If integrity is worth a damn in the world of Internet poker and blogs, Wicked Chops should come clean.
As reported by Haley at Pokerblog.com, Wicked Chops is run by a public relations firm in partnership with Internet gambling site Bodog. Wicked Chops has not disclosed its business relationship to Bodog on its site while it continues to present gossip, news and soft core porn as if it were a reputable information source.
You might think that this isn't a big deal. But I believe it's important that people know where their information comes from. In this case, it's coming from a site with an agenda to help Bodog without telling you that's what they're doing.
In the P.R. business, the agency's job is to present information with an angle to slant public opinion to the benefit of the client (Bodog). The truth is secondary to the primary goal of putting a good face on the news.
Wicked Chops does not acknowledge its relationship with Bodog anywhere on its site, instead falling back on the non-answer that "at WCP, we're not so much into journalistic integrity as we are into giving hugs."
It's obvious that Wicked Chops doesn't care about journalistic integrity. That's not exactly the point though. The point is that Wicked Chops isn't being up-front with its readers.
Anything you read at Wicked Chops may be compromised. If you didn't know that they were shills for Bodog, you wouldn't know to read the site with a skeptical eye. Be especially wary about posts concerning WSOP champion Jamie Gold, litigant Crispin Leyser, Bodog itself and Bodog's competitor sites.
I'm not saying that Wicked Chops -- or any other blog -- can't promote its business partners. But to do so in an underhanded fashion is dishonest and unfair to readers.
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I've put some thought into this topic.
I get plenty of spam sent to my e-mail from advertisers who want me to promote products I've never heard of. I can't seem to read a blog these days without having to hear about ReviewMe, a site that is paying people to put product reviews on their blogs instead of actual content.
Commercialism has crept into nearly every well-known poker blog. There are so many advertisements, affiliate links and bonus code promotions on some blogs that I sometimes feel like a baseball fan walking into parks tarnished by ads plastered on every spare inch of wall space.
It's not wrong to make money. If anything, that may be the most commonly held belief among poker players.
But blogs, unlike poker, should be motivated by more than profit. They should carry some integrity and assurance that the information provided within isn't tilted toward corporate interests. And if their content does amount to little more than a press release, they should let their readers know that.
In that spirit, I have notified my two advertisers -- Fult Tilt Poker and Poker Source Online -- that I will be removing their ads from this blog at the end of the month. They're both fine companies, but I don't feel right anymore about taking their money if I'm going to complain about the excessive commercialization found on poker blogs.
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9 comments:
I think that's foolish. Leave the ads up. If they help you make a little extra cash, then they help you play more poker, and they help you blog more.
I don't think it's hypocritical to point out the commercialism but have your own ads up. You made a valid point about the millions of "review me's" and such. If your ads aren't affecting what or how you write, leave them. (at least the PSO one, because as we all know, PSO rocks)
Yep, Surly,
That's a pretty hard stance, even way beyond me. I see no reason not to accept ads, but I do see circumstances where one just has to be upfront who one is doing business with. As you can see, I touched on a pretty hot point.
One correction: I'm not really "at pokerblog" --- I just cross-posted it there from my own site, and Dan or Poker Shrink or someone thought that the piece was thought-provoking enough to put into that dominant, front-facing queue. Anyone can register and post at pokerblog.
That said, I did accept a small ad from pokerblog myself some time back, although I pretty much gave it away to them, because I like what pokerblog is attempting to do and I've found it a valuable outlet and resource for poker writers. Of course, visitors to my site can see that it's clearly identified as a paid ad.
I still say that WCP is one of the most entertaining poker news-ish sites on the web, too.
In the 18 months or so that I've been doing a poker blaug and posting affilliate ads and other commercial ads there, I've never seen more than a small handful of benefit from it. Once the UIGEA was signed, I decided to remove the majority of the commercial ads from my blog, including Poker Site ads, PokerSourceOnline and others tools like Pokerbility and Pokertracker. So far, I haven't regretted it. I asked myself why I wanted them in the first place. I really hate advertising on web sites with a passion. It boiled down to the fact that unless you really have a lot of traffic from new players visiting your site, you're not going to get anyone to sign up using your links. At most, I've gotten a small handful of players to sign up for a PSO promo and pad my PSO account with a few thousand PSO points. Never once did anyone sign up for Party Poker, or Poker Stars or Titan Poker from any of my affiliate links. Not 1. So, I pulled them all off. Good riddance. I've kept my Google Adsense and Amazon store links up. I've replaced my poker affilate ads with Poker Players Alliance banners. Ya, I don't get any revenue from it, but if it helps to overturn the UIGEA than all the better.
I have no problem with a few banners as long as they do not detract from content.
If a person has a problem FINDING content then it becomes a problem. Plus - I just do not read sites that look more like a giant billboard.
Nice post Gnome. I actually have recently started getting into Ads.. not on purpose.. but just because the opportunities have been coming.. After putting in almost 3 years for free at the blog I am finding it nice to get a little something for it. With one exception I do not think it changes how I blog. That exception and the one that I am most up in the air about is that ReviewMe stuff.. In that case I am giving up my blog content to an advertiser instead of just popping an Ad on the sidebar or whatnot.. so I may or may not continue with that.
I give you a lot of credit for having the courage to follow your convictions. In my experience, I found that side banners were no big deal, as long as they didn't affect my writing. Because of this, I got rid of all affiliate offers, since that encouraged me to send people their way. Instead, I only take flat fee arrangements.
I think that this is the happy medium. I have no reason to pimp my advertisers, so my writing is on point. But I get some financial benefit from my blog, which helps my family.
That said, you don't start a blog for the money. That's plain stupid. But if money is offered and it won't affect your writing, then I think it is a fine thing.
I still like your stance, though.
To add context though, both Mark and I are full-time professional journalists for major mainstream media -- not even Pauly or Michael Craig can say this.
From the very first day on the job, we've been instilled with the notion -- and tradition -- of always keeping the editorial and advertising sections separate.
Of course, as bloggers, we also act as publishers, who balance both worlds daily.
Do we need ads? Probably not. You should be writing for the love of it instead of to catch any bone a master would throw to you.
Let the toasters pay your way instead of the marketers.
I think in the broader context of journalism and poker, most of the larger outlets are plagued by a mix of editorial and advertising issues (e.g., CardPlayer/FullTilt). Is this such a niche market and so embryonic in it's media that there has been limited ability to build an audience while keeping these separate? Perhaps. There seems to be very limited non-poker advertisers in general, which is common but possibly extreme in this industry compared to others (e.g., golf).
Having headed in a different direction (moving my blog to a larger site), I can say that it has changed my content somewhat but in a pretty limited fashion. I don't write about the sites but do now religiously add links to my content. If you attract eyeballs, I don't believe that you have to remove ads, IMO. There is value in both your time as well as your content, and if revenue aids in devoting time to that, then so be it.
Good stuff, and very thought provoking.
Well this was a great post. I can see both sides of it, but for whatever it's worth, I agree with you.
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