I became an avid reader PF (Personal Finance) blogs a while ago. Jim from Blueprint for Financial Prosperity was one of my favorites. Others were Five Cent Nickel, The Simple Dollar.
I have lost the enthusiasm that I once had to follow them. Why? Well, first of all, there is so many ways you can tell people:
- They have to diversify their portfolio
- The difference between a Roth IRA, 401(k), etc.
- How to budget
- Which online savings bank is best
- What credit card is best
The second, and most important reason is the annoying habit the authors have taken of embedding the little telltale url postfix ?tag=bloggersblogname in links when they write “reviews”, and I use that term loosely.
If you don’t know what I am taking about, just try it. Find reviews of your favorite PF blog with a title such as “Best 0% Credit Card”, or “Best Online Saving Accounts”.
For instance, let’s look at Jim from Bargaineering.com (formerly Blueprint for Financial Prosperity) recent post about “Your Take: What Is Your Total Credit Limit?“. (No offense, Jim)
Throughout the post, you will find links to the bank or other financial institutions. And if you hover your mouse on the link and look closely at the bottom left of your browser, you will see something like: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/cards/citi-mtvu.php?tag=ytCreditLimit.
You click on the link (which redirects you to the Citi credit card website in this case) and the author’s made a buck.
I don’t have a problem with the fact that they’re making money from their blog. Good for them actually! What I have a problem with is that I simply don’t trust their opinion anymore. Am I giving a link because it’s good for me, or because they will make money out of it?
Moreover, for a personal finance blog, I think it’s the worst thing to do. In my mind, it’s like a dieter’s blog making money from redirecting their readers to a fast food chain website.
A good protion of people who come to personal finance blog are in debt and are looking for ways to get out of it. Making them click on links that will direct them to credit cards companies is just very wrong.
