Yes I did say FIASCO

What is Google trying to accomplish with all of the PageRank drops? Think about it for a minute… what are they doing? I may be wrong but when I sit down and think about it, I feel pretty confident that there is a legitimate reason Google is doing what they are doing. They want to keep their PageRank model relevant. They want PageRank, Search results and everything else to be as organic as possible. Punishing websites that have sponsored links is Google’s way of taking the problem out of the equation. no pagerank = no serp =  no sponsored post slipping into search results…The only sponsored search results that should show up are the one’s that Google is selling…Right?

I have always been on the fence about my feelings when it comes to sponsored blog post. My reasoning for being on the fence has nothing to do with the reason Google is punishing Websites. In the beginning, well my beginning, a little over a year ago. A sponsored blog post was an advertisement, a commercial…Someone writes about your product, People read the blog post and like the sound of things and eventually go check out your product. Thats what my interpretation of the benefits of a sponsored blog post use to be. If John Chow writes a review of my blog, Im going to get traffic for days, months even…Traffic from John Chow, not from PageRank. At that point Im not even thinking about Google’s PageRank, I know John Chow has tons of visitors, he has tons of followers, people listen to him. If he talks about me, people will check me out… Through him.

That is organic.

That is how the blogosphere works (my god, I used that word, ugh).

My being on the fence about sponsored blog post actually has more to do with how things fit into your website or blog.

  • I want to always let it be known that the sponsored blog post is a sponsored blog post.
  • I do not want to lie or be told what to say when it comes to my opinions about a product or service.
  • I want the service or product that I am advertising to be relevant to my blog

If I follow those rules. I feel better about writing sponsored blog post. The product or service that I write about when doing something that is sponsored, may be something that I may not have written about on my own. But. Once I get contracted to write that review, Im writing it with my own thoughts and opinions and Im letting you know right in the blog post that it is sponsored. Right then, it becomes an advertisement. As long as you do it in moderation, as I have tried to do, I see nothing wrong with the whole thing.

Organic linking is the key words. Thats what Google wants. Thats what Google is trying to maintain. Im still not completely sure about how this works so correct me if I’m wrong. Google isn’t going to penalize you for writing sponsored blog post if you use the "no follow" tag on the links you are using in that advertisement. It is my understanding that once you use the "no follow" tag, it removes the passing of PageRank and consideration for SERP. Again Im not completely sure about this but it is my understanding on the reasoning behind the "no follow" tag.

Is going after people associated with PayPerPost (now IZEA) organic?

Many people who feel that PayPerPost is unethical thinks so. But why PayPerPost? There are a lot of services that do the same thing, Reviewme.com, Sponsoredreviews.com. When you look around there are a lot of options to advertise in an editorial like manner. Which is what a sponsored blog post is. Just about every podcast out there do a bit advertising. Does that make it more ethical? If I do an editorial-ish advertisement for a service or product on a podcast does that make it more ethical than writing an editorial-ish advertisement for a service or product on a blog?

Think about it.

What if Google started going after people associated with Blubrry or Kiptronics. Ive done those types of advertisements in my podcast and just like on my blog I let it be known that it is sponsored. What I don’t understand is how some can call one unethical and not the other. Yea if your misleading readers, and not saying that you were paid to write that post it is unethical. But if you are disclosing that it is a paid post, how does one persons sponsored blogpost about a CD/DVD swapping service differ from someones advertising Gotomeeting on a podcast.

The problem comes in the form of passing PageRank, which isn’t everyones intentions. If I were to buy a Sponsored review, it would be for traffic. Cause thats what I want. Im at PageRank 4, I know that for that to improve I need more traffic and I need for people to find what I say interesting enough to link to me.

Content builds traffic builds PageRank.

I may have a different mindset when it comes to this than some. There are some that buy sponsored reviews for the shared PageRank. I understand Google going after people that write sponsored post improperly, causing a non organic way of transferring PageRank. But that is separate from ones ethical beliefs. Just because someone doesn’t like PayPerPost, or they think using PayPerPost is unethical doesn’t mean that everyone that uses Payperpost should be banished from the web. Thats silly, Many people are doing the same thing in one form or fashion without PayPerPost. And there is a way to use PayPerPost within Google’s guidelines. People may not have known or taken it seriously in the past, but now they will. And it has nothing to do with PayPerPost persay but moreso the improper writing of sponsored blog post. I don’t necessarily think PayPerPost is "THEE" target and everyone who ever associated with them are in trouble, I just think PayPerPost is the biggest service offering sponsored blog posting opportunities, thus, getting the biggest share of the limelight

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