This week everyone seems to be talking about the debate between Shoemoney and SEOmoz following
Found an error or have a suggestion? Let us know and we'll review it.
While Rand believes that he provides users with a more honest review by not taking payment for posting a link about a product or service:
"Even Indextools, which I love, and am very fond of talking about, doesn't give us anything beyond the usual free account for re-sellers and discounts for having many clients with them. When I link to them, I never use an affiliate link or have them track that traffic. I like their service; I share my experiences honestly; end of story."
The main argument is about the disclosure of whether a review is paid for or uses an affiliate link, Jeremy Schoemaker has an affiliate marketing background and if he promotes a ringtone affiliate I don't think there is any need to state that a commission will be taken from each sale, it's probably assumed by the user as the main purpose of the site is to make a profit. It's a bit different however with a news or blog site, both Shoemoney and SEOmoz have built up a very large reader base who respect the opinions posted and in this case I agree that it's important that users know the link you are reviewing is paid for.
To a certain extent I agree with Shoemoney but Rand's reasoning makes more sense to me and I think you have to admire his integrity by not accepting payment for reviewing a product or service. By doing this SEOmoz readers should be able to trust the website's being linked to without questioning the honesty of a review. I don't actually think there is a one-fits-all answer for this as in my opinion it depends on the circumstances, the example made on Net Income about CNN accepting payment to mention a pharmaceutical company was a good one as there are some sources you need to trust 100%. Personally I don't have a problem promoting affiliates or writing paid reviews providing I think the advertised product is of interest to the blog's readers and of a high enough quality so that if it did refer new customers they're unlikely to be disappointed. For example I've just wrote a review about
Suggest a Correction
Shoemoney & SEOmoz Debate Link Disclosure
0 views
Comments (0)
Please sign in to leave a comment.
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!