It looks like another pay per post service is launching soon. The new service, SponsoredReviews, has yet to set a launch date and is currently under beta testing. Like ReviewMe, SponsoredReviews does not require positive reviews. And like ReviewMe, they also require you to disclose that the review is a sponsored one.

From what I could read, there appears to be four major differences between ReviewMe and SponsoredReviews. First, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, SponsoredReviews is still in beta while ReviewMe is up and running.

A second major difference is that you can negotiate your own rates with advertisers. SponsoredReviews has a system that will make recommendations based on their automated ratings system, but bloggers will be able to choose their own price. The option to set your own rate would be very appealing to me.

The third major difference is that each advertiser has his or her own requirements for length, link info, etc. With ReviewMe, the minimum length for the post is 200 words and there is no requirement for linking that I know of.

The fourth major difference is that SponsoredReviews' payouts are every two weeks instead of monthly like ReviewMe. In addition, SponsoredReviews does not appear to have a minimum payout amount. Here's a blurb from their site:

Every two weeks, accounts with an outstanding balance are paid instantly via PayPal.

SponsoredReviews indicates they will charge less for being the broker, but I could not find any information on what SponsoredReviews will be charging as the middleman. Note: ReviewMe splits the review fee 50-50.

SponsoredReviews appears to be a service of 360 Enterprises, which also sell text links through its Textlinkbrokers site.

And no, I am not being paid to write up this review and I doubt I will sign up based on my limited experience with ReviewMe.

More info: SponsoredReviews »

It has been almost three months since my first and only ReviewMe review. I was suppose to be paid $20, but I have not received a penny so far. What's the problem? Well, it appears there is a minimum payout of $25, which makes sense and is low compared to Adsense and YPN. However, I was not aware of this minimum when I signed on for a review of ReviewMe. Take a look at their FAQ:

See, no mention of a minimum payout requirement amount. At the bottom of the "Edit Your Account" area, there is a mention of minimum for a check. I don't remember seeing that before. I don't know if it was there when I signed up or if it was added later. If it was there originally, I would have thought the minimum referred to checks. As you can see in the screenshot below, it's listed as "Minimum Check Amount" (my bold).

You can see why I (and probably other people) might think the minimum only applies to checks and not to Paypal. If I had known there was a minimum, I might have used one of my other sites for the review or not reviewed it at all. I certainly would not have mentioned I was being paid for the review, because I didn't actually get paid. Like I said earlier, I am fine with the minimum payout requirement. I just think ReviewMe should have been clearer about it.

I looked at ReviewMe's profile for my site and noticed a problem. The Alexa ranking has not changed since I joined. ReviewMe reports an Alexa ranking of 212,967 even though it's actually 160,188. I thought the data was suppose to be updated monthly. There are also problems with their Technoratic (n/a) and RSS (no star) data. My Technoratic ranking is actually 50,559 and I have 64 RSS subscribers (30-day average).

Just for kicks, I re-added my other sites to see where they stand. My other four sites would now qualify for the $30 payout. I think this is quite interesting because this site (iZachy) is still stuck at $20 even though it ranks higher than EDA Blog and Daddy Forever.

[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.