PR firm Edelman and NewsGator have partnered to create a branded ad unit called "Hosted Conversations," which will also incorporate RSS feeds of related content. The widget-based ad units - which can run within banners or pop-outs and rollovers - will include RSS feeds to blog posts as well as comments related to the sponsor of the ad, MediaPost reports. Each page's content will be moderated by Edelman staffers who are responsible for selecting content about specific topics.

Rick Murray, president of Edelman's social media division, me2revolution, said the firm will not encourage the advertiser to avoid blog posts that are critical of the client. "We try to find the quality writers - the quality content," he said. "But if someone disagrees with the client, that ought to be part of the conversation."

Edelman will initially offer the service to clients in the areas of consumer goods, technology, financial services and healthcare, with the first ads appearing in January. Micro Persuasion's Steve Rubel offers additional info.