Comments on: News Flash: Paying for Coverage Is Still “Taboo”

By: Dear Michael Arrington Please Save Techcrunch Before it’s Too Late

Dear Michael Arrington Please Save Techcrunch Before it’s Too Late — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:41:20 +0000

[...] week Sarah Lacy wrote a post entitled “News Flash: Paying for Coverage Is Still Taboo“, where she called out someone for pitching her about “pay per post”. [...]

By: Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch? « top blogs

Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch? « top blogs — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:15:22 +0000

[...] time Sarah has been hypocritical in her journalistic ethics. On May 6, Sarah wrote a post titled News Flash: Paying for Coverage Is Still “Taboo” where she said: There is no time during my life on planet earth or beyond that I will *ever* [...]

By: Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch? | JOE18.COM

Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch? | JOE18.COM — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:35:45 +0000

By: Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch? at SEO Pro

Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch? at SEO Pro — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:15:54 +0000

By: Once Again, Techcrunch Steps Into Quagmire on Paid Posting « studio.rizzn

Once Again, Techcrunch Steps Into Quagmire on Paid Posting « studio.rizzn — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:39:09 +0000

[...] Sarah Lacy over at Techcrunch couldn’t resist (on what I suspect was a day of blogger writer’s blog) bagging on Ted Murphy at [...]

By: Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch? | Webmasters

Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch? | Webmasters — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:41:38 +0000

By: Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch?

Is Sarah Lacy Making Sponsored Posts on TechCrunch? — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:53:40 +0000

By: The Danger of Sponsors: IZEA Sponsors WOMMA Program WOMM-U | Bizness Geek

The Danger of Sponsors: IZEA Sponsors WOMMA Program WOMM-U | Bizness Geek — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 03:27:38 +0000

[...] The paid blog posts are very similar to advertorials. The difference is that these blog posts are not labeled as advertising. This violates WOMMA guidelines and is still roundly condemned by influential bloggers. [...]

By: rooster

rooster — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:43:28 +0000

I got to this post from Michael Gray’s comments on his blog. (which by the way he says Sarah is deleting his comments and avoid him – but that’s not my business.) Anyway.. Sarah you seem to be teetering on the edge yourself. What about your paid trip to Israel? Isn’t that similar to pay per post.

By: Christian Anderson

Christian Anderson — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:17:09 +0000

Here’s how to get covered by TechCrunch, http://www.medi...crunched-part-1

By: Dear Michael Arrington Please Save Techcrunch Before it’s Too Late at SEO Pro

Dear Michael Arrington Please Save Techcrunch Before it’s Too Late at SEO Pro — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:18:14 +0000

[...] week Sarah Lacy wrote a post entitled “News Flash: Paying for Coverage Is Still Taboo“, where she called out someone for pitching her about “pay per post”. [...]

By: Followup?

Followup? — Sat, 09 May 2009 15:30:36 +0000

So where’s the follow up Sarah? You’ve been called out. Or did you meet Techcrunch’s traffic quota and that’s all that’s required of your “journalistic integrity”.

It’s funny watching Techcrunch take jabs at Payperpost whenever traffic gets low. Federated Media pulled out and they become more and more irrelevant every day. I wonder how they will enjoy a dip in their own deadpool.

By: Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:58:19 +0000

Well, I agree but apparently the “experts’ that you have on this blog are not aligned with you. Consider Neil Patel
http://socialsp...quicksprout-com
He was touted as a consultant to Techcrunch recently in the guest post he wrote. I guess he never mentioned that he charges for posts on his blog. I guess he will write for the highest bidder. Ethics and journalism are reaching a sad day indeed.

By: Skitzzo

Skitzzo — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:37:40 +0000

Sarah, what would you call it if a blog accepted gifts or products in exchange for covering or mentioning a site?

Based on your rant I’m guessing you’d be against that sort of thing.

Unfortunately, that’s precisely what TC has done on several occasions (for example the recent Star Trek ticket giveaway).

I guess that makes everyone an idiot but you huh?

By: Skitzzo

Skitzzo — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:08:18 +0000

You’re not agreeing with Sarah. Her point isn’t that it should be labeled as advertising. PayPerPost/Izea requires that.

Sarah is saying that it’s not ok to accept payment for coverage. This of course flies in the face of what she and TechCrunch do on a regular basis (for example with their movie ticket give aways, Sarah dropping aff links for her book in a story lead, etc.)

The hypocrisy is overwhelming & yet TechCrunch & Sarah (it’s all about me) Lacy continue to act as if they’re above the rules they try to set for everyone else.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:07:30 +0000

Exactly. “The lady doth protest too much” at pay per post, doesn’t she?

She is try to portray herself as being “squeaky clean” by writing this article and pointing fingers elsewhere. Talk about misdirection. Sarah Lacy is ruthless in her self-promotion, and shamelessly affiliate links out to her own products on articles on techcrunch.com – evidence abounds (just look up her articles).

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:02:01 +0000

You must have missed the affiliate links Sarah Lacy inserted in her recent article about Twitter (on TechCrunch) – that’s affiliate links to her own book – talk about double-dipping.

So Sarah Lacy is a hypocrite as she is astro-turfing almost everytime she writes about something. This is the FIRST article I’ve seen of hers on TechCrunch that doesn’t link to a “buy now” page of one of her books.

And no, she never discloses exactly what she’s doing – we’re lead to believe these links are somehow relevant to her article (which they never are).

By: Josiah

Josiah — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:16:10 +0000

They (Izea) provide a tool for small-time bloggers who don’t cut private ad deals and don’t make enough from AdSense to do regular normal things, like pay their bills and live their lives.

Any blogger who is making decent money moves to the TC model where the money is exchanged behind closed doors and everyone is ignorant and happy.

By: Josiah

Josiah — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:14:12 +0000

Don’t hold your breath, they don’t debate well. Only hurl baseless accusations and take a holier-than-thou stance on pretty much anything involving blogging/ppp.

As most people accurately point out, what PPP/Izea is doing is the same as what big media (TC included) does every day. They (Izea) just level the playing field so we call can play, and require disclosure (something no big media company will ever do).

By: Andrew Warner

Andrew Warner — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:39:58 +0000

I’d like to hear TC’s response to this point.

By: Ivan Lazarte

Thu, 07 May 2009 15:49:13 +0000

Zing. I still can’t believe that.

By: Waldo

Waldo — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:23:11 +0000

What does it take to be a Sarah Lacy cheerleader? Are there tryouts? I have to say that I have stopped reading your articles and go directly to the comments to read the ‘great post’ or ‘wonderful research’ that is littered within the postings. This time it is “Classic piece” and “Awesome”.

Maybe I am just getting old and cynical but this is a classic Faux News piece. Sure you are not taking cash directly from a fat cat but….

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:20:05 +0000

She’s a hypocrite. She put in affiliate links to her own products on a recent techcrunch post. She didn’t disclose she was doing this either (the affiliate link to Amazon, not everyone’s a super sleuth and understands URL parameters, she should have disclosed this).

So Sarah, you are as bad as the people you are complaining about, perhaps worse because of your hypocrisy.

By: blah blah

blah blah — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:09:50 +0000

I hate to agree as well, but he has a point — Techcrunch has numerous “give away” posts and integrations of partners for $$.

Even Google was caught paying for posts on blogs in an Asian sub-division.

As long as Izea discloses properly I dont see the problem.

By: William McNeill

William McNeill — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:05:33 +0000

Yes, oddly enough that does make me feel better, lol. I guess I just don’t understand why you get so angry about it. There are other dynamics going on. Don’t forget it’s not just about the written research. We have an advisory side to the business as well. Think about this scenario: I only have time to write one article and I’ve got two potentials. One is about a great new technology that I truly feel offers value to customers (e.g., Kiva Systems), and the other is a total piece of junk. Personally, I think it’s more helpful and more fun to write about the cool new technology and save my opinion on the other for the conversations with clients. Is that really so terrible? It’s certainly not pay for play.