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Beware the Message of Adverblogging

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the content-is-the-message dept.

GameSetWatch looks at the moral middle ground of semi-official company organs. Otherwise known as adverblogging, GSW singles out Three Speech, a blog dedicated to the PlayStation 3. Though the site purports not to be a 'part of' Sony, they have insider access and company knowledge that separates them from your average blog. All this raises some trust issues, which the post explores: "You know, this 'free and open' is true to some limited extent, but why weren't there any difficult comparative questions asked about Xbox Live Arcade in the Harrison interview on E-Distribution? Surely the fact this is for a Sony site makes a difference? (The earlier discussion on SIXAXIS is a bit more rigorous in terms of asking tricky questions, mind you.) I'm aware that the interview was _largely_ just informational, and there are some tautological ways round this. But how about Sony just give Fahey a no-holds-barred interview with Harrison that would run in full on GI.biz, and then reprint the bits they want to? Or wouldn't that be bloglike enough?" Russ Pitts has a further exploration of this subject at the Escapist Lounge blog.

37 comments

  1. Never purports not to be part of Sony by EVil+Lawyer · · Score: 1
    From the site: "Three Speech isn't part of PlayStation, but it does get to speak to PlayStation. You could say we're 'semi official'."

    Note that they say they're not a part of PlayStation, rather than not a part of Sony. They could easily be produced by a Sony affiliate or subsidary that is not linked to the arm of Sony that directly produces PlayStation products.

  2. No harm, no foul? by Crasty · · Score: 0

    If the blog is posted by Sony employees, is that really such a tremendous breach of trust? I mean, it pretending not to be a Sony employee could be seen as underhanded, but people are just people, no matter who they work for. So, while it may be a Sony PR machine trying to get under the public subconscious, it could just as easily be a Sony engineer that wants to get right to the point and find out people like/don't like about a product he/she is developing.

    In this day and age, it is best to assume that any blogger has an agenda. Regardless of that agenda, you are reading THEIR BLOG, so you have to assume responsibility for scrutinizing what you read.

  3. Irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So is this sort of like how Zonk isn't *officially* a member of the XBox marketing team, he just posts stories spun in favor of the XBox?

    1. Re:Irony by Thansal · · Score: 1

      see, it would be more amusing if you remembered that he posts more pronintendo articles then he does pro xbox.

      Get your trolling right.

      --
      Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
    2. Re:Irony by Pluvius · · Score: 1

      That's because there are more pro-Nintendo articles than pro-Microsoft articles, and the /. audience is more receptive to them. Zonk's going by the idea that people who support the Wii are more likely to support the XBox 360 than the PS3.

      Rob

  4. Darn by artifex2004 · · Score: 1

    For some reason I thought Engadget or at least Gizmodo would be listed as examples of advertorial blogging.

    1. Re:Darn by EVil+Lawyer · · Score: 1

      I always assumed that Engadget and Gizmodo did not have any stake in the success of the products they were writing-up, or did not receive any direct financial benefit from the company whose product it was promoting. I understand that they receive free "tester" versions of the products that they review or promote, but was not aware of any cash or other payment to them in exchange for featuring a product.

    2. Re:Darn by drinkypoo · · Score: 1
      I understand that they receive free "tester" versions of the products that they review or promote, but was not aware of any cash or other payment to them in exchange for featuring a product.

      too many bad reviews, and people stop sending you stuff, which is why consumer reports goes out and buys the things they review - they're not beholden to anyone.

      It will be interesting to see what consumer reports thinks of the Vista EULA.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Darn by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      "For some reason I thought Engadget or at least Gizmodo would be listed as examples of advertorial blogging."

      Erm. I suppose one could say that. But wouldn't that be true of any news site that covers products that people would want to buy?

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    4. Re:Darn by nexex · · Score: 1

      I thought it was because they did not want to recieve 'reviewer' versions. They want to test the exact version that a typical consumer would buy.

      --
      Winter 2010: With Glowing Hearts
    5. Re:Darn by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Well, it's both of course. Avoiding conflict of interest is a big part of it, though - they won't have any credibility unless they do that.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. WHOIS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just for the hell of it:

    http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=threespe ech.com

  6. This is difficult. by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 1

    The problem with maintaining whatever journalistic integrity a blog (or, for that matter, website) has is if it's popular and successful enough, the industry will take notice, and it will result in "connections" one way or another, even if it was completely unofficial to start with. Many of the webmasters from the "Snakes on a Plane" craze got t-shirts and things. The "Penny Arcade" guys have parlayed a comic strip that touches on the gaming industry into an entire empire with their own gaming convention, and occasionally post pictures of freebies they get from game companies. Tons of fan sites and gripe sites end up earning their webmasters feedback from the ones who produce whatever it was the site is about. Everyone googles themselves and deals with the results in the best way they know how, and big industries are certainly no exception.

    As for me, I used to run a comprehensive fansite dedicated to a television show, which grew into its main fansite, got noticed by the show's cast and crew, and led to me becoming on friendly terms with them. I got to interview insiders for my site, got offered exclusive stuff from upcoming episodes, and eventually made some new friends from the staff that I still keep in touch with long after I shut the site down.

    While I was running that site, could people have called me an "insider?" Maybe, though I never felt like one. Could I still have posted "OMG this show sucks now!" on the site if I suddenly stopped liking it? I never actually felt that way about it, but to be totally honest if in some alternate universe I did stop liking the show, I might have felt guilty about posting such on the site, as the fan community and the show's staff had really done a lot for me. That perceived loss of independence alone is the main reason I'll probably never start another fansite like that.

    --
    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
    1. Re:This is difficult. by Borg453b · · Score: 1

      With the pc gaming scene slowly diminishing, I was sad to se that Company of Heroes got no menion on PA (correct me if I am wrong). Its such an excellent game - and one of my best experiences as of late.

      I wrote them - but got no reply. I wonder if their project with Ubisoft(Brothers in arms) "got in the way". While they only metion the odd RTS ( like the recent LOTR games ), as a gamer i feel that COH is too big a thing to ignore.

      There's still a lot of fun to be had in front of the PC.

      .. and no; I've got no ties to THQ or Relic (Though I liked homeworld as well).

      Rant: But hey - at least they write about games. Pvponline has become a comic about a game magazine without games. Kurtz is cool, and his strip is funny.. but where are the games?

      --

      - Mad, ingenous - they've both left you puzzled -
    2. Re:This is difficult. by Kizzle · · Score: 1

      Cactus?

      --
      Hacker Media
    3. Re:This is difficult. by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 1

      Cactus!

      --
      Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
    4. Re:This is difficult. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was the show Charles in Charge? Be honest.

    5. Re:This is difficult. by ServereNerd · · Score: 1

      First, I doubt it is possible to be purely unbiased (in an theoretical sense) in web publishing. I mean, if you are going to pay for net-hosting, etc., you have some stake in the fact that the information is viewed by others. It could take the form of desiring an audience to be aware of the issue at all, the desire for them to have the correct information, or perhaps the desire to have your information. (forgive me, bloggers!)

      That being said, a major factor in the inception of blogging was that it was fairly cheap and easy to do. This lowered the "stakes", and helped against bias. It also gave viewers a much-needed reliable source of what a product is actually like. Since then, many probably still view blogs as unbiased and independent. That's where the wannabe-viral PR comes in...

      Paid testimonials from celebrities who've probably never actually used the product is one thing; thinking that an unbiased person loves their product so much they make a blog about how great it is is another.

      Given how cheap this sort of marketting probably is, it'll probably never go away (like reality TV). However, the cultural perception of blogging may adversely change as the astro-turf outnumbers the real grass. It'll lose its effectiveness, and they'll probably find something else. The blogging community, however, may lose their perceived credibility. ergo ipso facto, we need AstroTurf-icide!

    6. Re:This is difficult. by technos · · Score: 1

      They probably just didn't play it. They organize a huge convention once a year, manage a charity, write a comic strip, and what with five different console and portable platforms out on top of the PC, they were probably just doing other things.

      --
      .sig: Now legally binding!
  7. Huh? by Otter · · Score: 1
    The full quote is:
    "People are free to say what they want here. We won't censor content so long as this space is used constructively" - and with a pun on 'free speech' as the blog name, too.

    You know, this 'free and open' is true to some limited extent, but why weren't there any difficult comparative questions asked about Xbox Live Arcade in the Harrison interview on E-Distribution?

    Which strikes me as a total non-sequitur. They say they won't censor comments so they have to ask interviewees any question some guy thinks they should have asked...?

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  8. THEY ARE PAID BY SONY by RockMFR · · Score: 1
    The threespeech domain is owned by "Ramp Industry" (do a lookup at dnsstuff.com). Now check this out:

    http://www.aqr.org.uk/dir/r/rampindustry.shtml

    Clients include Channel 4, Sony PlayStation, MGOMD, Topshop, Asics/Onituska Tiger, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment and Bacardi.

    1. Re:THEY ARE PAID BY SONY by sesshomaru · · Score: 1
      Well, possibly they are being paid by Barcardi.... mmmmm... Barcardi...

      Is it Happy Hour yet?

      --
      "MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
    2. Re:THEY ARE PAID BY SONY by steveo777 · · Score: 1

      Bacardi, huh? I guess they're not that bad...

      --
      This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
  9. Blogs in general by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This isn't really just an issue with 'semi-official' blogs. A friend published a (historic non-fiction) book recently, and a notable portion of the advertising went to bloggers. Not to one-off shills, but to general respected sites (at least within their demographic) who were willing to plug the book.

    Advertisers LOVE bloggers. If you buy a plug on a nationwide radio talk-show, the result is limited to the audience of that show at that particular moment. But buy a plug on a high-traffic blog and with all the cross-linking you end up getting free buzz from a ton of extra sites -- plus this linking can expose new demographics for your product that you hadn't previously considered. (Free market research as a result of cheap advertising? Who's gonna pass that up?)

  10. Spun in favor of the XBox? by spun · · Score: 1

    No, not really. I don't favor any particular console.

    P.S. I picked this nick over ten years ago just so I could make that joke and this is the first time I've been able to do it...

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:Spun in favor of the XBox? by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Well, if it makes you feel any better, I always thought of political spin when I saw your nick.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  11. Speaking to playstation by kinglink · · Score: 1

    "Three Speech isn't part of PlayStation, but it does get to speak to PlayStation."

    I speak to playstation, a lot actually when I get frustated, they usually are crude remarks about it's mother, but I also speak to playstation. Listen to me too.

    1. Re:Speaking to playstation by Pope · · Score: 1

      Clearly you should be taking to Dreamcast! http://www.gamespot.com/dreamcast/sim/seaman/revie w.html

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
  12. Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Could someone explain the difference between someone who is presenting thoughts motivated by a desire to get paid, and someone who is presenting thoughts motivated by an ideology?

    In both cases you are seeking to angle your information to influence people a certain way. I find the resistance against factual 'shills' somewhat strange compared to noone caring about idelogical 'shills'.

  13. You're telling us that NOW? by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

    What's this, a guide to deal with stories posted by Zonk?

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  14. Its simple. by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
    Its simple. If you're 100% up front that you are part of the company you're posting about, and by part of I mean being paid by them to post about them, then people won't have a problem as they can easily ignore you once they realize your bias.

    The issue comes about when people do NOT disclose this and try to trick readers into thinking they are something they are not. If I want to get exclusive pics and videos, I might check your site out since I'd know you were sponsored by the company and thus would have exclusive stuff, however I would avoid your site at all costs for impartial reviews for example.

    And woe to any company that tries to hide it, because the truth WILL be found out as happened here and as also happened with WalMart's blog. And it will bite you in the ass PR wise. We don't care if you're a sponsored blog, just inform us so we can make proper decisions about how we weight the value of your information. We don't react well to being deceived.

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    1. Re:Its simple. by bit01 · · Score: 1

      ... by part of I mean being paid by them to post about them ...

      Worth emphasizing that means being paid in any way. Meaning money, employment, sub-contract, freebies, early access, media access, future access, anything of value.

      Too many weasels claim that being paid in kind is somehow different from being paid directly and doesn't require disclosure.

      ---

      Marketing talk is not just cheap, it can have negative value. Free speech can be compromised just as much by too much noise as too little signal.

  15. For me, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Engadget, Inquirer by gamer4Life · · Score: 1
    They all seem part of some sort of Microsoft network... and would be cited as examples of "Adver-Blogging".

    Aside from selective "journalism", they're headlines include:

    Sony Hates Europeans, Will Prevent The Importing of PS3
    Why the PS3 Needs Lots of Power
    Microsoft Blogger Says PS3 Online "Likely Underwelming" Sony: "European gamers come second" The only reason they report on the PS3 is to put a negative spin on it, and get people to think they're a credible news source, rather than a fanboy site or a sponsored Microsoft site. It's a shame that these "news sources" show up on Google News over more credible sites like IGN.

    1. Re:For me, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Engadget, Inquirer by falcon5768 · · Score: 1
      Sorry Gizmodo and Kotaku are part of the Gawker network of sites (which is why they are media go to's more than anything else because Gawker is a well know media outlet) and are in no way affiliated with Microsoft. They have been touting their love of the Wii as well and two of Kotakus bloggers are now Wired Mag staff.

      Their hate on Sony has much to do with Sony's recent handling (or most would say blatent misshandling) of the public at large. They have never said the PS3 or other Sony products suck (infact that have said the PS3 as a machine was mindblowing) just that they are always overpriced and consumer unfriendly which most of the public would agree with.

      They have trashed the Xbox just as much in recent days the latest being the fun clip of the guy cooking eggs on his heat sync its so hot. and they are huge Apple lovers only to be rooting for the Zune (at least some of them are)

      And well I would without a doubt say Consumerist, another Gawker Media site is quite anti Apple, microsoft, Sony and just about any company who screws with its customers.

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    2. Re:For me, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Engadget, Inquirer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So wait, in order to be critical of Sony, you have to be in the pay of Microsoft? HEY, BILL, WHERE'S MY CHEQUE DAMMIT?

  16. Why would anybody EVER trust anything in a blog? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Blogs are not journalism. Journalism is journalism -- and even it's pretty dubious. Blogging is just jabber.

  17. Never fear! by Rimbo · · Score: 1

    I am here to inform you that I will never, ever stoop to the level of promoting my employer or their interests in my blog. Why, it's as honest as the day is long, and I would never let my employer paying me affect my bias in any way.