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'Best' Fake Blog of 2006 Awarded
schwaang writes "Advertising is an integral part of the Web, and its revenues make the likes of Google possible for all of us. But when PR firms promote products by pretending to be real bloggers, some think it crosses the line into unethical 'astroturf'. The Consumerist held a contest for best 'Flog' of 2006. And the winner is... Sony for it's fake all-I-want-for-Xmas PSP blog (which Slashdot readers will no doubt remember). Runners up included
Walmart and McDonald's. And the award itself? Well, it's something you might find on on a fake lawn."
Fake Steve is, by far, the best fake blog ever.
How much business? From Wiki: While Denton does not go into detail over Gawker Media's finances, he has downplayed the profit potential of blogs[1], declaring "Blogs are likely to be better for readers than for capitalists. While I love the medium, I've always been skeptical about the value of blogs as businesses" on his personal site[2]. However, in the February 20, 2006 issue of New York Magazine, Jossip founder David Hauslaib estimated Gawker.com's annual advertising revenue to be at least $1 million two years ago, and possibly over $2 million a year[3]. Combined with low operating costs -- mostly web hosting fees and writer salaries -- Denton is believed to be turning a healthy profit.
I'd have a personalized plate on my car, but "toxic bachelor" won't fit into 7 letters.
Sony has been dominating this arena since the beginning. I remember that phony giantology blog promoting Shadow of the Collossus a while back making huge ripples. (google giantology). I'm half tempted to make a fake blog condemning fake blogs, but that'd be nearly as bad as giving out fake awards for making fake blogs, wouldn't it? I mean... get real.
He was interviewed on NPR a few weeks ago, so surely they did some research to see if he's legit. I don't see your point about the $52/year roadside assistance. $52 isn't much, especially compared to the millions he owes. And he's obviously not penniless, since he can afford the fees for his domain registration and server space. However, I do think he's a greedy SOB who got what he deserved.
If you can read this sig, you're too close.
He paraphrases and regurgitates large quantities of articles onto his blog and tries to get them linked to slashdot to increase his advertising revenue.
He doesn't actually add anything to the stories, merely acts as a middle man to siphon off some of the ad revenue.
Thus, people are bothered because slashdot links to him when they could link directly to the primary source with no more effort.
Sorry, I should have written that on the original message. The simplest proof is (very surprisingly, to me) right there in the footer, in small letters: "©2007 BORINGBORING - A Microsoft project". Also, others have already investigated further, and the domain was registered by a guerilla marketing agency, not just some random person.