10% of Companies accept Ads buy Coverage

July 31, 2008 · Print This Article

So I think a little number of these ad sales folks hint at the concept that they’ll “talk to the editors” or prepare the potential advertisers accept they’ll be given a little kind of advantage in coverage. And the whole object may be just an unfounded insight. A careless read of that finding may lead readers to think, OK, 19 percent of publications are corrupt. additionally: 10% of marketers state they accept their companies have a “non-verbal agreement with journalists or editors for which, in exchange for buying ad space, they can expect favorable coverage of their products or varietys.” I fear that survey may give journalists a black eye they may not deserve. It may be one association. that is the person with whom marketers have their “non-verbal agreement.”

When the editorial staff does cover a product, negative coverage is met with an alarmed “what happened?” phone sign to the publication’s sale contact, and trouble with the relationship within the marketing person and the sales person. A new survey states 19 percent of marketers accept their association bought ads on a “news site” in exchange for a story. It may be a million. I have, on the other hand, run into many “marketers” and even company CEOs who believed such a relationship does or should exist. It’s the percentage of marketing folks who accept that somewhere in the company they work for, such

a relationship exists with an unknown number of news organizations.

This survey merely does an inventory of the beliefs of marketers. But when coverage happens to be positive, the advertiser pats themselves on the back for making it all happen, and they’re a large hero at their own company for the large “win.”

At most technology publications, editors and writers don’t even pay attention to who is advertising. But the 19 percent figure doesn’t at all degree a percentage of news organizations. Here’s why:

I’ve been an editor for 20 years, and have never personally observered any such arrangement. News organizations typically have a “Chinese Wall” amidst the editorial and advertising departments. The ad sales folks (who are generally strangers to the editorial people) are in white-hot competition with the ad sales folks from other publications, and need to give advertisers reasons to do business. The survey has no knowledge on the number of news organizations involved, or even the validity of the beliefs among marketers.

Anyway, “news organizations” already have a worse public reputation than they deserve, and that survey doesn’t help. Here’s why. It does not actually degree corruption among editors and writers.

Also: Be careful of the numbers. A write up that states 19 percent of “senior marketers” “admit” their organizations bought ads on a news site in exchange for a news story.

[Source] Mike

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