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ReviewMe Launches – Paid Review Service
ReviewMe, a paid review service launched yesterday. The idea is simple, a company offers cash for your review of their product on your blog.
(note: CenterNetworks was not accepted and I am NOT receiving any payment for this post.)
They did not accept CN into their site listings and I am guessing it is because our pagerank is too low. I can't picture it is because of Alexa or Technorati since we rank very well in both of those engines.
Here is a clip from Arrington's opinion on the site:
Finally, advertisers can purchase posts, but they cannot require that a post is positive. The blogger can choose to write their honest opinion without fear of not being paid. The only requirement is that the review must be a minimum of 200 words.
My take is that while advertisers do not require a positive review, having a few negative reviews of other items on your site certainly would not make me want to purchase a review on your site. Think about it? You spend $200 per blog only to get ripped like the previous company? I think not.
Let me make it even easier on the positive/negative review issue: When was the last time you saw a paid advertisement on tv or newspaper that was negative… let me see… NEVER. Could you imagine the MiracleChopper on late night tv saying, "this is a piece of crap, don't buy it?" I think not.
I really like the management team behind ReviewMe and think they have the ethical side of paying for a review down. They are requiring that you disclose that it is a paid post which is great compared to payperpost.
Personally, when I look for product reviews, I prefer the Reevoo or Soapadoo models, both use trust and purchases (not money) to create honest reviews.
Will ReviewMe work? Yep.
updated: //engtech has a great writeup with suggestions on how to improve ReviewMe.
Ian – ok is not the same as bad or negative. I am saying that if a blogger says that the product or service is garbage, then other advertisers will go elsewhere.
Hi Allen
“having a few negative reviews of other items on your site certainly would not make me want to purchase a review on your site”
Yes, you would. Because that would mean that the blogger had integrity. An OK review from a blogger with integrity is worth *far* more than rave reviews from a bunch of mindless prostitutes.
That’s how nearly all magazines work, in the UK, at any rate.
Cheers.
That would depend how confident you were about your product compared to those which had been condemned as rubbish. Good products have nothing to fear from impartial reviewers.
But I still disagree – if you are a marketer or salesperson deciding on where to advertise, would you select a site that has bashed the last 10 products?
Remember, these services are ADVERTISING not REVIEWS.
I’m registered on ReviewMe but haven’t received any offers yet.. What are your throughts on Blogitive at http://www.blogitive.com ? I’ve be interested in hearing what you think of it. They’re really ramping up now and putting the call our for bloggers. If you’re not registered, use me as a referral – colleen_cc@yahoo.com
Hi there Allen. I hope all is well with you. I got a surprise tonight while checking Reviewme. Your web site, CN, was right there on the front page in the list of the Top Best. So, now I’m wondering when you got accepted and if you have written any reviews for any of their advertisers. And do you have the same views about Reviewme as you did when you wrote this article, or have they changed?
Diana
Hi Diana, I am doing well, glad to see you are still reading after the donuts are long and gone :)
I signed up CN for ReviewMe on the day they launched. I have NOT completed any reviews for them (they did offer one to me the other day which I declined.) I did not realize that CN is listed on the home page! I have no idea why but will ask the guys this week. I am guessing it's because my traffic is up big this past week? (I just removed the site, so it is no longer listed in the RM db)
Basically my views about reviewme, ppp and the others is still the same. If you state up top that this is a paid advertisement (advertorial), then I think it is fine. Newspapers run this stuff all the time, and heck radio stations are now doing this with no disclaimers (which really pisses me off, but that's for another post).
I wrestled with adding it to CN, but decided against it, even though it could mean a good bit of money for this site. I may change my mind one day, but for now, there have been no paid reviews on this site. The only posts that are "sponsored" are the ones that I do once a month for the advertisers over there on the left that provide a quick update on what they are doing.