This is an advertisement

2 January 2008

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This isn’t the future of advertising, but I think some people might think it is.

The three sites linked to above are all ones I read on a regular basis and have a great deal of respect for, which is why it’s doubly jarring to get an advertisement doubling for a post in my RSS reader. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against ads, and I’m not against people trying to monetize their blogs. It’s the method that’s wrong; the faux sheen of ‘This Is A Blog Post’ versus ‘This is an advertisement’ that causes offence.

Of course, printed media has dealt with this already. The concept of ‘advertorial’ is well established, and can be seen in most slightly downmarket magazines on the shelf today. The big difference is the prominent ‘Advertisement’ text they have emblazoned on them – unless you’re blind (which is what the advertiser is hoping, of course) it’s normally pretty clear.

The clean separation between editorial and advertisement is one of the key differences between blogging and traditional media, and I really can’t see that changing anytime soon; it’s just inherent in the medium that each individual is going to make the call themselves over what is acceptable and what is not.

Of course, the disconnect is only furthered by the increased trust normally engendered when you read a blog versus a mainstream publication. Blogs are inherently personal publications, and if you’re a regular reader you quickly build up a level of trust with the writer that you never get from something on the news stand. Most blogs are written for the love of it, which just builds up the trust further.

The disconnect between the built up trust and the advertising-masquerading-as-content is just too much for this to really work.

From: Articles

2 January 2008