Parish Notice – I do NOT accept guest blog posts.

For the record, this blog is called “IanVisits”. Not Ian, Steve, and Sarah Visits, nor, although it’d be quite amusing if it were possible, Ian, Ian & Ian Visits.

The reason I am stating this, is because of the constant dripping tap that is crappy companies trying to get me to post their latest bit of junk on here, just so they can get a few backlinks to their website to persuade Google they are a lovely popular company.

But, there is also a crossover when people are paid to “write” about a topic, and get paid for what appears to be a normal blog post, but is actually a hidden version of a paid-for advert.

This was, I thought, a moderately rate occurrence. It happens, but usually hidden from sight, as the likes of Google, and various advertising regulators deeply frown upon it.

So, an email arrived. Just a junk press release, plugging some daft cinema app of which no one who had read this blog would have sent me…

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR A SPONSORED BLOGPOST. We are spreading the word, if you would like to share it, that is your decision, you will not be compensated should you choose to share, should you choose to all you’ll receive is this: thank you.

Over half the word count in the introduction email was a warning that they don’t pay for press coverage.

I actually found that to be profoundly depressing. Has blogging descended to such a point now that companies have to warn bloggers that there’s no cash on the table for posting their press release?

Is writing, whether for a blog, or any other publication now seen as “no cash = no article” by enough writers that press releases have to come with a warning about it?

OK, it’s only the first I have seen of this nature, but if it is a trend, then one that will be quite depressing.

Not just for blogs, but for writing in general.

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One comment
  1. LadyBracknell says:

    Long may you continue to keep this sort of pollution at bay. I am a hobby seamstress and it is quite depressing how many sewing bloggers’ sites are peppered with sponsors advertising and the like. We know it’s all designed to generate traffic, but the more a blogger becomes wedded to sponsorship the less there is of genuine content on their part.

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