I Will NOT Succumb…
It seems like only yesterday that I launched InterestingMoney.com. Oh wait, March 2007 was not THAT long ago, so in the Grand Scheme of Things I might as well have launched the site yesterday.
Nonetheless, I know that InterestingMoney has finally hit the Big Time. You know how I can tell? I received my first advertising inquiry from one of those shady “payday” loans sites. Sigh, websites grow up so fast…
Here is an excerpt from the e-mail:
I’ve recently looked over your site and believe that your reader-base and visitors might be a possible advertising venue for us.I am interested in traditional link advertising as well as using link “blurbs” on certain pages of your site, or on certain articles – perhaps even submitting articles. This includes but is not limited to purchasing a post also.
Hmmm. Having never received an advertising inquiry before, I took the bait:
Thanks for contacting me. I am open to advertising inquiries.
Traditional link ads - Yes
Link “blurbs” - Yes
Purchasing posts - Probably notLet me know what specifics you have in mind, and I’ll give you a quote.
A reasonable enough reply, if I can say so myself. Shortly thereafter, this is the reply I received. The bold is my emphasis:
Thanks for getting back to me! The site in question is [edited].
Most of our customers are making ends meet on a small budget and require short-term loans and may not even qualify for more traditional loans. I appreciate that your stance on our industry may be negative, but assure you that we are not out to editorialize or sway you in any way.
{snip}
I am ultimately interested in getting an article/paid post up that links to our site. I’d be happy to provide a post/article (with your approval, of course)….
Aye, there’s the rub! I suspect that these types of e-mails are fairly generic, with a canned response whenever someone expresses interest. I will not name the particular company that contacted me, but after searching for reviews for this company, I found many a website that spewed the exact same hashed review that was obviously written by an advertiser.
No thanks. Call me idealistic, but I will not be bought! Sure, this is a financial blog, and I’m interested in at least covering my web hosting fees, but there are some things that are worth much more than money. Integrity is one of them. I absolutely refuse to publish anything on InterestingMoney written by an advertiser.
In the end, I did reply to the guy:
I am willing to write an original review of at least 250 words of [said shady payday loans company]. All content and editorial privilege will be mine. In my review I will explain why I strongly discourage the overall use of payday loans, but will thoroughly cover your site and not demonize your company personally.
Then I quoted an outrageous price for the review. Of course, I never received a reply from the guy. I’m sure he’s busy dealing with dozens of poor saps who are more than willing to publish a pre-fabricated article for a handful of dollars. 
Me? Forget about it. I’m not against the idea of a paid review, so long as the reviewer has the liberty to express a negative opinion if that is what the product/service merits. And if you notice, I did not even negotiate with him for a typical “sponsored” link, as I disprove of the service he’s offering and probably could not sleep at night knowing that I am potentially sending customers into that debt trap. Sure, I’m bound to lose some advertising revenue, but I don’t care. The money is not worth it.
Yes, I’ll say that again. The money is not worth it. Whew, that took a lot of effort, coming from a financial “blogger.”
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Comments
I confess, I did one time accept a commission to review a payday loan site. I made sure I had editorial control, and I most definitely wrote it myself, but I still feel a little guilty about it.
Here it is:
Review of Nationalpayday.com
Whoa, I got the same email. Dumped it too!