The Last Podcast

If you need to know which blogger never to trust again – do a search on Technorati for PayPerPostBlueMonster. It’s a puzzle game run by PayPerPost, the company that pays bloggers – well – per post and the blogger does not have to disclose his/her relationship with the company. Whoever whores him/herself to PayPerPost is, in my book, no better than any splogger out there. Some may disclose their relationship with the company – most don’t. If you do – you are still selling your integrity for a few bucks. If you don’t – well – you have no integrity.
Update: Robert Scoble posted about this at about the same time I did – his take is very similar to mine.

I was thinking about the company a bit more and I was looking for some examples of posts obviously payed for. Here is one I found by looking at the PayPerPost forum. This is from Just Julie at juliesjournal.com:

Anyone Up For An Audi?

I love looking at new luxury cars online. I’ve always wanted one, but my wallet doesn’t reflect my taste at all. I don’t really see too many Audi’s on the road here like I did in California. The Audi cars seem to be all the rage in Los Angeles. It must be because some models come with bullet proofing!?!? I’m sure digging this Audi TT Coupe’ though! I always tend to go for the sporty model. The look at me! kind. Plus the the dual-clutch gearbox allows you to change gear without noticeably interrupting the flow of power from the engine. Vrooom!

She is not looking for an Audi. Maybe never has. This is part of the PayPerPost AudiTT ‘opportunity’. Notice how slipped in the dual-clutch gearbox?

This is why I hate PayPerPost. Stuff like this just slips by people who would never know what is going on. At best, this is unethical and benevolent, but at its worst, this is simply misleading you audience and I think every blogger doing this really needs to ask if losing your audience’s trust is worth the few bucks you make from this.

Here is another example from Brian Reilly – also an undisclosed post:

Need a website fast?

If you are a small business and need a nice looking web presence, websitesin48hours.com can set you up and having you running in no time (48 hours actually). They have several plans to choose from, starting at $99.99 and with each one, your custom built site will be up and available in 48 hours. You can include e-commerce features like a shopping cart and choose from multiple web templates to design your site — up to 2000 templates on the Platinum plan. The Platinum plan comes with 8 web pages, 350 megabytes of hosting, and a free domain name for $19.99 per month plus a $999.99 start up fee. So if you are in need of a business site and you want to get started right away, have a look at what websitesin48hours.com can offer you.

Behind the fold are a couple of other bloggers who frequent the PayPerPost forum and their blogs:

Update: A lot of the people I link to here have posted in the comments. Read them and form your own opinion.

Cass Darrow
www.cassknits.com
~~www.holysheepyarns.com~~

Techie
Smuggle Me Blog
Something for Nothing Blog

NeoGarfield
Read his defence of PayPerPost here

Bethchelle
Ramblings of an Undisturbed Mind

Lynn Terry
Learn Internet Marketing, Free | ClickNewz! Blog

Sylvanarrow
Home Improvement
Fitness Gadgets

Xial
Saltwater ~~Metempsychosis~~

And so the list goes on. Maybe we need a clearinhouse for blogs that use PayPerPost?

Technorati Tags: payperpost, Payperpostbluemonster, blogosphere, blogging, marketing