Comments on: Reductio ad Advertorium

By: Nino Natividad

Nino Natividad — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:20:26 +0000

WOw.. this is a great post! THanks for sharing.

nino natividad

By: Shooting Down Magpies | The Noisy Channel

Shooting Down Magpies | The Noisy Channel — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:10:11 +0000

[...] readers know, I’m ambivalent about advertising in general, but very clear when it comes to shill marketing campaigns. So it’s with pleasure that I see Marshall Kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb [...]

By: Can You Digg It? | The Noisy Channel

Can You Digg It? | The Noisy Channel — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:18:04 +0000

[...] Hill is bragging that they are “”gaming Digg” by letting advertisers buy votes. Sound familiar? When will people figure out that anonymous social voting schemes that don’t offer [...]

By: Can’t Buy Me Friends | The Noisy Channel

Can’t Buy Me Friends | The Noisy Channel — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:07:08 +0000

[...] suppose it isn’t any crazier than selling your opinions. Oh wait, that was supposed to be [...]

By: Daniel Tunkelang

Daniel Tunkelang — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 02:44:18 +0000

I agree. It’s one thing for a writer to be biased by his or her own world view, but another entirely to put that world view up for sale. As you say, it’s a matter of efficiency: trust is too binary for a reader to invest the effort in teasing out what part of a message is editorial and what part is advertising.

Or at least for an informed reader. I still marvel at the use of celebrity testimonials and endorsements in advertising. Perhaps we’re not all as sophisticated as we think we are.

In any case, I do wonder what happens if people start using ad blockers en masse. Will we reconsider the antiquated notion of paying for content? Or will your modest proposal start looking like a plausible alternative?

As I blogged recently, selling out: it sells.

http://thenoisychannel.com/2008/12/28/selling-out-it-sells/

By: Ben Kunz

Ben Kunz — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:36:31 +0000

Thanks, and I didn’t eat any Irish babies while working on the piece.

I do think the entire issue points to the immaturity of blogging as a communications medium. The reason that editorial and advertising are separated is not “ethics” … but efficiency. When you lose your voice, people begin to stop listening. Bloggers may not see any risk in polluting their channel by writing puffery for $500 gift cards. I point them to telemarketing, another logical idea that eventually died as consumers got sick of unwanted messages arriving via phone over 6 p.m. dinner. Call it tragedy of the communications commons — a little pollution here, a little more there, and soon there is no clear ground left for anyone.

Cheers.