See TechCrunch for the details on PayPerPost’s announcement of its $3 million Series A round of financing by Inflexion Partners, Villiage Ventures and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Michael Arrington and Rob Hof (Silicon Valley Bureau Chief at Business Week) took a few minutes today to talk to Ted Murphy (founder and CEO of PayPerPost) and Josh Stein (a Director at Draper Fisher Jurvetson) about the funding and the controversial nature of PayPerPost’s business. It’s a somewhat heated discussion, but we managed to keep things fairly civilized.
See our previous coverage of the company in our post “PayPerPost.com offers to sell your soul.” The company facilitates a marketplace where advertisers can pay bloggers to write about the company’s product. Disclosure of payment is optional.
Time: 53 Minutes
Size: 24.2 MB
Great podcast!
If you liked it, digg it here:
http://www.digg.com/tech_news/Episode_13_PayPerPost_Raises_3_million
This was a very interesting podcast. The debate was well fought out for the most part even though it appeared that both sides failed to capitalize on some of the points that could have been debated and countered.
Hindsight is always a little more clear.
There is a segment of this podcast from about the 50 minute mark to the 52 minute mark approximately that was very enlightening. If you don’t listen to the entire podcast, make sure you don’t miss that segment.
I do write blog articles on occassion for PPP.
I look at it like a non-celebrity endorsement or like a product placement ad, like when an actor in a movie just happens to pull out a Motorola cell phone and use it in a way that the brand is noticeable. Those are usually paid spots, or product was provided etc.
Furthermore, there are many ‘freelance journalists’ that write product reviews for magazines and newspapers and many other news organizations that receive a fee for their service and do not disclose it within the articles.
Are these freelance writers going on the cover of the WSJ with these articles not likely, but they are out there in the mainstream. This just seems like the blog version.
I can understand TalkCrunch’s passion and idealism, I have similar passions but in other areas.
I think this is a great product for those that think they can benefit from it, but I agree with Mike that disclosure is necessary. But then again, I think that the whole blogging comunity hasn’t got a handle on disclosing they have a relationship even if the post or video or podcast is not actually paid for.
JMTC
Molly
I’m trying to download the show but it’s only getting a 125kb, 15 second long audio clip of the beginning of the show
You should excerpt and highlight minute 28 and minute 29.
Mike, that was kick ass.
Destruction of the purity of bloggers, non-professional journalists – I think that already happened way before PPP came to the plate. The market will sort itself out. The little bloggers who make very little money blogging and who disclose or not are going to eventually go with the flow of the market. This is a great Podcast! I work with PayPerPost and believe they will succeed! It is true that they are young, but as was said, this is working whether it is liked or not.
I thought that PPP got bushwacked. Comparing them to “statutory rape”? Common. Off the high horse.
I advertise in traditonal media all the time and paid placement is part of the market. Ever hear of tha ‘advertorial’? It’s a real term where real magazines take money for real articles.
Please keep the full sound file up on the site for your 13th show.
There is no question that PayPerPost’s business current practices are unethical and corupting.
But, in the end, market forces will dictate the business practices that PayPerPost will be forced to follow. And that is the most interesting aspect of PayPerPost. Wil the invisible hand of the market impose mandatory disclosure on recipients of payments for postings or will market forces allow PayPerPal’s smelly current business practices to persist and perhaps flourish? Time will tell. PayPerPost is an experiment that tests will make evident ethical constraints, if any exist, imposed by the webosphere.
Like Michael Arrington, I hope that PayPerPost is forced to require disclosure. I have my fingers crossed.