Disclosure: This post is NOT sponsored by anyone, not paid, not solicited in any way. I just really enjoyed the video and think you will, too.

The latest RockStartUp episode is great. It centers around the MESH conference in Toronto, beginning with the keynote session with Michael Arrington, Mathew Ingram, and Ted Murphy in the audience. As usual, Arrington spares no mercy toward Ted, but Ted has skin of steel. I’m starting to think they should rename the RockStartUp series to something more super-heroish. I especially enjoyed the horns you displayed for the audience’s entertainment and pleasure, Ted. Hmmmm, that gives me an idea.

The entire keynote can be viewed on Google Video here.

Here’s the RockStartUp episode (thanks, Loren!) Props to Travis, BTW, for the professional edits and camera work…much improved over the earlier episodes.

Technorati Tags: rockstartup, MESH, conference, Arrington, Ted Murphy, payperpost, rockstartup, goodcleanfun

Wired News’ ads are rogues. Check out this screenshot (click it for a larger version) and see if you can find anywhere at all on that AT&T ad to close it. (Hint: you won’t). I clicked it twice before getting a clue that it wasn’t going away.

So Wired will get lots of ad clicks and views when people reload the page to make the damn thing go away. I’m using Firefox 2.0.0.4. In general I hate these stupid ads that drop down or follow me around until I click the close button to make them go away, but this is just wrong.

Ironic that it would be on a page where AT&T is one of the ISPs they interviewed about ISP privacy policies. Bye, Wired, until you fix your silly ads. I’d rather read a zillion paid posts from PayPerPost Posties than load one of these evil ads.

Speaking of advertising and PayPerPost [Disclosure: I am a Postie, but this is an unsolicited post], big congratulations are in order for Ted & Co on receiving 7 million in their second round of funding. As usual, Michael Arrington is negative, but Josh Stein of DFJ corrects him straight away. Ted Murphy is a straight shooter who believes wholeheartedly in the PayPerPost business model, is willing to put his money where his mouth is while smiling, and isn’t afraid to be down to earth and silly from time to time.

PayPerPost: 5 out of 5 stars. Wired Magazine: 0 out of 5 stars.

Technorati Tags: wired magazine, at&t, advertising, rogue advertising, public relations, techcrunch, payperpost

Matt Cutts says paid links should be disclosed, and bloggers should be turning in bloggers who don’t. There’s more on Techmeme, including Calancanis’ usual bombastic assumption that PayPerPost is goin’ down in flames. (Nonsense, Jason).

Here’s my question for Google: How can you announce this program for paid, embedded text links this way:

Ad formats: You can create text ads, image ads, or our new text link ad format in your pay-per-action campaign. Text link ads are brief text descriptions that take on the characteristics of a publisher’s page. These Javascript-based ads will display like regular hyperlinks and allow publishers to embed these links inline with other text to promote your product or service.

I added the bold text. When Google made this announcement I questioned why Calacanis wasn’t all over it the same way he was PayPerPost, since this is even worse. Embedding paid links that don’t even relate to what I’m writing about? Imagine this sentence:

(Don’t click the links; they’re just placeholders). But for the sake of argument, let’s pretend that link one led off to “FormulaOneFanSite.com”. Let’s pretend that link two went to “HardDriveRestoration.com”, and link three went to “NoVax4Us.com”.

Obviously the only relevant link would be the first — but under the description Google gave for their program, links two and three could be in the text despite the fact that they are not relevant.

Now, isn’t that ‘covert marketing’?

C’mon, Google, what’s the deal here?

Technorati Tags: text link ads, advertising, Jason Calacanis, covert marketing

Resist the urge to stop the video when Jason Calacanis moves in for the first pounce at about 17 minutes in, and keep watching (or listening…here’s the )

Ted holds his own quite nicely, after being fairly nervous about it the night before.

Hang in to the end, where Ted shows his true colors.

Technorati Tags: Jason Calacanis, Ted Murphy, CalacanisCast, advertising, marketing, blogs, blogging

This is a nice interview with Doc Searls (it could be audio only and be just as good, by the way…). He shares thoughts on making money from blogging, fairness and transparency.

I don’t completely agree with his views on being paid to post reviews and/or advertisements, but I do see his point, because there are many bloggers out there who will write about a product purely because they are being paid and not because they believe in the product or site or service itself. I don’t place myself in that category, nor do I place many of the other bloggers I’ve met through paid posting in that category. That begs the question: Is there a way to differentiate between the shill and the sincere blogger who is paid to review and post an honest opinion of an advertiser’s product?

The thing I appreciate about Doc is that he’s nice, he takes great photos, he’s always saying something to make me think and evaluate. He talks about being nice in the interview as well. If you’re interested in ethical blogging, transparency and the correlation to ethics in journalism, it’s definitely worth a listen.

Technorati Tags: blogs, blogging, Doc Searls, ethics, transparency

…their butts get dirty. Today is no exception, particularly when it comes to anything concerning PayPerPost. I’ve written you a little story to illustrate the point.

The Players

The heroine: Hijacked Princess Robyn, the single mom who recently won an HP camera outfit and $1000.

The Alleged Villain: Ted Murphy and PayPerPost

The Self-Anointed White Knights: Jason Calacanis, Jeff Jarvis, Nick Denton, and Frederic. Update: Loren Feldman has a horse, too.

The Chorus of Reason: Mathew Ingram, Tony Hung, Scott Karp (at the Blog Herald), Jason Kaneshiro (Webomatica), Steven Hodson (Winextra.com), Larry Dignan (ZDNet), and Jeneane Sessum.

The Story

Once upon a time in a magic land called The Pure Blogosphere, bloggers lived together in peace and purity. Happy bloggers wrote about whatever they chose, generating much free content which they then published for all the land to read. The Pure Blogosphere was the Eden of the Internet, never marred by conflict or discord. This magic land was inhabited and ruled by geeks and businessmen who built a shiny white castle on a distant hill, placing special guardians called “A-Listers” around it so that it could not be breached. Calling upon the Great gods Google, Technorati and Techmeme they cast the Page Rank and AdSense spells to protect their castle from the evil hordes of invaders who threatened from the Deep Abyss at the Edge.

One day, darkness fell across the land. Evil Ted Murphy and his henchmen sprung forth from a Comet Crashing into the Abyss at the Edge of the Sphere, casting his evil spell over the blogiverse, luring innocents to write for PayPerPost.

Ever gallant, the Knights rose to the defense of their Precious Land, decrying the scourge that was the evil called PayPerPost. They cast anti-payola spells, called upon the gods Google, Techmeme and Technorati to come forth and silence the impure voices of the Polluting Posties who were destroying what they had built, praying that their loyal gods would once again weave the spell that would silence those Postie Polluters forever.

The rabble rose up and rebelled at their efforts, identifying themselves and their content as paid content, offering disclosure to the Great Gods Google, Techmeme and Technorati, breaking the spell and opening the gates at the Edge of the Abyss.

Yet, a pall remained, leaving the land barren and still. When the Knights gathered at the Round Table of AlwaysOn to produce more content and preserve the purity of the Castle and their A-listers, there was a mighty thunder.  Lord Jarvis rose up against Ted Murphy and challenged him to a duel on the spot for the honor of the lovely Princess Robyn, who Lord Jarvis claimed had been hijacked by the evil Murphy and prostituted to the Greedy Corporate Interests of AichPee. Brandishing his sword, Murphy accepted the challenge, beckoning Lord Jarvis to come forth and bring his best.

The din grew louder, whispers turned to shouts, shouts to accusations, when one small voice cried out over the din:

Wow—–THIS IS FABULOUS!!! That mom pimping out her kids for — what did you call it — “cheap shills” — That was me! That is so great that it got some great exposure! We had a TON of fun making it! It was to win the big ‘ol camera prize –but it couldn’t–you see–I’d already won the whole camera package by being involved in Postie Patrol 3! So really, I made the video-after I’d already won a camera–and not really eligible for another “cheap shill” as you would call it! But thanks for letting me know my video was seen by so many! I’ll have to let my boys know that they are famous!!! Sha—-Weet!!!

The Knights returned to the Table, determined to slay the dragon that threatened their Kingdom. They leapt upon their steeds, brandished their swords, readied their spells and attacked furiously. Calacanis first declared that he would be the victor of the spoils:

“Note: I’ve got dibs on PPP in the deadpool!“

While Frederic furiously cast the ’stupid spell”, invoking the Great God Techmeme:

Their users (Posties as they like to be called) are usually people with a low technical knowledge who don’t read TechMeme.

In the meantime, Denton gathered together the A-Listers against AichPee, the Corporate Corrupter,  with a bit of picture voodoo and the Valleywag spell:

…the venture, which is backed by Tim Draper of DFJ, has roped Hewlett Packard, a legendary Silicon Valley brand, into its latest nauseating stunt,

Despite the sword-brandishing, teeth-gnashing and heat, a murmur was heard in the distance, which grew with each passing hour. It was The Chorus of Reason, rising up with their own incantations to bring balance back to The Land. I heard Mathew’s voice first, asking

“What makes Ted Murphy into Satan all of a sudden?”

Just behind him came the dulcet tones of Jeneane Sessum, saying

“…while Ted Murphy has some annoying qualities, Jeff Jarvis tips the obnoxious scale by a long shot with his continual techmeme-gaming pseudo-rants that serve to boost his own ad revenue.”

. More voices arose until they became a chorus of many. As they grew louder, light overcame the darkness across the land, defeating the true evil that had penetrated the Pure Blogosphere, knocking the Knight-Defenders off their high horses and leaving them in the dust.

As all adjusted to the light, there was an astonishing discovery! It IS possible for all to live in The Land of Web TwoPointOh in Peace and Prosperity, each tending their own little plot of the Pure Blogosphere in their own way, attracting their own readers, viewers and followers, choosing their own ways to peacefully co-exist.

And they all lived happily ever after.

(Author’s Note: Although this is obviously a fairy tale, it is a true wish for the Knight-Defenders of the Realm to dust off their butts and learn to listen to the Voices of Reason, who are at least open to allowing us all to live in relative harmony. No monetary spells were cast in the creation of this post — it is offered purely as commentary, contribution to the Pure Content, and fun)

Update #2: Robert Scoble will be the keynote speaker at the PayPerPost conference to be held June 8-9. Scoble is unique: An A-Lister AND part of the Chorus of Reasonable Voices.

Technorati Tags: web 2.0, pay per post, Ted Murphy, blogs, blogging, blogosphere, paid content, advertising

This was the header of The Blog Herald tonight. (The Blog Herald, under its former owners, was one of the loudest anti-PayPerPost voices a few months back)
Click for larger image.

Of course the fact that the ad itself slams AdSense on the AdSense network…well, that’s a bonus.

Pug snorts are on the way for all of you wonderful delurkers!

Technorati Tags: Blog Herald, Adsense, PayPerPost

I’d say the debate about PayPerPost and disclosure is more or less a dead one.

Be sure to read the comments, too. More to come on Monday.

Technorati Tags: payperpost, disclosure, advertising, transparency