Blog Prostitution, a ubiquitous scene around the blogosphere, is increasing at an alarming rate on a daily basis. These skillful, versatile and expensive bloggers may have not engaged into selling themselves physically but somehow managed to accumulate wealth without direct physical contact to their clients. Today’s post is dedicated to the oldest profession known to man but unknown to many in its most recent form… Blog Prostitution.

Opinions For Sale

The most common form of blog prostitution is selling one’s opinion and the assumption of an idea different from your own in order to please the so-called ‘clients’ who pay the bill. The introduction of reviewme, payperpost, sponsoredreviews among others paved the way for a more effective and efficient blog prostitution. They call it ‘positive reviews’… I call it blog prostitution.

Apparently, I am not against advertising. As you can see, I have been monetizing Blogging Mix for almost 5 months now. The only problem I have with blog monetization (sponsored review), which makes me sad, is the fact that an increasing number of bloggers could hardly be differentiated from the ’sexual’ prostitutes. In order to please their clients, prostitutes would have to satisfy their client’s wants or fantasies. As a result, prostitutes will have to engage in practices like role playing, BDSM, even bestiality all for the satisfaction of their clients. Bloggers on the other hand are heading to the same direction.

Let’s be honest. How many of you have created sponsored posts that are free from any subjective factors (e.g. advertiser’s satisfaction, increase advertiser’s sales)? How many of you have turned down advertisers because they are not only unrelated to your blog’s topic but they’re also offering unreliable goods and services? How many of you created a review for an advertiser who’s only paying $5 incentive but provides a realiable and helpful product? Sad reality is, most of bloggers’ opinions depend on how much the advertiser is willing to pay. A prostitute once said, “Great prostitutes don’t judge a client by their physical attributes but how much they’re willing to pay!”.

Impact of Blog Prostitution on Sponsored Reviews

Because sponsored post are becoming notoriously known for its subjectivity and unrealiability, advertisements which is often the lifeblood of a blog is adversely affected. If you noticed, the number of advertisers seeking for a product or blog review demanding ‘non-disclosure’ of a sponsored post have increased. Why? It’s simple, advertisers themselves know that paid or sponsored posts bring a negative impression to the public. Sponsored post’s popularity will soon diminish as soon as it’s credibility is lost.

Another impact of prostituting your blog, is lossing your credibility as a blogger. Once you’ve lost your credibility as a blogger, who else would believe what you have to say. In the world of blogging, credibility matters a lot and plays a huge role in becoming a successful blogger so keeping yourself and your blog credible is important.

The Blogging Dilemma (Readers or Sponsors and Cash?)

Blogges especially the blog prostitutes are now confronted with the dilemma of who matters most to them. Is it their blog readers or their sponsors who are paying the hosting expenses?

I don’t think that this should even be a dilemma. Clearly, your blog readers should be your priority because they are the reason why you are able to monetize your blog. Without them, your sponsors would not bother advertising on your blog.

Fortunately for bloggers, we can be selective of who or what we advertise on our blog. We also have the choice of how we advertise them. When faced with these questions, how would your respond? What would you be your choice? Will you embrace blog prostitution and set a tag price to your opinions? Whatever you’re thinking now, Blogging Mix would like to listen. You are more than welcome to contribute your thoughts through the comment.

Thank you for your time!

Paris Hilton is famous for her frequent violations of laws and regulations, the same reason that led her to spend 22 days in jail. John Chow on the other hand has blatantly violated Google’s rules and regulations leading him to be demoted in Google’s search result for his own name. Quite surprisingly, both John Chow and Paris Hilton manage to get away from their misdemeanors and are still beloved by many. Essentially we ask ourselves, why are these two evil icons still successful despite all their offences, violations, misconducts and misbehaviors?

Now that I have your attention, I would like to bring you to the main purpose of this post to learn from John Chow by taking a closer look at the key elements that have brought him unprecedented fame and phenomenal success. Unfortunately for Paris, I’ll leave her part of the story to PerezHilton.com.The John Chow Factor

I’d like to call John Chow the father of modern blog monetization not because he was successful at making money online but because he radically redefined our understanding of blog monetization. His daring strategies coupled by hardwork and dedication have perfectly worked for him. Although punished for his unconventional blog monetization approaches, he remained convicted to his beliefs and point of views. Mother Google tried to discipline him but he figured out he’s old enough to be disciplined. I guess John Chow is one of those who’ve got balls to live outside of their mothers’ skirts when they’ve grown up.

Is John Chow Pure Evil?

I was surprised to find out that John Chow has in fact done some good deeds. It turned out that he’s not pure evil as he claims himself to be after all. Just lately, John Chow has helped feed some hungry men, women and children in the greater Vancouver area. A clear proof that the evil knows he too needs some good publicity. To further improve his image, John Chow broadcasts his blog earnings. Probably to intimidate others, establish his authority or perhaps to send the message to other bloggers that their blogs aren’t fully monetized. Whatever his reasons are, it has worked well for him. His feed subscribers went up, so as his blog traffic.

John Chow – Most Effective Publicity Whore

What happens when you mix a blog with great contents coupled by publicity stunts? You’ve created the perfect recipe for controversy. You’ve just created JohnChow.com.

Technorati will tell you that the efforts of John Chow to stir the Blogosphere are working. A whopping 32,311 blog reactions and an authority of 5,789 speaks for itself. There is no doubt; John Chow by far is the most effective publicity whore in the Blogosphere.

Becoming John Chow

John Chow has indeed earned the right to be called a dot com mogul. He has become an inspiration to many, a competitor to others, a friend, a foe and an icon. To become the next John Chow, you need more than brain and beauty… you should have the same determination and guts. Most importantly, you should be more EVIL.

Now if you’re going to ask me who’s the hollywood equivalent of Daren Rowse, I’d leave that for you to figure out but it’s definitely not Britney. Right?

Over the past months, Blogcatalog has been organizing Bloggers Unite, an activity designed to challenge bloggers to make their voices heard and make a difference. In the previous Bloggers Unite, bloggers were challenged to blog about ‘Abuse’. The challenge resulted in the participation of thousands of bloggers who came up with all sorts of information about ‘Abuse’. This undoubtedly increased the consciousness of the netizens regarding an issue that is oftentimes ignored.

Bloggers Unite - The ChallengeThe brilliant community at Blogcatalog came up with the idea of challenging bloggers to do an act of kindness and blog about it. On December 17, 2007, bloggers who have decided to participate will do any act of kindness. It doesn’t matter how big or how small the act of kindness is. All that matters is that we unite as bloggers on December 17, 2007 and each do something kind and then come back and share our experiences on our blogs.

Here are some suggestions from the BlogCatalog Community that you can do on December 17, 2007.

I was about to publish this post when I’ve found out that Blogcatalog was able to invite companies to sponsor some prizes to the participants of Bloggers Unite, another reason to participate.

Over the past weeks, a lot has happened around the Blogosphere. Google has finally updated it’s most awaited Page Rank. Although Blogging Mix’s Page Rank was predicted to be a 5, I’m satisfied and happy with 4. It’s not actually a bad page rank considering that Blogging Mix is less than 5 months old.

Why The Changes?

When I’ve requested for feedback and comments from the BlogCatalog Community about my new template, most of the comments were positive. The decision to change Blogging Mix’s template was for the purpose of monetization. I’ve not been able to fully monetize Blogging Mix with its old template as advertisements like Adsense were not compatible with my old blog template’s design. With my new template, Adsense seems to blend with the design exactly the way I wanted it to be.

If you have noticed, I did not implement Haloscan Commenting System on my new template and reverted back to Blogger instead. I’ve intentionally done this because of the reports I’ve been receiving that Blogging Mix downloads very slow since I’ve integrated Haloscan. Hope you’re enjoying a faster download of Blogging Mix this time.

I would really appreciate any input you can give to further improve Blogging Mix. Please feel free to drop your comments and suggestions. Thank you very much for your time.

Lastly, I would like to thank all those people who have sent me emails expressing concern about Blogging Mix not being updated. One of the reasons why I’ve not been able to update Blogging Mix is my move from UK to China. Things are settled now and my new template is perfectly working so expect regular posts in the coming days. Also, I like to thank eL.fReaKzTeR for Blogging Mix’s new banner. Elfreakzter noticed my dull banner yesterday and decided to design one for Blogging Mix free of charge. I’m really glad I’m a BlogCatalog Member. People at BC are really a big help so make sure you join BC and join Bloggers and Blogging Group as well.

Cheers!

As one of the many bloggers who have choosen SEO as one of my topics in my blog, I don’t think that Michale Gray’s video make sense. In fact, some of his messages are anti-SEO.

Today, I’ve decided to give my own advice to my fellow bloggers who opted to blog about SEO news, issues and updates and compare it to what an A-List SEO Celeberity Blogger has to say.

A-List SEO Blogger Says:

If you’re one of the bloggers who write about SEO news, (we) I don’t need your coverage.

Blogging Mix Says:

SEO is based on connections and links. The reason why Problogger.net is given a Page Rank of 6 by Google is because there are a lot of bloggers who link to it. Take note that these blogs that usually provide a link to Darren’s Problogger.net have similar if not the same topic discussed on their blogs. Why would a dating site like Datingtips.com provide a link to Darren’s blog when they are not at all related? Darren talks about making money on-line and Datingtips.com provides dating suggestions and ideas. Check the Technorati Blog Reactions of Problogger and you’ll find out that these are coming from blogs with similar if not the same content as Problogger.

I’m sure that this alone proves that Darren needs us. And if you’re going to ask him, certainly he’ll agree to what I’ve said. This also proves true and correct to Michael Gray. He also needs link from bloggers like us. That we matter, that we add value to his SEO blog. That withouth bloggers who did not link to his blog, he could have not been an A-List Blogger. (Note: Bloggers who link to Michael Gray’s blog have similar if not the same content with his blog. See for yourself.)

A-List SEO Blogger Says:

I don’t need you because I have Searchengineland, Marketingpilgrim, Threadwatch and Searchenginewatch. They have the resources, the knowledge and the connection that you do not have.

Blogging Mix Says:

With all honesty, I never heard of Marketingpilgrim before, not until I saw a link from Searchbrains.com, which is way-way behind Searchengineland, Threadwatch etc. As more blogger decide to blog about SEO, the chances of disseminating information about SEO to the rest of the Netizens becomes higher. I have nothing against the value of information offered by Searchenginewatch, Marketingpilgrim, Threadwatch and Searchengineland. Indeed, the information they offer are priceless. Unfortunately, not all people know about them. Because of these bloggers that Michael asks to stop blogging, Searchenginewatch, Marketingpilgrim, Threadwatch and Searchengineland become more known and more popular.

A-List SEO Blogger Says:

Chances are most of these bloggers who are writing on these much bigger blogs, they’re much better author than you are. Chances are they have much better industry connection than you do. Chances are, they have an idea of what they’re talking about where you don’t.

Blogging Mix Says:

Chances are, I’ll take my chances.

I don’t think that it’s useful to discourage bloggers by threatening them of the tough competition ahead of them if they decide to blog about SEO. Sure, SEO requires indepth knowledge and skills. Barry Schwartz of search engine land was not born an SEO genius. Someway, somehow, he acquired the knowledge and skills from experience and practice. Michael Gray himself relies on other sources of information. In one of his top posts titled, Google Adsense, Tips, Tricks and Secret. Michael clearly pointed out that he gathers information from other sources.

I’ve been reading a few forums and blogs about Google Adsense tips lately, and thought it would be helpful to consolidate as many as possible in one place without the comments. I’ve also thrown in a few tips of my own. We start out with some of the basic general stuff and move to the more specific topics later on.

No one knows everything. We learn from each other. Darren Rowse, one of the best bloggers I look up to, shared his secret when he was new to blogging. He was no expert. He is just enthusiastic about blogging. He loves what he does and try to become better everyday. Where is he now? Darren Rowse has become one of the authority Bloggers. If he was able to achieve such an accomplishment despite his lack of connection and expertise as Michael claims, I’m sure everyone who lacks connection and expertise can be like him.

A-List SEO Blogger Says:

You need to find some way to add something of value to the conversation. You need to bring a unique perspective.

Blogging Mix Says:

This is the only point that Michael Gray said something that I agree of. A unique content and valuable content as I’ve mentioned in my previous post, is a necessary element for a blog to become successful.

Conclusion

I’m not saying this because I’m a D-List SEO soon to be famous blogger. I’m not. As long as you love what you are doing and you continue to grow and develop, you certainly are not wasting your time. Please step closer to the keyboard and type some comments!

Is penalizing blogs and websites that sell links GOOD? Absolutely YES!

Google and Links

Google invented page ranking to aid it’s system in ranking blogs and websites in the result it returns to its users. Generally, those blogs or websites with higher page rank are ranked higher in the Google search results. Because of the potential traffic that blogs and websites can derive from Google, bloggers and webmasters invest time and resources to improve their page rank.

In ranking blogs and websites, Google relies on links. A blog or website with a high page rank are those that have high number of external links pointed to them. Google considers links as votes to the blog or website where it is pointed at. With the system in place, bloggers and webmasters tried all possible link baiting techniques to lure other bloggers to link to them and ultimately increase their site’s external links. Due to the high demand for links, link buying has become available to those who are willing to pay. Buying text link from blogs and websites with good page rank has also become a perfect alternative to earning links the natural way.

Search Engines, Page Ranks and Links

In an ideal Blogosphere, great blogs and websites should have the highest number of links. It also follows that those great blogs and websites have high Page Rank and that they should appear on top of search results. Unfortunately, the Blogosphere is not an ideal place. Especially when innovative, creative and deceptive bloggers and webmasters are around.

How many times have you tried using Google and was disappointed with the search results? How many searches have you made with Google and found out that the best link to your query was placed at the third or at the fifth page of the result? And how many times have you been pissed off by the irrelevant search result that Google returns? Who’s to be blamed for these irregularities? Blame it all to the flawed ranking system that Google uses to evaluate blogs and websites? Or should we also blame link buying and link selling?

Because of link buying and link selling, blogs and websites can easily increase their page rank, hence, appearing on top of Google search results. All it takes is a bounty financial resource for your blog or website to rank high. Unfair? Unfair.

Protecting Google’s Interest

Google thrive from netizens who use Google’s search engine to locate or search information around the web. You don’t need to study marketing to understand that you need to satisfy your customers. As for Google, the best way for them to do that is to refer their users to quality information that is most relevant to their queries.

Imagine creating a post for your readers where a link you’ve created using the anchor text ‘Make Money Online’ was directed to a ‘Pornsite’. What damage could it do to your blog’s reputation and your credibility as a blogger?

Google and Link Exchange

Despite the fact that Google is not an advocate of link buying and exchange links, it did not penalize blogs that exchanged links. There have been reports however that some blogs and websites have been penalized for turning their blogs or websites into a link farm.

Google and Blog Monetization

Blog monetization is a good thing. I’m sure that Google is not against Blog Monetization, otherwise, it shouldn’t have introduced Adsense, Google Referrals etc.

One of the ways to monetize your blog is to sell links to other websites or blogs. This practice however does not please Google for the simple reason that it compromises the quality of the results returned by Google to their users. That explains the recent move to Google to penalize link selling websites.

I am not against selling links and this post wasn’t created to persuade you to stop from selling links. This post was created in defence of Google’s move. If you perceive Google’s decision as power tripping then power tripping it is but I personally believe that there is a valid and good reason for Google to do such a move beside that fact that it is just protecting it’s own interest.

Anyway, Bloggers can still continue to sell links. Google can’t stop you from selling links or can’t dictate you what to do on your blog. Unfortunately, Google is sooo POWERFUL and INFLUENTIAL that I’ve decided to play by it’s rules.

Blogs, over the past years since it has been introduced has increasingly become one of the targets of today’s abuse. Like any other non-living things, blogs don’t complain. Blogs can’t censor what a blogger writes on it. Blogs can’t choose a blogger of their choice. And blogs can’t go to the authority, and report instances when they’re being abused or used to abuse.

Today’s post is my contribution to the Blogcatalog Blogging For A Great Cause Challenge. Since Blogging Mix is all about blogs, bloggers and blogging, I thought it’s probably ideal to create a post about the abuses made by bloggers to their blogs. It is my hope that through this simple post, I might be able to encourge blog abusers to STOP abusing their blogs.

Here are some of the abuses that bloggers often do to their blogs and each abuse comes with a short warning why a blog abuser should stop whatever he/she is doing.Using Blogs For Fraudulent Activities

Probably, the worst form of blog abuse is using a blog to swindle or deceive other people. Some desperate bloggers who can’t make money on-line or wants easy money jump into using their blogs to scam and swindle other people. These scammers come in different guises usually approaching their victims in a very friendly manner. Today, the number of fraudulent activities or schemes online has become countless.

If you are one of the many scammers who use their blogs to take advantage of other people, heed my warning and STOP abusing your blog and scamming other people. The laws against these criminal offences are becoming more stringent and governments are tightening their implementations of these laws. As the awareness of these frauds increase, more stricter laws are crafted.

Here are some links to great resources about scams and frauds online:

Too much placement of advertisements on a blog is abusive. Signing up to alot of affiliate programs and money making schemes and use it on your blog is abusive. It’s greedy, it’s unhealthy and it’s not good. It even hurts your blog’s image.

Earning from your blog is not all about the number of adverts you post on it. The more the better does not apply in this case. Try to observe bloggers who are earning alot from their blog. They are those who invested so much on their blog content. They are those who have more content that adverts. They are those who love their blogs and hate the idea of abusing it. Perhaps, the common traits among successful bloggers is that they DON’T ABUSE THEIR BLOGS.

Other Misuses and Abuses of Blogs

Blogs don’t lie or steal, bloggers do. Blogs don’t advocate hatred and discrimination, bloggers do!

It’s really sad to see some blogs filled with lies and fabrications. Slight mistakes on facts are tolerable but some bloggers intentionally use their blogs to totally mislead other people. I’ve seen all sorts of defamation, hate speeches or hate messages from differant blogs. One blogger destroying the reputation of his/her competitor with the use of lies is widespread in the blogosphere. Bloggers stealing contents from other blogs and claim it to be theirs continue to plague the blogosphere. There are also other blogs created for the sole purpose of expressing hatred or resentment to a group or class of people. A really sick and disturbing purpose to create a blog but surprisingly, their number grows everyday.

As the number of bloggers increase everyday, the number of blog abuse is on the rise. Unfortunately, not all blog service providers are willing to cooperate to put an end to these forms of blog abuse. Also, the giant free blog service providers seem to lack the ability to impose a strict policy against blog abuses or seem to ignore reports.

At the end of the day, we ask ourselves. How can we stop ‘Blog Abuse’ or any form of abuse for that matter? Is there a way to entirely put an end to this problem? Can we do something about it?

Surely, puting an end to blog abuse or any forms of abuse is impossible to accomplish but we can do something about it. For instance, by simply participating in activities like Blogcatalog Blogging For a Great Cause Challenge you are already helping. You might not make a huge and material difference but the collective efforts from all the participants of this activity will no doubt make a BIG difference. Spreading awareness of blog abuse or all sort of abuse is in fact an effective way to influence other people from doing it.

What do you think are other ways to stop blog abuse? It’s now your turn. Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions through the comment. Thank you for your time.

PREVIOUS POSTS