Comments on: Why the Washington Post is smart to try sponsored content, and why others should too http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/ The economics of digital content Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:35:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: flopoke http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-202979 Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:27:04 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-202979 Seriously?

That news media from paper to online is splashing around to try to recapture money from advertisers after being savaged in the classifieds business by Craigslist, Auto Dealers and Department Stores opening up their own websites, and the credibility problem in the race to post, is destroying any pretense of a Chinese wall separating advertising from reportage.

Bad Idea…

http://searchengineland.com/google-news-keep-sponsored-out-153352

http://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-reminder-about-promotional-and.html

http://www.ditii.com/2013/03/28/google-now-penalize-promotional-contents-on-google-
news-may-remove-entire-publication/

If they aare going to continue they should make the background color a bright yellow to separate Journalism from Stenography

]]> By: Chris W. http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-201474 Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:23:54 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-201474 A sad day for the Post. Sponsored content is an unpleasant eyesore, and makes one question the editorial decisions being made behind the rest of the content.

I’d much rather just see a targeted ad for a useful product/service.

]]> By: CV http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-201404 Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:12:02 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-201404 Just as there is a “code of ethics” for journalists, there should be some kind of code of ethics for sponsored content. As long as it is agreed upon by publishers and advertisers and adhered to when sponsored content is created, I don’t think there would be any problems with it.

]]> By: Greg Golebiewski http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-201388 Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:56:23 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-201388 “Interesting” is an understatement. In our system (http://www.znakit.com), we process nine advertiser-sponsored access transactions for each access transaction paid directly by the user. Imagine the NYT increasing its paid-for traffic 9 times (or so)!

And, the model works with classified as well, can be used by trade and/or hyper-local publications…

]]> By: Kevin Horne http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-201371 Thu, 07 Mar 2013 05:23:05 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-201371 I only “know:” from my own anecdotal experience. Sample of one, but here goes…

Late January I read an article here about VIRURL. I try it five or six times – $20 a pop to get a link to my blog content to “go viral.” Works like magic. A million billion clicks seconds after two or three people with large followings post my link on Twitter. All clicks tagged with a URL clearly identifed as sponsored (“.spnr” or something like that).

Within two minutes, clicks stop. Check Google Analytics for my blog. Absolutely zero time on site. Zero clicks to other pages. Go back and check the original Tweeters and see that their “followers” are all fake. (Up to this point of my story is an article worth pursuing by paidcontent…)

Finally, to your question re:Google & SEO. Coincedentally or not (maybe there’s another Panda underway), but ever since that time my blog has not been indexed daily as it was prior. It is indexed every 7 to 14 days on main search, and once a month on Google Blog Search (not that more than 5% of users use that anyway, thank God).

Long story short, I believe Google absolutely punishes sites that get spikes in traffic from clearly marked sponsored clicks. This is obviously unconfirmable, as Google and VIRURL aren’t talking, and search “experts” have no idea what I’m talking about…

]]> By: greatlocalfoods http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-201359 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 20:15:09 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-201359 This comment doesn’t touch on the main point of the thread, but it might be telling in its own way.

Note the spelling of “Sponsor Generated Content.” Shouldn’t it be “Sponsor-Generated Content?”

]]> By: Mathew Ingram http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-201350 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:02:46 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-201350 That’s a good point, Greg — preferred access sponsored by brands is an interesting model as well.

]]> By: Nick Cadwallender http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-201346 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:32:19 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-201346 How is this so different from the paid advertising section the Post runs in print and online called China Watch? Both print and online it is supported by paid advertising directing readers to the section.

]]> By: The Honest Dood http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-201345 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:19:44 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-201345 If you’re enjoying their content for free and the publisher has clearly labeled what content is sponsored and what is organic, this should be a fair relationship. Do Google’s Sponsored Links piss you off too?

Speaking of Google, does anyone know how sponsored content affects SEO? Google’s algorithm has punished websites for paid links in the past, but I’m wondering where the line is drawn.

]]> By: Greg Golebiewski http://paidcontent.org/2013/03/05/why-the-washington-post-is-smart-to-try-sponsored-content-and-why-others-should-too/#comment-201329 Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:20:01 +0000 http://paidcontent.org/?p=225517#comment-201329 It is not only the sponsored content but also “sponsored access,” where advertisers sponsor individual causal readers’ access to paid content in exchange for their attention or data, that work very well — the reader earns “free” access, and the publisher earns money from the advertiser or marketer for each such access, while the advertiser/marketer gains the sought after exposure/attention or data. .

In a sense this approach brings a solution to the old dilemma: information wants to be free, and it wants to be expensive.

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