When we started covering PayPerPost a few months ago we pointed out that despite all the barbs directed at the company's CEO Ted Murphy, no matter what you think of the ethical issues surrounding the company, Murphy is simply too clever to be written off completely. Today's Wall Street Journal gives Murphy a healthy dose of vindication against his critics by publishing Apogee Search's success story with the service. The report claims, "More than half of the traffic on Apogee's Web site now comes from blogs, compared with about 10% before the paid-posts campaign began."
Meanwhile, Murphy punctuated the impending positive spin with an announcement on Sunday: "Unless our site blows up in the next half hour today will mark a momentous occasion. Within the next 30 minutes we will cross over the 50,000 blogger mark." That is big news. It looks like cash is trumping blogger ethical issues and PayPerPost is probably here to stay. Suddenly that reality show of Murphy's documenting the birth and evolution of the company looks like a smart move.
