Riiiight. Like it really ever left!
You would think everyone would have learned the lesson by now. It sunk some magazines in the pre-Net 1980s. It caused another scandal in the post-Net days that made the Federal Trade Commission step in.
But no.
Now this: How brands secretly buy their way into Forbes, Fast Company, and HuffPost stories
People involved with the payoffs are extremely reluctant to discuss them, but four contributing writers to prominent publications including Mashable, Inc, Business Insider, and Entrepreneur told me they have personally accepted payments in exchange for weaving promotional references to brands into their work on those sites. Two of the writers acknowledged they have taken part in the scheme for years, on behalf of many brands. Mario Ruiz, a spokesperson for Business Insider, said in an email that “Business Insider has a strict policy that prohibits any of our writers, whether full-time staffers or contributors, from accepting payment of any kind in exchange for coverage.”
None of my blog writing has ever been prompted by bribery, corruption, or gifts.
Here is my FTC Disclosure from my old blog. It remains in effect. There are no changes since its last update.
If I haven’t written about something, it’s because: 1) I’m not interested in it or 2) I haven’t found out about it myself (hey, I’ve already bitched about YouTube search being the suck enough! yet here I am again!).
When I do write about something, it’s because I’m personally interested in it. Period.
Just in case, I should note here that I like to keep my life simple. So simple, in fact, that I have a standard response to any and all ultimatums. And I’ve used this several times in Twitter exchanges. My simple, single answer to all ultimatums and threats is this: “Fuck you!”
Mike Cane's Atomic Supermen 