Remember when DJs could be bought to promote the records of a new band or recording artist. Or when special interest groups pay off their congressman to vote favorably for their industy's causes. Well, who would have thought us little ole bloggers could come under the same scrutiny? The FTC, that's who! This is a response to a practice that's come to be known as "Blogola" where companies curry favor from bloggers by giving them computers, weekend getaways, gift baskets, cars and other swag.



"Blogging for dollars" has become big business as stay-at-home moms are courted on equal footing with Industry top guns. In a recent Business Week expose' the following "Blogola" deals were undercovered. Here's a look at 12 brands and their efforts to get their products out front and personal with the American consumer.

1- Roger Smith Hotel Stay in NYC



Blogs: Chris Brogan and others (note: Chris Brogan is President of New Marketing Labs, and works with large and mid-sized companies to improve online business communications through the use of social software, community platforms, and other emerging web and mobile technologies).

Payoff: The New York City hotel offers a reduced rate for bloggers such as Brogan, who was also upgraded to a suite for no extra charge during a February visit.

Disclosure: Roger Smith Hotel doesn't ask that bloggers write about their stay.

2- General Mills

Blogs: My Boys and Me, Shake the Salt, and hundreds of others.

Payoff: General Mills recently began working with mom-friendly blog network MyBlogSpark to offer coupons and samples to its bloggers. So far the program has resulted in some 5 million visits to postings about General Mills products.

Disclosure: The consumer goods company doesn't ask bloggers to disclose the arrangement. Bloggers are asked to contact MyBlogSpark before writing anything negative.

3- Mars M&Ms



Blog: BlogHer Reviews by little ol' Me.

Payoff: To promote its new M&Ms Premiums in February, Mars sent blogger Amie Danny a basket of the chocolates and asked her to hold a contest to give M&Ms out to readers.

Disclosure: Danny discussed the candy's positives and negatives and described the gift basket as a marketing effort. "I applaud M&M's for trying something fun and different!" she wrote.

4- Microsoft

Blogs: Laughing Squid, Mauricio Freitas, and others.

Payoff: To promote the launch of Windows Vista in late 2006, Microsoft sent bloggers pricey Acer laptops loaded with the software. Laughing Squid's Scott Beale sold his machine on eBay (EBAY) and donated the proceeds to charity.

Disclosure: In e-mails with bloggers, Microsoft's public relations firm, Daniel J. Edelman, referred to the laptops as "presents" and didn't ask for anything in return.

5- Nokia

Blogs: The Mobile Gadgeteer and others.

Payoff: For the 2006 launch of its Nseries smart phone, Nokia sent phones to 50 tech bloggers. It told the Washington Post that this "blogger outreach" program boosted profits by 43%.

Disclosure: Nokia told the bloggers that they didn't have to write a review if they didn't want to and it included a return FedEx (FDX) envelope to send phones back.

6- Nikon

Blogs: B.L. Ochman's Whatsnextblog, gigglechick.com, media guerilla, and 47 others.

Payoff: In 2007, Nikon offered its D80 digital SLR to 50 photography bloggers for six months.

Disclosure: The camera maker asked bloggers to "make sure that, if you choose to write about the camera, you make it clear how you got it."

7- Lenovo

Blogs: 5th Time's The Charm, Nicole Forrester's Blog, Josiah Ng, and 97 others.

Payoff: Lenovo, the official sponsor of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, last year sent Lenovo IdeaPad laptops, along with Flip video cameras, to 100 athletes from 25 countries, asking them to record happenings in Beijing.

Disclosure: Each blog entry uploaded by the athletes also appeared on a Lenovo's "Voices of the Summer Games" page.

8- Sears

Blogs: Chris Heuer's Insytes, Technosailor, Jim Kukral, and others.

Payoff: Working with marketing company IZEA, Sears sent $500 gift cards to bloggers last December, asking each to take a friend on a shopping spree and write about the trip.

Disclosure: All bloggers were required to disclose the arrangement and were permitted to write about negative experiences at Sears.





9- Google

Blogs: Kuma Type, okiraku diary, and others.

Payoff: Google in February hired pay-per-post agency CyberBuzz to offer Japanese bloggers undisclosed amounts to promote Google's "Hot Keywords" widget on their sites.

Disclosure: None was provided. Shortly after the incident, a Google Japan representative apologized and said the company would discontinue the pay-per-post practice.





10- Hewlett-Packard

Blogs: Veep Veep, A Year of CrockPotting, BooMama, and four others.

Payoff: In February, Hewlett-Packard gave seven bloggers at women's site BlogHer two wireless printers: one for each writer and one for them to raffle to readers.

Disclosure: All of the bloggers published links to a page explaining the deal on BlogHer's site.





11- Electronic Arts

Blogs: Lauren Bernat, Mommy Too! Magazine, and nine others.

Payoff: In April, Electronic Arts flew 11 bloggers to Santa Barbara, Calif. to work out with Oprah Winfrey's trainer and to test EA Sports Active, a new Nintendo (NTDOY) Wii fitness game.

Disclosure: Bloggers openly discussed the video game maker's sponsorship of the trip.





12- Ford