Paid blogging, paying a blogger to write about your product or service, is not a new concept.  It should come as no surprise that there are bloggers out there who accept payment for postings and organizations willing to pay them. Search “paid blogging” on Google and you’ll find plenty of sites like PayPerPost.com, which pairs up bloggers with advertisers.

But I was quite shocked to find that one of the nation’s largest advertising agencies suggested paid blogging as one of their social media services. When did paid blogging gain such validity?

Web 2.0 thrives in the spirit of open and genuine social participation. Bloggers are influential opinion leaders because they have credibility with their audiences. Serious bloggers who are trusted for information would not sell their posts. Even if the bloggers who write paid posts disclose they were paid to do so, I question the value of a paid post. What’s the point if there’s no credibility? If you are looking to advertise with disclosure, why not just buy an ad on the blogger’s site rather than create what amounts to an advertorial in an attempt to dupe savvy Web readers. And is it worth the price of a damaged reputation when these readers see you are not being transparent?

Maybe the big firms are encouraging paid blogging in their social media mix, but it doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. I suggest we stick to communicating with bloggers like members of the media and trust that most readers can distinguish between ads and editorial.