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Comment by UnoriginalGuy | Hacker News Reader

This is a very subtle advert. So quick digging raises one interesting question: Are they being paid by Patriot?

Clearly they're using Amazon referral links here but that image at the bottom of the article is both professionally taken and unique to this article (I put it into Google Image search and TinyEye - neither had relevant results).

If they are being paid by Patriot then I would suggest it is immoral not to say that in the advert/article.

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that image at the bottom of the article is both professionally taken and unique to this article (I put it into Google Image search and TinyEye - neither had relevant results)

It has been rotated. A Google Images search for "Patriot Magnum" found a number of similar images:

http://www.pricesearchindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/M...

http://image.ebuyer.com/customer/promos/patriot/prod-magnum....

That's a cheap jab. In this case Jeff Atwood in these years would have 'advertised' programming chairs, video cards, SDD disks and many more tech products.

I see only the genuine excitement of a tech geek over a new technology.

I will be definitely looking for a USB 3.0 stick, regardless of the brand, I didn't even notice what brand it was until you pointed to it.

It isn't meant to be a "jab," cheap or otherwise.

This blog post is, at least in part, a revenue generator for the blog (because of referral links). My question was, did it also generate revenue from the company who's products it links to/talks up?

If it had have been (or is) then I would consider that immoral. This immorality has zero to do with making money from the blog post and everything to do with a potential conflict of interests (between his commitment to his readership and the company that would be paying him).

The Amazon referral links have no such conflict of interests as he could equally have linked to any manufacturer's products and get the same revenue.

Regardless of how you meant it, it is a cheap jab. You speculated without proof that Atwood engaged in immoral behavior. That is a pretty bad thing to do.

Speculation is speculation. I went to great pains to mention that it was a question/concern. I also provided enough proof to at least justify said speculation (i.e. it wasn't totally idle).

I disagree that is is, within its self, a bad thing to do. We should hold people in the public eye to account, in particular when we spot what might be potential conflicts of interests.

No, you made a declarative statement at the very beginning of your comment that 'This is a rather subtle advert.' By doing so, you're poisoning the well for any questions that you pose afterwards. Your theory about the product image turned out to be wrong, and saying that you're just asking questions when you've previously stated opinions as fact is not really convincing.

I don't even like Jeff Atwood much, but I advise that you let this one go and next times ask questions before shooting.

I agree that if it was an advertising then it would be... well, 'immoral' is a strong word, but I get your point.

Simply I don't think that's the case. I follow his blog every now and then, and I never was under impression I was being sold something.

If people would perceive something like this, I think the damage to the image of the blog would largely offset any financial gain of 'sponsoring' a particular product.

Jeff has been blogging for years, has an incredibly successful company behind him, and probably more money that he knows what to do with.

For the life of me I cannot see him 'selling' his blog like that.

You're operating under the assumption that advertising this would be immoral. I submit that we're consuming a product by reading the blog, and, to Mr Atwood, working with Seagate could be seen as kosher B2B development. Especially if he believed in the product, and insisted on complete editorial control.

(Personally, I do believe a notification would be appropriate in the case I described)

I'm not sure what it was. If it was an advert, it didn't mention one of the biggest selling points: multiple channels.

If you want to buy a fast USB 3.0 stick, make sure it's 4/8/12 channel, and of course check hardware review sites for benchmarks.

I'll do that, thanks for the hint.

I'm going to lean on the side of Jeff Atwood simply being genuinely enthusiastic about the technology and sharing. I've followed his blog for a while and have ever thought that he was a shill. I'd hope that he made enough while at Stack Overflow to not need to be one.

I don't see it that way. To me, it raised my awareness of USB 3.0 storage speeds. I won't necessarily click any links or buy that specific device without further investigation. And if I did buy through an affiliate link, I would be happy that Jeff earned some money for his post.

If I were paid to write that blog post then that's exactly how I'd want you to see it too. Not being a fan or anti-fan of Jeff Atwood myself I feel, as an objective observer, that if this wasn't an ad then my name isn't Bill. I read this thinking I was going to read about SSDs then I thought it was about USB 3 and then it wasn't long before I was being sold the Blue SuperSoonic Dongle 3000. He mentions it by its full name a bunch of times and does a comparison, albeit indirectly, with other USB drives, and on and on. I work in marketing. I know when I'm being marketed to. Its part of my job to market to others in this really subtle way. I wish I was this good.

As far as I can tell, he wrote the full name one time. The word "patriot" only appears once as well. Just in case he used that for shorthand, eg "this patriot drive..."

And, yes, since it's a USB 3 drive, it is only natural for one to think "but how much faster is that than USB 2? does it stack up?"

I dunno. I'm not denying there's an affiliate link, but I think you're looking for something that's not there. Jeff gets excited about tech. At the bottom, there are several more posts about SSDs and SSD performance.

Alright Sally, given his history of talking about consumer goods what makes this one stand out as a paid advert? Or if he is just a shill, who paid for the last one where he praised the Nexus 7 and Surface RT, or that one about the automatic cat food feeder?

Gut instinct. It feels like an advertisement and I've yet to come across something that felt like an advertisement that wasn't. What made me think of it was an ad was just the way it was put together. It wasn't like other posts about comsumer electronics. Without even having to analyze it at all it just jumped out as being formulaic.

I'm not saying he's a shill and I couldn't care less if he were. I'm just saying that came off like an ad. And if someone paid for his Nexus 7 and Surface RT posts it would probably have been the people who make or sell those things. How should I know?

If Jeff Atwood was paid to write this I don't give a shit. If he wasn't paid but was asked to write it I still don't give a shit. If the link to the USB stick is an affiliate link then I'd happily click it to get to the purchasing page if I wanted to buy it. None of that stuff bothers me. This isn't an issue of something I take issue with. I'm just saying this comes off as subtle marketing, that's all. When I read Coding Horror I hope to read some interesting stuff, not see an advertisement disguised as a post. But even that's something I don't take much issue with. Its disappointing but I just close the tab, go about my day, and maybe another time there will be a better post.

I could also be wrong. That's fine.

Do you have a similar problem with product reviews?

> And if I did buy through an affiliate link, I would be happy that Jeff earned some money for his post.

Nobody has a problem with that. I would be happy too. But if he really does earn money, the problem here would be fact that he isn't mentioning it.

I don't believe Jeff is being dishonest, but it did occur to me that if one was paid out to advertise a product, that's exactly how you'd do it.

Well, yes. Of course it is, but that's precisely because one of the best ways to advertise a product is to make the ad look like an honest, positive review from a trusted source.

So by your standard, every "I like this product" post on every well-read blog should be suspiciously viewed as potentially paid advertisement. That seems way too far off the cynical deep end to me...

I did notice he mentioned that the drive cost $75, but the linked product costs $85 (for me anyway).

A search on newegg.com gave me $74.

Did he buy on newegg and switch to amazon for the referral link? Or is amazon just changing prices based users?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220...

Refer to the “More Buying Choices” section on the right side of the page. Amazon.com sells this item for $74.99 but is temporarily out of stock (perhaps due to Jeff’s post), so they are showing me an offer from “Hot Deals 4 Less” for $84.46.

You should still have the option to backorder from Amazon.com, but there is no estimated delivery date listed.

He's a poor salesman then, considering that not too long ago he was raving about how the Intel SSD was the only one worth using.

I suspect he, like most bloggers, makes liberal use of affiliate links and targeted marketing. I think he's admitted in the past that every new product gets shipped to him asking for a review and I'm sure that comes with pro level artwork.

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