As blogging comes of age, what ethical standards should bloggers follow when offered payments or freebies (schwag) for buzz?

Editor’s note: I’m leaving these articles up as a historical snapshot. Most of the links below no longer work.

It wasn’t long ago that bloggers and money had nothing to do with each other. But as the blogosphere exploded into the public consciousness over the past year – PubSub estimates there are more than 8 million Weblogs, or online journals – it was inevitable that the captains of commerce would latch onto this increasingly popular form of personal media.

Blogging is growing up. For better, for worse.

It has become common to see advertising on personal blogs. Major corporations such as Microsoft, Nokia and Dr Pepper have launched blogs. Executives like Sun Microsystems President Jonathan Schwartz and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban have started blogging (see related OJR story). Ad-supported blogs such as PaidContent, Weblogs Inc. and Corante have formulated standards for separating commerce from editorial content. [Read more…] about The cost of ethics: Influence peddling in the blogosphere