Baris Karadogan, on Monday, wrote about new opportunities to become someone else. In his AlwaysOn piece, he writes…
(Payperpost.com) offers bloggers cash from advertisers if they write on the topic of interest for the advertiser. It’s a really cool idea and the company calls itself rightfully the “Consumer Generated Advertising Network”. For example here is what one advertiser will pay you $10 for:
“We want you to make a short video asking Megaglobe to hurry up and launch their search engine Megaglobe.com .
We want you to have fun and to create any scenario that you can think of. The video must be at least 1 minute.
Once the video is done, please post it on Youtube. “
This really strikes a nerve with me because if it works soon everybody will be putting themselves in ads saying things for money that they don’t believe. But that’s what ads are after all.
Does this bother you? Is this what ads are for? Do all of our students know that this is what ads are for? What if we asked students to create TV, radio, or print ads for a product, and then ask the class (or other classes on line) to rate the ads based on their likelihood that they would buy the product. Might they then have a better understand of what ads are for?
Baris then goes on to say that he would take the money he made on payperpost.com to FakeYourSpace.com, where you can pay to create a MySpace style site, pick what you want to look like, pick your cool new friends, pay them to post clever comments and engage in the rad’est conversations — being somebody else.
This,
I think,
is weird!
“We want you to make a short video asking Megaglobe to hurry up and launch their search engine Megaglobe.com ”
I think it’s funny if you want my opinion.It’s not like they aer saying, that this search engine is the bomb or something like that.
I see an opportunity to make money and have fun in the same time.
It’s about time marketing and advertising firms got around to pumping the blogosphere for all it’s worth 😛
Seriously though, I’ve heard of other sites doing something similar to what PayPerPost does. I believe there’s also a healthy market for astro-turf blogs; sites that are created to promote a product, candidate, or other ideal solely for the purpose of profit and not personal interest. It’s been interesting to follow this movement, as I thought many marketing efforts woulf have been made sooner to push this type of viral media.
In a related note (and one about video games that you mentioned earlier in the month), the FTC has just ruled that all video game and entertainment advertisers must now fully disclose any attempts at viral marketing. In other words, anyone trying to generate buzz about a game via a covert blog, forum, or other social network site has to make sure everyone realizes that it’s just a marketing gimic and not a true real life person just blogging about how great the PSP is, and why they want it for Christmas. A shame really, as I thought those types of sites would lend themselves wonderfully to the new literacy; deciphering advterisement blogs and information in much the same way commercials and infommercials must be carefully deciphered to weed out the truth and the fiction.
I’m reading Search by John Batelle, and he talks about the blurring line between search and advertising.
That is a perfect example….as advertising continues to become more embedded, how do we help students recognize it as such?
Do they need to make that distinction? In their world, is there even a distinction anymore?
I know there are some lines that teenagers draw–I know many were upset by Facebook’s decision to scroll their personal info on their site, and I know YouTube being bought by Google upset some because they felt YouTube would lose it’s independence, so maybe they do want those distinctions to exist.
It’d be an interesting question to have students weigh in on, frankly.
Geez, I’d feel like I was selling (selling out?) my integrity and credibility. Don’t think I’d be interested in doing that for 10 bucks, but then I’m of a generation that’s a little more concerned with things like that.
This seems at best to be an incredible waste of bandwidth if you ask me. But on the other hand, it’s just one of many examples we’re seeing lately that validate the old saying “there’s no such thing as bad publicity”.
“but then I’m of a generation that’s a little more concerned with things like that.”
Um.. ok?
Also – every piece of information in the world is treated as suspicious anyway. I mean, in the perfect world, these people would identify any conflicts of interest. But that’s probably not going to happen. So. Suspicion is prime.
I wonder if the upshot of this is that everyone will realise how fake adverts are. I think most adults know it on a cerebral level, but this might really drive that truth home. Just think how that would puncture the advertising industry balloon.
After looking at the pay for post site, I find this very troubling.
It’s like movie placements, but worse in a way, because as a blogger your audience trusts that you are speaking on your own behalf. Unless you created a blog just designed to hawk items, I think this is a troubling concept!
I think that if a person truly believes in Mega Globe,then fine, go for it. However, I believe the world is getting bigger and smaller at the same time. Personal integrity has decreased over the years because of masses, now because of the individual accountability of blogging, I think that personal beliefs and character are now front and center.
I’ve struggled with people telling me to put Google Adsense on my blog and perhaps there is nothing inherently wrong with it, but I cannot control what I endorse. Because of this, I cannot at this time put it on my website.
In the small town I am from, your word means everything. To be an ethical, meaningful participant, our word must mean something. We must learn the web is real life and not a second one and that myspace is not truly “my space” it is the world’s space! We must teach it and must practice it!
Gosh, I’ve believed everything I’ve written about for PPP. In fact, I’d have written the same stuff for free. If I’m not a believer I don’t write it. That seems simple enough. Anyone can do that — just choose what they believe in.
K
I don’t see nothing wrong with PPP, remember bloggers choose the project and they are not forced to do it + they get paid for it, so at the end of the day, everybody’s happy.
Just like Google Adsense helps you make money, so why should it be a bad thing?