Mya Frazier can barely conceal her contempt in her article about PayPerPost for AdAge.
Wikipedia has an expanded definition of “shill” which contains the expected implications of dishonestly and ‘covertness’ to it. However, it does also say this:
if a shill does not place uninformed parties at a risk of loss, but merely generates “buzz,” the shill’s actions may be legal.
For AdAge to drop all of us into the “shill” category is truly a harmful statement which reveals the writer’s ignorance and unwillingness to be objective in her report. It’s irresponsible reporting, a covert effort to undermine something she doesn’t fully understand but views as a threat.
I wonder, if she were writing the report about Robert Scoble putting ads on his blog (he’s considering it), would she call him a shill? I doubt it, nor would I, because he’s entitled to monetize his blog any way he wants, and that monetization does not make him a shill any more than receiving a paycheck from Microsoft made him their shill.
Now personally, I’d rather do it the PPP way because that way I get to choose what I’m advertising. If I were using AdSense and you clicked into my page, there’s a good chance that this post would have ads for publications that I might or might not support. On the other hand, I get to pick and choose what I write about, how I write it, what links I put in, and have absolute control over what I say, rather than simply being hooked up with some keywords that drop an ad or two on the page.
That doesn’t make me a shill.
And just for Mya, this link to my post publicizing DisclosurePolicy.org, for which I was not paid. Why did I write it? Because I BELIEVE in it. For everyone. Even Mya. After she learns to write an unbiased article instead of a thinly veiled opinion piece.
PPP is disruptive, yes. Illegal, immoral, covert? No. Live with it, Mya.
(Aside: Only one person commented about the blatant shilling in the Washington Post of the MuVo player. Is it only shilling when you’re not one of the ‘name brands’?)
Technorati Tags: AdAge, media spin, Mya Frazier, PayPerPost, advertising
