In the recent Calacaniscast #19 beta, Jason interviewed Ted Murphy, the CEO of PayPerPost. Very interesting show, indeed, with the main topic being disclosure once again. We feel that the whole issue of disclosure needs to be addressed some more.
It’s not only a matter of putting a little button somewhere or adding a line of text in your post, the whole idea of PayPerPost is to influence the blogger so that he is willing to discuss a subject he gets compensated for. We think user-generated content should not be influenced by some other company that decides to have some topic or product discussed in blogs. The users should decide themselves what they talk about. When companies have an influence on the articles that get blogged, the whole trust in weblogs is at stake. Getting revenues for user-generated content can only work when it is assured that the blogger doesn’t get influenced in any way.
Disclosure is very important, but making sure that the blogger doesn’t get influenced is even more imortant. That’s why relying on advertising is so much better. Sponsored posts will always leave a bad taste.
