Comments on: PayPerPost Launches Random New Service. They’re Up To Something, I’m Sure. http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/ Startup and Technology News Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:00:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Why paid blog posts will Kill the Blogosphere. | 4uwebcash.com http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1943064 Why paid blog posts will Kill the Blogosphere. | 4uwebcash.com Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:11:42 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1943064 [...] As a long time veteran in the advertising & marketing world you become more and more aware of sneaky forms of hidden advertising.   Some, if done correctly are actually a value add to the users experience and others are just down -right malevolent and borderline ethical.  Let’s take a look at one example in the entertainment media news world.  The TV show Entertainment tonight is pretty much a 30 min advertisement with barely any content that hasn’t been paid for.  To the untrained eye you might not even notice that almost everything is fact an advert.   An interview with 2 of the hottest actors with their new movie that is coming out, a behind the scene look at a new fall show, the trendiest restaurant in Hollywood, the coolest new accessory for your outfit.  All paid placements.  Some of it is a bit obnoxious, but most of it is relevant to the show so as a viewer you usually don’t even notice or mind. Occasionally when I’m reading a feature article in a magazine about a new product or company, I’ll actually flip over to the back to see if they have bought the back cover.    Fortune magazine is notorious for doing big features on companies that also advertises in the magazine. Now let’s take a look at the guys on the block in the blog world that are taking full aim at credibility and potentially blowing it right out of the water: Smorty:  Don’t just ask bloggers to write paid content, but ask the bloggers to sign up more Smorty users by the way of an affiliate program J Blogvertise: Throw in a cool picture of the offending bloggers to make it look facebook’ish and perhaps a little less slimy? (Not one, but 3 links to the advertiser is required) PayPerPost :  The king of the hill, the one company that seems to always take the heat when this topic comes up and rightly so.  I think they may even relish in it.  (The one thing these guys have changed over time is making disclosure required.) Blogs were the original pioneers of one person’s true voice and un-biased opinions on a product, service or corporation.  It was the little guy who could be heard in a sea of millions and make a direct impact on the giants.   Paying the one voice, causes the listeners to hear a little boy cry wolf… Related posts: Tivo kills their PayPerPost campaign PayPerPost launches random new service [...] [...] As a long time veteran in the advertising & marketing world you become more and more aware of sneaky forms of hidden advertising.   Some, if done correctly are actually a value add to the users experience and others are just down -right malevolent and borderline ethical.  Let’s take a look at one example in the entertainment media news world.  The TV show Entertainment tonight is pretty much a 30 min advertisement with barely any content that hasn’t been paid for.  To the untrained eye you might not even notice that almost everything is fact an advert.   An interview with 2 of the hottest actors with their new movie that is coming out, a behind the scene look at a new fall show, the trendiest restaurant in Hollywood, the coolest new accessory for your outfit.  All paid placements.  Some of it is a bit obnoxious, but most of it is relevant to the show so as a viewer you usually don’t even notice or mind. Occasionally when I’m reading a feature article in a magazine about a new product or company, I’ll actually flip over to the back to see if they have bought the back cover.    Fortune magazine is notorious for doing big features on companies that also advertises in the magazine. Now let’s take a look at the guys on the block in the blog world that are taking full aim at credibility and potentially blowing it right out of the water: Smorty:  Don’t just ask bloggers to write paid content, but ask the bloggers to sign up more Smorty users by the way of an affiliate program J Blogvertise: Throw in a cool picture of the offending bloggers to make it look facebook’ish and perhaps a little less slimy? (Not one, but 3 links to the advertiser is required) PayPerPost :  The king of the hill, the one company that seems to always take the heat when this topic comes up and rightly so.  I think they may even relish in it.  (The one thing these guys have changed over time is making disclosure required.) Blogs were the original pioneers of one person’s true voice and un-biased opinions on a product, service or corporation.  It was the little guy who could be heard in a sea of millions and make a direct impact on the giants.   Paying the one voice, causes the listeners to hear a little boy cry wolf… Related posts: Tivo kills their PayPerPost campaign PayPerPost launches random new service [...]

]]> By: Money Blurbs http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1718037 Money Blurbs Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:45:38 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1718037 There is a demand for PayPerPost and their growth reflects it. So, there is no point saying that its not good. Even Google is scraping content from online newspaper. People use it because they find value in it. And so is PayPerPost. There is a demand for PayPerPost and their growth reflects it. So, there is no point saying that its not good. Even Google is scraping content from online newspaper. People use it because they find value in it. And so is PayPerPost.

]]> By: Dan Grossman http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1673081 Dan Grossman Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:26:49 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1673081 URLSplit was not inspired by TinyURL. Its purpose is not to shorten URLs, but to have a single URL redirect to multiple websites. And provide basic stats for the URLs. Exactly what URLBrief does. If anything, the use of strings instead of IDs to identify URLs was inspired by YouTube's URLs. URLSplit was not inspired by TinyURL. Its purpose is not to shorten URLs, but to have a single URL redirect to multiple websites. And provide basic stats for the URLs. Exactly what URLBrief does.

If anything, the use of strings instead of IDs to identify URLs was inspired by YouTube’s URLs.

]]> By: Pete Wright http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1668731 Pete Wright Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:29:12 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1668731 Dan, lol - sorry that backfired. We have used TinyURL in the past and wanted to come up with our own. Trevor was hoping the first check in date was actually earlier than that. We have two versions of TinyURL (the service that inspired you to write your version) here, and URLBrief was the one we released. It was originally started about 2 or 3 months ago. The other version was actually finished June 1st 2007. Dan, lol - sorry that backfired. We have used TinyURL in the past and wanted to come up with our own. Trevor was hoping the first check in date was actually earlier than that.

We have two versions of TinyURL (the service that inspired you to write your version) here, and URLBrief was the one we released. It was originally started about 2 or 3 months ago. The other version was actually finished June 1st 2007.

]]> By: Adrian http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1667934 Adrian Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:51:56 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1667934 http://weeit.com/ also makes long URLs short http://weeit.com/ also makes long URLs short

]]> By: Dan Grossman http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1667552 Dan Grossman Wed, 10 Oct 2007 04:51:37 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1667552 @Trevor: So, 12 days after URLSplit is running and all over the blogosphere (check the date on the post at readwriteweb.com), it gets copied. Is that what you're trying to show? @Trevor: So, 12 days after URLSplit is running and all over the blogosphere (check the date on the post at readwriteweb.com), it gets copied. Is that what you’re trying to show?

]]> By: EH http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1667243 EH Tue, 09 Oct 2007 23:36:58 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1667243 @8: Nope, I work for a company that TC has written about only once, maybe twice. @8: Nope, I work for a company that TC has written about only once, maybe twice.

]]> By: Trevor http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666820 Trevor Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:10:39 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666820 Dan Grossman: Creating tags. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ r1 | daniel | 2007-09-19 10:53:02 -0400 (Wed, 19 Sep 2007) | 1 line Above is our first subversion check in of the URLBrief project. Coincidence is a marvelous thing. Oh our developer who created it is also named Dan G. Weird. Dan Grossman:

Creating tags.
————————————————————————
r1 | daniel | 2007-09-19 10:53:02 -0400 (Wed, 19 Sep 2007) | 1 line

Above is our first subversion check in of the URLBrief project. Coincidence is a marvelous thing. Oh our developer who created it is also named Dan G. Weird.

]]> By: Steve Ballmer http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666647 Steve Ballmer Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:20:54 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666647 "a little boring" ... understatement of the year! http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com “a little boring” … understatement of the year!

http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

]]> By: phenom http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666597 phenom Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:51:54 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666597 hmm they are back in news http://vidsonly.blogspot.com hmm they are back in news

http://vidsonly.blogspot.com

]]> By: Clement http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666546 Clement Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:25:09 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666546 Sean, you raise an interesting point. But I am just wondering if such a move will not have any legal repercussions. Sean, you raise an interesting point. But I am just wondering if such a move will not have any legal repercussions.

]]> By: Sean Dowers http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666488 Sean Dowers Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:42:51 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666488 Why hasn't Google moved against this? You would think that a company full of the "smartest people" in the industry could figure this out. 1) Join Payperpost. 2) Review all outstanding opportunities. 3) Create filter banning links to URLs listed in opportunities. 4) Penalize the sites these links appears on. 5) Go water skiing. Each of the opportunities has a specific URL that needs to be added to the post. Snag those and go to town. Why hasn’t Google moved against this? You would think that a company full of the “smartest people” in the industry could figure this out.

1) Join Payperpost.
2) Review all outstanding opportunities.
3) Create filter banning links to URLs listed in opportunities.
4) Penalize the sites these links appears on.
5) Go water skiing.

Each of the opportunities has a specific URL that needs to be added to the post. Snag those and go to town.

]]> By: Alfred Toh http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666474 Alfred Toh Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:33:07 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666474 And oh Dan Rua from Inflexion Partners, who invested in PPP, trying to embed Google text link ads in one of his post. http://www.floridaventureblog.com/2007/09/business-plan-templates.html He must be just doing that for fun... And oh Dan Rua from Inflexion Partners, who invested in PPP, trying to embed Google text link ads in one of his post.

http://www.floridaventureblog......lates.html

He must be just doing that for fun…

]]> By: Alfred Toh http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666450 Alfred Toh Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:13:36 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666450 Looks like they are definitely up to something, they working on this unreleased product Argus - http://izea.com/ or whatever.. izea or whatever. Since Reviewme have been harassing them (competitors ) and Reviewme is part of Text-Link-Ads, they might as well also compete in that arena - selling Text Links. I bet you that almost all their posties , the nickname they give bloggers who uses ppp, are Text-Link-Ads users. So why not take a piece of the pie from them by offering a similar feature. The reason to URLBrief is simply - it has been much talked about relying on third party service when u can develop one yourself in no time. Using tinyurl puts your entire business on another company to keep their service up. If tinyurl goes down.. for whatever reason, even though it has been pretty reliable, but to develop something like tinyurl is probably a weekend job using Ruby on Rails, so why not make your own and kick it up a notch with those extras. Here the theory: The whole idea of Text-Link-Ads is selling links back to your site to build your PR. but honestly does that work? What if - you use UrlBrief multiple links concept with the Text Links? You essentially get to have a link that drives traffic back to 10 different urls. Text-Link-Ads does not provide any stats on your clicks. So using URLBrief does, of course, you could using a open source stats like awstats on your server to get referrals stats but if your intend is to drive traffic through a single Text Link ad to several sites, or different landing page on your site. This sounds like a good combination. Any thoughts? Looks like they are definitely up to something, they working on this unreleased product Argus - http://izea.com/ or whatever.. izea or whatever. Since Reviewme have been harassing them (competitors ) and Reviewme is part of Text-Link-Ads, they might as well also compete in that arena - selling Text Links. I bet you that almost all their posties , the nickname they give bloggers who uses ppp, are Text-Link-Ads users. So why not take a piece of the pie from them by offering a similar feature. The reason to URLBrief is simply - it has been much talked about relying on third party service when u can develop one yourself in no time. Using tinyurl puts your entire business on another company to keep their service up. If tinyurl goes down.. for whatever reason, even though it has been pretty reliable, but to develop something like tinyurl is probably a weekend job using Ruby on Rails, so why not make your own and kick it up a notch with those extras.

Here the theory: The whole idea of Text-Link-Ads is selling links back to your site to build your PR. but honestly does that work? What if - you use UrlBrief multiple links concept with the Text Links? You essentially get to have a link that drives traffic back to 10 different urls. Text-Link-Ads does not provide any stats on your clicks. So using URLBrief does, of course, you could using a open source stats like awstats on your server to get referrals stats but if your intend is to drive traffic through a single Text Link ad to several sites, or different landing page on your site. This sounds like a good combination.

Any thoughts?

]]> By: The Foo http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666438 The Foo Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:02:33 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666438 I really can't think of an advantage of having the multiple random url feature. Stats is a good though. although it may seem unrelated to their other business, if you look at it closely, the stats part may actually be used by them to gather demographics, geographical info and more. Is it that they are trying use URL brief to create an indirect less than obvious analytics solution (after failing to get performancing earlier in the year). There is got to be something that benefits the PPP revenue model as they won't spend their money, time and energy on making something unrelated (and just for fun). I really can’t think of an advantage of having the multiple random url feature.

Stats is a good though. although it may seem unrelated to their other business, if you look at it closely, the stats part may actually be used by them to gather demographics, geographical info and more. Is it that they are trying use URL brief to create an indirect less than obvious analytics solution (after failing to get performancing earlier in the year).

There is got to be something that benefits the PPP revenue model as they won’t spend their money, time and energy on making something unrelated (and just for fun).

]]> By: Dan... http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666415 Dan... Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:49:05 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666415 Thx for the coverage Mike. And...just for you...a random walk around the TechCrunch Network: http://urlbrief.com/bc84ff Thx for the coverage Mike.

And…just for you…a random walk around the TechCrunch Network: http://urlbrief.com/bc84ff

]]> By: Json http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666374 Json Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:21:45 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666374 MA & PPP: Get a room! MA & PPP: Get a room!

]]> By: delboou http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666278 delboou Tue, 09 Oct 2007 12:03:00 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666278 basnoercov basnoercov

]]> By: Seth Finkelstein http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666255 Seth Finkelstein Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:47:52 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666255 Regarding: <em>"But rumor has it that Google has been trying to find ways to penalize PPP blogger links. "</em> 1. Google's unhappiness with paid links (not PPP, but paid links in general) is <a href="http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001266.html" rel="nofollow">well-known</a> 2. Google is perfectly capable of logging into PPP and seeing who is buying, and what keywords they want. (I've thought of looking at whether there's an effect, but decided I didn't want to get into the fight here). Regarding: “But rumor has it that Google has been trying to find ways to penalize PPP blogger links. “

1. Google’s unhappiness with paid links (not PPP, but paid links in general) is well-known

2. Google is perfectly capable of logging into PPP and seeing who is buying, and what keywords they want.
(I’ve thought of looking at whether there’s an effect, but decided I didn’t want to get into the fight here).

]]> By: sputnick http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666177 sputnick Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:28:37 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666177 By the way, are these guys making any money yet? By the way, are these guys making any money yet?

]]> By: sputnick http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666175 sputnick Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:27:16 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666175 Insightful post, smart thinking. Glad to see Mike A. earning his keep. Insightful post, smart thinking. Glad to see Mike A. earning his keep.

]]> By: tomthree http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666137 tomthree Tue, 09 Oct 2007 09:46:40 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666137 i think you actually work for them. i think you actually work for them.

]]> By: Michael Arrington http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666041 Michael Arrington Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:44:18 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666041 EH - ahhh, yeah. that makes sense actually. EH - ahhh, yeah. that makes sense actually.

]]> By: EH http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666033 EH Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:37:08 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666033 Multiple buyers per keyword. Multiple buyers per keyword.

]]> By: Sachin Jain http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666013 Sachin Jain Tue, 09 Oct 2007 07:17:44 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/08/payperpost-launches-random-new-service-theyre-up-to-something-im-sure/#comment-1666013 can anyone guess how many URL shortners are there in Webspace..I guess more than 100.. can anyone guess how many URL shortners are there in Webspace..I guess more than 100..

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