TechCrunch Gives PayPerPost Some Props, Finally

Payperpost, a company that allows bloggers to advertise on their blogs, has been taking a lot of slack in recent months. The complaints usually center on the members' blog ads not disclosing that these insertions are actually paid advertisements. Payperpost has always encouraged their members to disclose that they are receiving compensation for their ads, but I suppose it takes a major press release for some within the vaunted "blogosphere", those who consider themselves Stewards of that sphere, to accept this as reality.

I use Payperpost myself. In fact, this right here, this entry you are reading right now, is a paid post. It serves as both advertisement for Payperpost, who are themselves paying for the ad, and as a pre-press-release about the press release that announces that our bloggers will be disclosing the fact that they get paid to post certain ads.

I for one think the whole thing unfairly targets the little guy. When the business of television and movies is more and more focused on product placement, which NO ONE discloses, except in the fine print at the end of the credits no one reads, it seems a bit petty to slam the little guy for running an ad in his blog. I wonder, if I mention Coke in my ad and get a royalty nickle, would I have to disclose? Did Will Smith when he was drinking Pepsi in that last movie?