Crooked bloggers shilling for payday lenders
Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Technology
Arthur Delaney reports that a number of bloggers have been pitching the virtues of www.paydayloansmania.com, an online provider of high-interest payday loans for people who are really, really, really desperate for cash.At PaydayLoansMania.com, "Nobody will ask you for what purposes you need your payday loan, and your credit history will not be taken into account while granting you a credit," one blogger writes. "It can be a life saver that also provides the easiest advanced cash online," says another. "Pay Day loans in the month of May, it sounds almost poetic," waxes a third.
It sounds more like a paycheck for the blogger. The poet and his entourage are participating in a viral marketing scheme whereby they get paid to chat up a product. IZEA, the company behind payperpost.com, a lead innovator of the marketing method, calls the business model "sponsored conversations."
A couple things to keep in mind:
- Be wary of blogs that seem a little too excited about relatively obscure products. There are exceptions, but for the most part, reputable companies don't engage in the kind of astoturfing that companies like IZEA promote.
- Use reliable blogs (like WalletPOP!) for research on important decisions. As part of the Weblogs Inc. network, all of our bloggers adhere to a strict code of conduct governing journalistic integrity: We don't receive free products or services from the companies we write about, none of our writers are involved in the advertising aspect of the business, and we don't accept junkets from companies. None of us receive a dime from anyone other than AOL, our parent company, for our work on this site.
Finally: Never, ever, ever get a payday loan, and if you do get a payday loan, which you should never, ever do, don't go online to get one.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-19-2009 @ 5:43PM
brettbum said...
OK, so you are either a fool or a hypocrite. I'll give you the benefit of a doubt, and hope that you are just a fool.
1. The huffington post article about payday loans features pay day loan ads.
2. Your own article here features payday loan ads (they are labeled as sponsored) but you also feature TONS of other ads that are not labeled as sponsored.
3. This article pretty much regurgitates (in some cases flat out copies content from Huffington Post word for word without quoting it. You do list them as a source but don't credit them for the sentences and paragraphs that you copy.
4. I ventured around the site to see if you were the only author that doesn't have their stuff together, and found this article http://www.walletpop.com/credit/credit-cards/article/_a/bbdp/senate-passes-cardholder-protection-bill/489700 in the 'credit' section. The article indicates that the House approved a bill of rights to stop credit card companies from raising rates. But the 10th item in the bill of rights specifically states that the bill "Contains NO rate caps, fee setting, or price controls " and then the article cites some nonsenical press release from the House that doesn't even list the actual bill of rights legislation. So apparently you are in bad company.
5. Its really annoying when any blog has floating pop up ads showing up on the site (like WalletPop does).
So cast stones if you like, after all you are just a blogger, no rules about bloggers and all, but really wtf? :)
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5-20-2009 @ 6:28PM
ket said...
Why do you say crooked blogger. It's just a review of website. Who knows it give fake information.
Like yours.
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5-20-2009 @ 1:44PM
RTMW said...
Zac, you are a NITWIT, your story picture is of a pawnshop, do you not know the difference between a pawnshop and a payday loan store???
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5-21-2009 @ 10:42AM
Lanic said...
I'm not just concerned about the inaccuracies and assumptions but the taking passionately of a stance without valid reason or supporting evidence. Whether or not you agree, individual companies and people have the right to blog about whatever they choose just as you do. In addition, all companies within an industry can not be lumped into the same category. Yes, payday loans should only be used for emergencies but there are ways to "shop" for the best loan just as you can with any other product or service.
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