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Marketing Firms Manipulate Blogs Into Promotional Platforms

As the internet advances and new communication platforms are adopted by the mainstream surfing population, marketing techniques advance as well and companies have started to incorporate artificial `blogs` into their marketing campaigns. Online posts that promote products are speared around the web, and people are tricked into thinking that this or that independent blog is a personal site, while a big company is operating it for promoting purposes.

Blogs are available everywhere these days, and every other person is operating his own blog and sharing personal insight online. People turn to blogs as they regard them as sources of unbiased information that cannot be found elsewhere and this is exactly why companies are using blogs to promote their products. If a person believes that something he or she read on a personal blog is really a personal opinion rather than a marketing plot, they will be persuaded easily.

One of the biggest brands in America, Sony Computer Entertainment America, admitted to creating a fake blog titled "All I want for Christmas is a PlayStation Portable" in an effort to boost the sales of its PlayStation product line. Looking and reading at the blog would get one to believe that some hyped fan of the PlayStation product has created a personal site to tell the world how wonderful the product really is. However, such actions are not only unethical, but can also be illegal. Advertisers cannot post product commentary without advising readers that the content is with a promotional value and has a marketing orientation in mind.