Let me share with you what I know about SponsoredReviews.com, a new marketplace connecting bloggers to advertisers.
Like ReviewMe (a similar service that launched recently), SponsoredReviews.com helps publishers and advertisers find each other. If a business wants to be talked about on a top blog covering its industry, or if a blogger is looking to make some extra money discussing relevant companies or products, sites like these can be highly useful resources.
Unlike ReviewMe, SponsoredReviews.com has a hybrid search system that allows advertisers and publishers to search for each other. It also offers a bidding system that allows both parties to negotiate the price of a review.
Another nice thing about SponsoredReviews.com is that its transaction fee (35 percent) is lower than ReviewMe's (50 percent). Also, SponsoredReviews pays bloggers on a bi-weekly payment schedule as opposed to monthly for ReviewMe.
I like the SponsoredReviews.com website. I would personally change some of the images on the home page to text, but that's just me. It explains its service very clearly. The site FAQ could use beefing up too, but it's of course a new service so I would expect that to mature soon.
Follow the SponsoredReviews.com blog (feed) for company updates. See the official launch announcement for more details.
Speaking of the SponsoredReviews.com blog - I like it too. Looks like they're trying hard to fill it with simple, useful content. While it's mostly publishing announcements now, it quietly started up with some excellent timeless tips (and more tips) for bloggers.
Even if you're not into writing sponsored (paid) reviews, it's important to be aware of services like this as they impact the economy of online publishing.
Know More Media has experienced some success with ReviewMe and we're trying out SponsoredReviews as well. It looks thus far like SponsoredReviews could well give ReviewMe a run for its money.
Your thoughts on the SponsoredReviews site, blog, service or paid reviews in general? What are some of the benefits and pitfalls as you see them?
Does this make three review websites now?
They all take their cut but even 35% is too high for mine. (People complain about eBay, and they take ~4-5%!)
I can only see this service working for small blogs. Big bloggers probably don't need this service to attract paid reviews. John Chow gets $125 of the $250 review price for his blog... But could easily just set the price to $200 and ignore ReviewMe and take money via Paypal.. Come to think of it, why doesn't he? Hmm..
Posted by: Mat | March 16, 2007 5:00 PM | Permalink to Comment