
Disclosure of untrustworthy references.
Originally shared by Peggy K
Blogging Payola: how brands pay to get their sites mentioned on major websites
For decades the music industry would secretly bribe DJs to play their records. Not too surprisingly, this sort of "payola" happens in other industries as well.
John Christian at the Outline details how marketing agencies, PR firms and businesses pay bribes to writers and reporters to include a mention and a link in their articles on major websites, including Forbes, Fast Company and the Huffington Post. What makes it payola is that the payment is kept secret, rather having it be disclosed that the article is essentially a paid advertisement.
Many high-volume sites, including the Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, and Forbes, maintain networks of unpaid contributors who publish large amounts of material. Forbes, for instance, marks articles by contributors with a small disclaimer, but the Columbia Journalism Review has pointed out that those dubiously sourced articles are often cited as though they were normal stories written by Forbes staff. In reality, the editorial process that leads to those articles being published is opaque — a Forbes spokesperson declined to answer questions about how many contributors the site has, whether they’re ever paid, or whether an editor reviews their work before publication. One former Forbes contributor, Josh Steimle, has even offered a “masterclass” on how to get published on the site, an accomplishment he described as “rewarding for both my personal brand and my digital marketing agency.”
For writers willing to accept payments in exchange for coverage, that’s an opportunity.
Some writers who spoke to The Outline claim to have been paid hundred or thousands of dollars to work mentions of brands into their articles.
One of them, a contributor to Fast Company and other outlets who asked not to be identified by name, described how he had inserted references to a well-known startup that offers email marketing software into multiple online articles, in Fast Company and elsewhere, on behalf of a marketing agency he declined to name. To make the references seem natural, he said, he often links to case studies and how-to guides published by the startup on its own site. Other times, he’ll just praise a certain aspect of the company’s business to support a point in an otherwise unrelated story.
And it's been pointed out by Google's +Danny Sullivan that Google is likely to consider these "paid links", meant to influence search rankings:
https://twitter.com/dannysullivan/status/93812917026513715
The companies who responded to the article say they would remove such content from their sites if they are aware of it, but it's not clear how hard they look. And many of these writers likely contribute to multiple sites.
It's not clear whether any site has the resources - or interest - to discover and blacklist such writers.
Read the article at The Outline: "Bribes for Blogs: How brands secretly buy their way into Forbes, Fast Company and Huffington Post stories*
https://theoutline.com/post/2563/how-brands-secretly-buy-their-way-into-forbes-fast-company-and-huffpost-stories
https://theoutline.com/post/2563/how-brands-secretly-buy-their-way-into-forbes-fast-company-and-huffpost-stories
I think the real problem is that as a reader there isn't any way to tell the difference between a real reference and an undisclosed ad. It makes all Brand mentions suspect.
ReplyDeletePeggy K Exactly. A blanket untrustworthiness.
ReplyDelete