Comments on: Can You Trust Personal Finance Bloggers?

By: Craig Ford

Craig Ford — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:00:36 +0000

Mike,
I absolutely loved this post! I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic.
Just a couple of days ago I was reading a post over at The Simple Dollar and Trent had at least 5 clear chances to insert an affiliate link. For example, he was talking about how much he loved Smarty Pig and he didn’t even link it to an affiliate.
Hmmm. I wonder why they guy has some 77,000 readers – trust.
I’ll be honest, any time there is an affiliate relationship there is an added incentive to (1) write about it (2) write positive things about it.

They key is to identifying the tension and communicating that tension to your readers.

By: Bible Money Matters

Bible Money Matters — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:06:50 +0000

I think as mentioned the key is to disclose that you have affiliate marketing relationships, and that some links within your post may result in income for you and your site. I think that goes a long way towards building trust with your readers.

I do review some products that I might not have otherwise, solely because they have an affiliate program – but in the cases where I haven’t used a product, I’ll write up a review of the product with just the facts about the product as I know them, and leave the comments open for open and honest reviews of the products from others that HAVE used them. That way it remains an open and honest look at the product/bank/etc.

By: mightymouselives

mightymouselives — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:03:27 +0000

Thanks. From someone who never thought about it, I found the article useful. Also, fun, if I suspect a writer of puffery, to check out the links.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:37:13 +0000

“I think the key is to be clear and transparent about what’s paid placement and what’s not.”

Agreed.

By: WellHeeledBlog

WellHeeledBlog — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:23:55 +0000

When I have affiliate links in a post, I let the readers know that they are affiliate links. Readers can take out my affiliate link part, but I hope they don’t, because affiliate links are an easy, low-key way to support a site.

On the very rare occasion that I have sponsored posts, I clearly note that they are sponsored at the first sentence of the post. Ads on the sidebar, are, well, obviously ads.

I think the key is to be clear and transparent about what’s paid placement and what’s not.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:06:17 +0000

Indeed. I suspect that the primary result of affiliate programs (in the PF blog niche at least) isn’t dishonest posting but rather a degree of coverage that’s unwarranted solely by the actual merits of the product/service.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:03:52 +0000

“I usually make the decision to write the review first, and find the affiliate program second.”

That’s certainly one of the better ways to do it in terms of minimizing the conflict of interests.

The downside, of course, is that it may also work toward minimizing revenue!

By: Wojciech Kulicki

Wojciech Kulicki — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:32:22 +0000

I don’t think we’ll ever remove the conflict of interest from any kind of paid or affiliate review. Even if I write a completely objective review on a product that I use personally, there could be some things I’m omitting subconsciously that I should really make known.

Having said that, when it comes to product reviews, I usually make the decision to write the review first, and find the affiliate program second (not the other way around!). So I’m pretty confident that even without said links, the review would be similar.

It’s hard to shake the perception that everything we do and say somehow has a financial interest behind it (many people will still think that), but I guess all we can do is build trust and hope people will see that we’re being honest with them.

By: Early Retirement Extreme

Early Retirement Extreme — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:31:40 +0000

It is really impossible to know. For my part I tend to trust bloggers (or magazines) not to make things up just to sell. However, it is fairly clear that bloggers (and magazines) would tend to talk a lot more about products which they are then indirectly paid to talk about than competing products. It is similar to how fitness magazines, say, and just one long informational about supplements or a lifestyle that would lead to a heavy use of supplements.

By: Investor Junkie

Investor Junkie — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:22:25 +0000

Any review I’ve done, I’ve used the product. So if you like the product, recommend it, why not get paid for anyone who purchases the product through your recommendation?

Heck I even got a free book to review and gave it a crappy review. I have no problems being honest, in the end your visitors will be aware of what you are doing. It’s about ensuring trust with your readers.

I have issue with people who pump a product, but don’t use it. In the PF blogosphere there seems to be a lot of them.