IZEA is one of the most innovative web based companies for bloggers, probably most well known for their PayPerPost service. By now they have added SocialSpark to their portfolio as well, a next-gen blog advertising service.
At first it seams a bit weird for a company to create a similar service as they’re already offering, I must say it did to me when I first heard about SocialSpark. What could possibly be different from PayPerPost, both are essentially blog advertising services right?
I decided to sign up anyway as I’ve always been satisfied with PayPerPost and I’ve got nothing to lose checking out this service. After surfing about the site for a bit it’s easy to see how SocialSpark is different, in many ways.
The first major difference which SocialSpark has compared to PPP is their code of ethics. A major advantage is search engine friendly links, that means no-follow! For all of us who do care about our google pageranks this is a major advantage know how google frowns upon paid links.
But also the other 3 factors in the code of ethics; namely transparency, in-post disclosure and real opinions are a great advantage for bloggers, advertisers and readers. Readers can instantly see whether a post is sponsored or not, bloggers are allowed to write their actual opinions on opportunities and advertisers will know their advertisement gets an honest review and is seen.
SocialSpark is more than just advertising though, it’s a community site. You can make friends with other bloggers, you can give out props to them if you think due and you can find blogs of interest. On top of that you have the possibility to exchange opportunities with others in the form of writing on an entry of each other.
For me the best part of it all is how easy it has been made to filter through sponsored posts, blog sponsorships and sparks. It’s the essential part of a site like this and I really like how you can easily filter the opportunities based on qualification, status, offer and search terms.
I’d say give it a check yourself in case you’re looking for something new in the forms of blog advertising, the sign up is quickly and totally free. And even if you do not see any opportunities of interest you still might find a lot of interesting new blogs you haven’t seen before.
