Sponsored Conversations: And the debate continues

Apr
20

With all the chatter here, here and here about sponsored conversations, I felt that I should chime in. First and foremost, Ted Murphy (CEO of IZEA) is a personal friend of mine and I was deeply humbled when he asked me to be on the Advisory Board of his company. I believe in Ted, his vision and the IZEA business model.

To me, the issue is clear; and as Brogan so eloquently posts …”To me, it’s just ridiculously simple: disclose. Disclose. Disclose”

There is really nothing more to discuss. From my perspective in working in the enterprise and having many conversations about this topic, disclosure and authenticity is imperative in every piece of “social” conversation, whether online or not. It’s in the DNA of our humanity to be real with people, no?

The future of sponsored conversations is clear in my head. It’s going to explode; plain and simple. I remember back in 2001 (I think) when Overture began selling pay-per-click search; and the community was in an uproar about the idea of manipulating the search engines. Today, paid search is a multi-billion dollar industry and the early arguments are long forgotten. Sponsored conversations are heading down the same road, with IZEA leading the way.

Did I mention that I am on the Advisory Board of IZEA?

Razorfunfish

Author: Michael Brito

Michael Brito is a Vice President of Social Media at Edelman Digital. All thoughts and opinions on this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his employer or clients; neither past or present. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or subscribe to this blog.

Stefanie Hartman

Congratulations on being named to the advisory board. I'll be keeping an eye out to see if sponsored conversations can duplicate paid search.

Fred H Schlegel

Since sooner or later folks have to eat, disclosure is the only option. Truth is, while we had a short period of time when one could argue advertisers needed reporters more than reporters needed advertisers, there has always been a need for better disclosure - whether you own stocks, take advertising, pay-for-post or heck, eat.

Ray Hartjen

Good post, and right on the money, Michael. You ask, "It's in the DNA of our humanity to be real with people, no?" It might be in the DNA of (most) people. But, often, it's not in the DNA of people on the web :). Keep spreading the good word.

James

i have been following this for quite some time. Payperpost was indeed a problem for brands, but Izea did a great job transforming it into a product that promotes disclosure and authenticity -- great job Murphy. He listened to the community feedback, iterated the product and yet some people are still mad.

I really don't think it's about "sponsored conversations" anymore. I think it maybe personal but that's just my opinion.