Selling My Soul to ReviewMe
Posted by Ken Cheung on Friday, November 10, 2006 in Pay Per Post, Reviews : : 6 comments[Update: As of January 8, 2007, I still have not been paid for this review.]
I've sold my soul and signed up for ReviewMe, which is a program where advertisers pay bloggers for writing about them. This post will cost the advertiser (ReviewMe in this case) $40; I get half of that amount (that would be $20 for those of you who are a little slow). The price is based on a web site's content, traffic, number of RSS subscribers, and link popularity. The rate is recalculated monthly. The pricing structure favors blogs over traditional web sites (more on this later).
Unlike another pay-per-post program, the ReviewMe program requires publishers to disclose they are being paid (such as Sponsored Post, Paid Post, or The Advertiser Paid Me to Write This). Your review needs to be at least 200 words, but you don't need to write a favorable review.
I have mixed feelings about pay-per-post programs. On one hand, I don't see a problem with it in general. After all, newspapers have special sections that promote companies and products. The special sections look just like the regular news section, but are actually written by the advertising department. Sometimes, newspapers even have ads that looks like news copy. Then there's the movies and TV shows where companies pay to have their products shown.
On the other hand, as a reader, I want to know if I'm reading something an advertiser paid for. And I don't want to find out at the end of the post. I want to know at the beginning so I can decide if I want to read it or not. I took a look at two other paid reviews and I noticed both of them buried their sponsorship disclosure at the end of the posts. That annoys me as a reader. In my mind, these two sites have less credibility because they didn't disclose this information at the beginning of their post.
As I stated previously, I'm not required to write a favorable review. However, that's not entirely true. Think about it. Do you think an advertiser will want to purchase a review from me after they read this review? I'm not slamming ReviewMe, but I'm not exactly writing a glowing review either. To be fair, I have to say I'm not sure if a potential advertiser will see this review or any other reviews I may write in the future.
Earlier in this post, I mentioned that the pricing structure favors blogs (vs traditional web sites). Take a look at the table below and you will see what I mean. All the sites below are powered by WordPress, except for Embedded Star. Embedded Star is 99% static and 1% WordPress. Embedded Star has seven times the traffic of EDA Geek, yet the payout is $30 for EDA Geek but only $20 for Embedded Star. It looks like the Technorati rank is screwing up the pricing for Embedded Star. BTW, I'm not actually accepting paid reviews for any other site except for this one. I just wanted to see what the rates would be.
| Site | Payout | Page Views (Oct) | RSS Feed | Alexa | Technorati |
| iZachy | $20 | 15,525 | 47 | 212,967 | 81,769 |
| Daddy Forever | $20 | 18,578 | 30 | 277,641 | 97,877 |
| Embedded Star | $20 | 434,048 | 101 | 101,217 | 382,428 (static) 1,374,860 (blog) |
| EDA Geek | $30 | 60,213 | 88 | 153,370 | 266,131 |
| EDA Blog | $20 | 16,383 | 52 | 265,031 | 382,428 |
I've just been paid for the review I did of reviewme.com but havn't had any other review requests.
Have you?
Nope, I assume it's because my review wasn't one of those gushing postive review. I did see a paid review on a parenting blog. The review was for a winter boot or a site that sells it. Maybe I should open up my dad blog to see if parenting blogs have more opportunties for paid reviews.
I was thinking of getting involved in something like this. Is it worth it?
Not unless you get paid at least $25 for the review. You have to earn at least $25 before you get paid. My was for $20 so they have not paid me yet.
Contextual ads operate much like traditional pay-per-click search engine ads. You bid for placement and pay a fee each time someone clicks on your ad, but instead of your ads appearing in search engine results, they appear on web pages on other sites.
I like to compare contextual ads to ads you might find in a magazine. Pick up any special niche magazine and you'll see ads for products or services related to the subject matter of the magazine as well as ads on subjects that might be of interest to readers in the magazine's subscriber demographics.
Want a good reason to try contextual advertising? Think volume and exposure. Consider all the sites you visit each day on the Web. Most of these are candidates for contextual advertising. Cpxclick.com claims to have partnerships with over 500 search engine sites in the system already. For a company wanting widespread exposure on the web, I can't think of another medium that has the potential reach of contextual advertising.
Great post!
I've also considered earning extra revenue using ReviewMe. Your advice is very appreciated. I'm not actually sure if you are selling your soul to the devil?
There is a difference to an out right lie, but giving a positive review is not the end of the world. People will also make their own decision. All you can do is offer an opinion. If someone is will to pay on a regular basis, it sounds ok.
And Here's An Idea.
There are plenty of freelance writers you could pay halve that amount to write for you! Good income for less stress… Now that could be selling your soul to the devil, but its not an unethical way to add revenue to your bank account.
Thanks again for the post.
Sincerely,
John Adams