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June 7th, 2007 by Spud Oregon
Not long ago, when PayPerPost Direct launched, Kumiko ”Cash Quest” Suzuki was quick to slam the service, and her words were promptly echoed by John Chow. Kumiko’s biggest gripe was that there isn’t a marketplace for publishers, so putting a PayPerPost Direct badge on her site was “pointless”.
My initial reaction was that PayPerPost had decided to make a challenge for the ReviewMe marketplace but it quickly became obvious that there was one big difference…there isn’t a marketplace!
My honest opinion about this though is “What’s the freakin’ point?!”
I really believe that they’re ripping off the bloggers. I’ll be sticking with ReviewMe to advertise reviews.
However, despite the negative publicity, which was then amplified by John, it turns out that Kumiko is actually using a PayPerPost Direct badge on her old Blogger domain!
How about that for hypocritical?
Rice: 
Posted on June 7th, 2007 in Random Observations.
Comments: 25
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What happened to cashquests.com? The website won’t load for me today…
The site’s been down while I upgraded to Wordpress.
I chose to use the PPP direct button for that particular domain (and a few others) due to the limitations of the Blogger platform. By simply linking the “get reviewed” link to a contact form (as I do on cashquests.com) through Blogger, I’m unable to track from which site the request actually came from. With the contact form on Wordpress, I can track which site the requester came from and know which site they want a review on.
A contact form submission through blogger is nothing more than email with no way of knowing from which site it was sent.
For those with multiple Blogger domains, the PPP direct button works well for facilitating reviews.
I understand that this may appear hypocritial, but I still think that it’s pointless for bloggers who have a single domain to manage. With these blogger domains, I’m willing to “pay the service charge” in order to know where it came from - but if you only have one site, it’s still a case of “what’s the freakin’ point!”
Your new WP blog does not have to be 3 months old to take advantage of PPP Direct so you don’t have to be shy about using the PPP Direct button there and keeping 100% of your asking price…
Actually, for CashQuests.com I’m handling all the reviews myself and keeping 100%. I still believe there’s no need to use PPP if you’re prepared to handle the reviews yourself - but so that doesn’t seem hypocritical, let me clarify that I’m *not* prepared/able to handle the reviews myself on my blogger domains.
What if PPP opens a marketplace for those who have installed the PPP Direct code on their site? That’s what I would do if I were them. The marketplace would direct them to the publisher’s site, and the button would be used to open communication between the advertiser and publisher. It would also explain why they are pushing PPP Direct before opening a marketplace. Surely you’ll be tempted to display the button then, even if they do take 10%.
Absolutely! If they had a marketplace I would really do a “U-turn” and fully support them. But they don’t have one yet….
I’ve heard that they’re building one and that it’s going to take a 30% cut of revenues. It’s better than ReviewMe but what concerns me is that there is pretty much zero requirements to be a PPP Direct publisher whereas ReviewMe has a 3month waiting period. I can’t really decide whether a PPP marketplace would drive the price up (quality gets to charge more) or bring it down (saturated marketplace).
Any thoughts?
Honestly Kumiko, I don’t know, though I’m surprised to hear about a possible 30% cut. I just hope that the more PayPerPost and ReviewMe try to outdo each other, it will be the advertisers and publishers who benefit most.
Yes. I think you’re right spud. As these two giants clash on with each other, it is us and the publishers who benefit the most from them.
LOL! $10 for a review?
Is $10.00 too much?
That’s a great deal… too bad all of Kumiko’s fans are over at her new domain.
I think he’s implying it’s too low? It’s a PR5 domain!
Yeah. I’m charging $20 for my PR5 blog. My only gripe with PPP doing what ReviewMe already does is that pricing would be an issue. Advertisers are paying $5-$35 bucks (on average…there are some higher) through the existing PPP system. Bloggers will be forced to set their pricing low in order to attract PPP Direct reviews. ReviewMe reviews are MUCH higher…even with the 50% cut.
Regardless, I love PPP.
God… can I say D’uh about this ?
Heck yeah you can say D’uh! I predicted their blog would soon have the PPP Direct button on it and I was right.. It makes perfect sense to keep 100% of your asking price with PPP Direct instead of only 50% with another blog advertising company…
hehe, I should have bet $10.00. *grin*
It makes more sense to handle it all yourself and get the maximum an advertiser is willing to pay.
Even if you’re asking price is $30, there’s a 10% charge to PPP which means the advertiser is paying $33. If an advertiser is prepared to pay $33, I want it all! And that’s one of the reasons that I’ve dropped the ReviewMe button.
I don’t think you are hypocritical actually. I think you’re doing the smart thing. Everybody should do what is right for themselves regardless of what other people say or do.
It is not feasible for me to handle my own reviews and I love the fact that PPP Direct will handle all the administrative tasks for me. Ten percent is a small amount for me to pay to get rid of that hassle and the money goes into escrow until the job is completed and the advertiser is happy.
I can understand you wanting to handle your advertisers directly if that is what works best for you. People don’t like to see other people succeed for some reason. I hope you succeed. Heck, I hope you make a million dollars!
Bloggers can be very influential, and when Kumiko slated PPP Direct, I’m sure a lot of her readers took her word for it and opted against using it themselves.
I absolutely agree that using it on her Blogspot domain is a good idea under the circumstances. However, having taken a stance against PPP Direct, it is hypocritical to start using it when she advised her readers against it. They trust her judgement and might be surprised to see this post.
I do support Kumiko. I have previously given her a very positive site review, and contacted her directly to help her with some feed trouble. I was stunned to see that badge, but this post has given her a chance to explain why she is using PPP Direct, and her reasons make perfect sense. As far as I’m concerned, she’s in the clear, but if she starts using Agloco…
That’s an excellent point Spud. I guess the lesson to come out of it it don’t follow everything you read (and that includes on my site!) and make your own judgements based on your own circumstances.
But if I ever start using AGLOCO, you have permission to spam everything that I write with a link to how hypocritical I am!!
In one of your posts where you give PPP a good bashing, you say “I really believe that they’re ripping off the bloggers. I’ll be sticking with ReviewMe”. I understand why you dumped ReviewMe, it does make perfect sense to go with the service that will make you the most money.
Do you still think PPP is ripping off bloggers? I notice you have a post on your blogspot blog where you say you love PPP.
I do wonder how you can love a company that you think is trying to rip you off. What gives there? Do you love PPP or do you think they are rip-offs? Surely you can’t do both! (well, I guess you could love a rip-off but I doubt you do.)
When she said she loved PayPerPost, I believe she was talking about the standard format of PPP, i.e. bloggers can choose the “opportunities” they want to write about, and get paid for it. It is a great system, and sure beats sitting around waiting for an advertiser to pick you.
The “ripping-off” line was specifically for PayPerPost Direct, which is a whole new branch of PPP.
I love Coca-Cola, but I hate Diet Coke.
This tells us that a blogger must always be careful of what he or she does. People all around are watching your every more and one small mistake may end up into disastrous results. It’s a good thing that Kumiko quickly jumped right in to explain her side.
Hey Spud, it’s been a while. Looks like you are taking a lesson out of John’s book here. hehe Stirring up the controversy, are you?
I really don’t have anything to say about this PPP stuff… I just thought I’d drop in and say hi. =P
BREAKING NEWS!!! PayPerPost has launched its publisher marketplace!
PayPerPost Blogger Directory
If that is the case, I may give it a shot too.