LOLStars

One of the benefits of my new part-time job is that it's poker-related, and I often have call to use my own e-mail account to assist in doing a slightly updated "sneaker net" version of shuffling various files around from one machine or user to another, meaning I can keep tap of my own e-mails as I work. Mid-Monday morning I received the offer from Stars regarding their latest upcoming online cornucopia, gave it a quick once-through read, and sent it back to the Stars marketing department along with a brief "to hell with this crap" note.

Look, I like Stars a whole bunch, but that offer was insulting not only to my intelligence, but to that of every member of the bloggosphere who might have half a clue on how the business works, including such topics as SEO and page rank and business presence. Jordan pretty much has it right in this post, though I haven't yet encountered other blog posts on the topic of which he writes. The kicker for me was that all participating bloggers have to sign on in advance without even knowing exactly what SEO demands Stars has yet to make, all in the form of what becomes content-oriented advertising, which remains a noxious bastardization of the line between editorial and advertising. All for a $22 ticket and a chance at a $109 ticket if one supplies a grand-enough virtual blowjob.

Others can make their own choices, but as far as I'm concerned, I'd rather turn on the tube and listen to clowns. (Cue Glenn Beck here.) Don't need it, don't want it.

Stars tends to make grand, sweeping gestures with their events, so I view this is a grand sweeping misfire toward the blogging world. I'm sure they'll get some folks onboard who have no sense of the value of their own creative efforts, but by and large, I'll just wish Stars all the best with the collection of content-free link farms and sub-sub-affiliate wannabes they'll acquire. I'm sure they'll get tens and tens of new eye impressions with the effort.