Both are respectable ways to be paid for writing reviews.

I would NEVER accept a payment from the company that owns the product for the express purpose of writing the review, however. That’s entirely unethical, no matter how you slice it.

At the very least, the article above should disclose the fact that the manufacturer was PAYING FOR IT TO BE WRITTEN. When an ad looks too much like an actual article in a magazine, for example, most respectable magazines will add the words “paid advertisement” or something to that effect. This article did not.

(Granted, the article above did state that the opportunity to review the product came via Reviewme, but the ordinary reader has no idea what that means.)

@Dan – Sitepoint pays reviewme, who in turn than pays me, regardless of whether or not the review is favorable or unfavorable to the company / product / service / etc. Quoted from Reviewme’s F.A.Q’s:

“We do not allow advertisers to require a positive review. The vast majority of reviews are measuredly positive, although many do contain constructive criticism. We view this as a bonus: how else can you quickly and cheaply get feedback on a product or service from influencers?”

In a way, this makes Reviewme the “impartial party”, as we as publishers get paid regardless of what we say. Yes, the money may be put up by the company who wants their service reviewed and not by a complete outsider, but they do not control what the reviewer has to say about their product/service.

So what happens if a “review me” reviewer does an article saying an product or service sucks? how much work do you see them getting in the future?

AJ, keep up the fine work!