According to "Journalist", Eric Jannsen of the Quixtar Blog, an advertorial doesn't "feel right" and seems "whorish".
Adbrite
For those of you not following, I tested a new ad service called adbrite, (much like the ads at Quixtar blog, although it should be pointed out that Eric Jannsen claims that he makes no money from the multiple ads on his site.)
So, after a couple of weeks, I got no response even though this site has been getting between 350-400 unique visitors a day and I was pretty sure that someone would get a decent response if they placed an ad and the ad space was really cheap ($1 a day). I was mostly curious to see what type of response a person could get by advertising on my site, as one of the advertisers later joked, "don't spend all that money in one place".
That's Odd
I thought it was odd the no one wanted to place an ad for $1, so I wrote a post telling people about the traffic and why I thought the ad was a good deal, then I even sweetened the deal by offering an advertorial post that would remain in the MLM Blog archives.
Then a Quixtar IBO decided that he wanted to advertise. After considering, I didn't think it would be fair to turn him away. So a Quixtar IBO got an advertorial placed on a web site that is written by a former Quixtar IBO who is critical of Quixtar. Odd huh?
But instead of me writing an advertorial about Quixtar, I had the advertiser write a post about why he thought Quixtar was a good business. Is it really an advertorial? Probably not, but I did label it as such.
Eric Jannsen, "Journalist" Recommends Advertorials
OK, back to Eric Jannsen. Eric might want to search his "feelings" a little better before he posts next time. Eric has something on his site called "Recommended Links" (you can find this feature in the right side panel nestled between two big blocks of ads).
One of these recommended links is to Dane Carlson's Business Opportunities Weblog. The "Biz Opp Blog" has been one of Eric's recommended blogs for a year or more (and it's a darn good site), yet Dane's site features advertorials. In fact, I never knew what an advertorial was until I followed the link from the Quixtar Blog to the Business Opportunities Weblog and read an advertorial.
Have advertorials affected the integrity (or traffic) of Dane Carlson's blog? I don't think so. His site is listed as the No. 7 most popular blog on Technorati, a place Eric Jannsen, "Journalist", can only dream of being ranked.
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Well, I see no problers with advertorials. Basically, in essence, it's a form of a press release and nothing more. And we both know of press release sites that charge you an arm and a leg to post your little biased advertisings correct? Even those I see nothing wrong with. If you have a heavily trafficked site, well listed on search engines, and you have readers… I would want to make some money off of it as well. No big sin.