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You are here: Home / How Do I Get In On This?

How Do I Get In On This?

by John Cole|  June 22, 20091:02 pm| 34 Comments

This post is in: Blogospheric Navel-Gazing

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Where’s my filthy lucre:

Savvy consumers often go online for independent consumer reviews of products and services, scouring through comments from everyday Joes and Janes to help them find a gem or shun a lemon.

What some fail to realize, though, is that such reviews can be tainted: Many bloggers have accepted perks such as free laptops, trips to Europe, $500 gift cards or even thousands of dollars for a 200-word post. Bloggers vary in how they disclose such freebies, if they do so at all.

I’ll take a free trip to Europe or thousands of dollars for a 200-word post. Hell, I bet I’ve already sold more furminators than PetCo.

(via)

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Reader Interactions

34Comments

  1. 1.

    schrodinger's cat

    June 22, 2009 at 1:07 pm

    Yes I bought the furminator from Amazon.com after reading that post, so don’t forget to share your lucre, with lowly blog commenters too. BTW, I can has Tunch now?

  2. 2.

    gbear

    June 22, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    Most of those reviews stick out like a sore thumb. My habit at Amazon is to check out the 1-3 star reviews first before I waste my time on the stuff posted by agents and fanboys.

    PS: I sent you some lucre when I ordered some books from Amazon via your link about three weeks ago. Unfortunately, Amazon was so slow about shipping it that I cancelled half the order and bought it at local stores.

    Hope you didn’t spend it all in one place.

  3. 3.

    blogenfreude

    June 22, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    How about a year’s supply of Creamettes?

  4. 4.

    Zifnab

    June 22, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    Hula Fruta stock has nearly doubled since you began blogging.

  5. 5.

    4tehlulz

    June 22, 2009 at 1:12 pm

    BL0GR ETH1KS PAN1L PLZ KTHX

  6. 6.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    June 22, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    You know, I’ve been thinking it over and I’ve come to believe that maybe corporations should make money with no restrictions, and that regulation is really the worst thing that we could do with financial institutions, and health insurance companies should be able to define “pre-existing condition” any way they want, including having once seen a magazine article about the the disorder or heard someone mention it.

    I say this out of my own free will and volition, and will continue to do so, perhaps in a more precise and targeted way, as soon as the checks arrive.

  7. 7.

    MazeDancer

    June 22, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    Adding “Tunch-approved’ ought to be worth a couple of iPhones thrown in for good measure. And “Lily loved” on future doggie endorsements – priceless.

    Kip, Maisy, & Tate got their furminator (they share) through maternal click through from here. Does Amazon keep count? Wonder how many “as seen on Balloon Juice” got sold.

  8. 8.

    greynoldsct00

    June 22, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    and don’t forget that sinus-thingy you posted about…something-pot?

  9. 9.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    June 22, 2009 at 1:16 pm

    Well you sold me a furminator. (BTW I forgot to ask for the special Balloon Juice discount!) I’ve been holding off on purchasing a new tractor until I get your recommendation.

  10. 10.

    Punchy

    June 22, 2009 at 1:20 pm

    Hell, I bet I’ve already sold more furminators than PetCo.

    And Steelers floormats, and sandboxes, and digital cameras, and Apple computers, vacuums, beer, wine, Obama stickers, RedState subscriptions, Riverdance tickets, catnip……

  11. 11.

    gbear

    June 22, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    The best Amazon review thread I saw was where the author signed in to give himself a 5-star review and tell everyone who was accusing him of plagiarism that they were poopy heads. Very sad.

  12. 12.

    Joel

    June 22, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    The thing is, they can’t comp everyone. That’s why review aggregation sites (like Amazon!) work at all. I almost always look up a product’s negative reviews first.

    That said, companies will certainly use ghostfaces to prop up their products (i.e. IMDB and movies). The IMDB ratings are so shit now, the system is effectively useless.

  13. 13.

    Dork

    June 22, 2009 at 1:29 pm

    Tire guage, meet candle

  14. 14.

    J.

    June 22, 2009 at 1:30 pm

    Yet another FURminator that owes its purchase to John Cole and the helpful commenters at Balloon Juice.

    What, these ads haven’t paid for a trip to Europe yet? Surely the one of Pam has earned you a round-the-world ticket, no?

  15. 15.

    Alan

    June 22, 2009 at 1:36 pm

    I could swear I was the first one to mention and recommend the Furminator on your blog. Shouldn’t I get a kickback too? Heh.

  16. 16.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    June 22, 2009 at 1:37 pm

    @Punchy: And Steelers floormats, and sandboxes, and digital cameras, and Apple computers, vacuums, beer, wine, Obama stickers, RedState subscriptions, Riverdance tickets, catnip……

    Don’t forget the neti pot! The Neti pot people owe John (and many of the commenters) big time.

  17. 17.

    gex

    June 22, 2009 at 1:40 pm

    @greynoldsct00: Careful there. You trying to get BJ a no-knock raid?

  18. 18.

    greynoldsct00

    June 22, 2009 at 1:43 pm

    Careful there. You trying to get BJ a no-knock raid?

    LOL! Well I couldn’t remember the neti part! ;)

  19. 19.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    June 22, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    Question. I keep thinking I’ll get one, but am unsure of the size I would need for a Tunch sized cat. Anyone?

    And now that everyone has been using them for a while, still an excellent tool?

  20. 20.

    The Other Steve

    June 22, 2009 at 1:48 pm

    I’ve always wanted to start a blog so I could get free shit.

  21. 21.

    peach flavored shampoo

    June 22, 2009 at 1:57 pm

    What I’m most (McDonalds) proud of this blog (Big Mac) is that the owner and (specialsaucelettucecheese) commenters aren’t constantly (McRib, bitches) trying to pimp a product (mint-green milkshakes in March) or corporation.

  22. 22.

    BenA

    June 22, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    @Joel:
    I’m with you on the negative reviews… but the next step I take is to then go and look at all the reviews done by the negative person to make sure they just don’t give negative reviews (especially travel reviews.)

    Some people are just cranky assholes. :-)

  23. 23.

    SpotWeld

    June 22, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    So that would be ” Many bloggers” at told to him by “some people”?

  24. 24.

    John Hamilton Farr

    June 22, 2009 at 2:32 pm

    Hell, I bet I’ve already sold more furminators than PetCo

    .

    Damn straight! **I** bought one, works great.

  25. 25.

    Joy

    June 22, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    Yes you did! I bought a furminator from Amazon after seeing the amazing Tunch!

  26. 26.

    Throwin Stones

    June 22, 2009 at 3:09 pm

    @The Other Steve: It would only be worth it it the shirt had skills like this one. Check out some of the comments.

  27. 27.

    Tokyokie

    June 22, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    You sold me a Furminator. Of course, it’s been sucked up into the vortex of the great floor replacement. And we never worked up the courage to try it Vladimir.

  28. 28.

    PaminBB

    June 22, 2009 at 3:38 pm

    Count me as another BJ-inspired furminator purchaser. Cats likey.

  29. 29.

    Xanthippas

    June 22, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    I ran into this when I was researching an odd ad I heard on my local classical station. Researching the company listed in the ad, I ran across a blogger who reviewed their product. As I found out after e-mailing her, they had contacted her and offered her a free trial program if she’d review on her blog (which she did, favorably.) In this case she wasn’t paid for the review, but her blog was chock full of “reviews” of all sorts of products. I’m sure that those reviews were mostly in exchange for samples of those products, or pay in some instances. So I’d say, unless it’s a blogger or a website known for their reputable reviews of products, I wouldn’t trust any product review I read online.

  30. 30.

    patrick

    June 22, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    My wife scored us (a family of five) an all expense paid ski vacation to Mont Tremblant this past winter via her mommyblog.

    It was pretty sweet.

  31. 31.

    asiangrrlMN

    June 22, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    I always check the negative reviews before I check the positive ones. IMDB is a joke. Then again, my movie taste is diametrically opposite of mainstream, so maybe everyone DOES think that movies I hate are the best thing ever.

    John, you need to get yourself a slice of that blogger-recommendation pie.

  32. 32.

    Wile E. Quixote

    June 22, 2009 at 6:52 pm

    Dude, I thought that you were making bank because of those checks that George Soros was sending you.

  33. 33.

    Nylund

    June 22, 2009 at 7:11 pm

    Do you really not get free stuff? I wrote a crappy blog that no one read many years ago and I got a free cell phones (with free service), free concert tickets, free books, free music, free clothes, etc.

    I do miss all that. Of course, that was about 5 years ago. Maybe things are different now.

  34. 34.

    Skepticat

    June 22, 2009 at 9:05 pm

    I’m yet another victim of your furminator-selling skills. You are getting a commission, aren’t you?

    Bad Horse’s Filly, I bought the small (regular) size, but think the larger size might have been better. The head on the small one fills with hair very rapidly.

    p.s. Happy birthday, John.

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