Editing is messy business

Last week blogger and B2B publishing consultant Paul Conley accused tech publisher Ziff Davis of engaging in unethical practices with online content, reports Folio Mag.

Conley aired his thoughts in a colorful post on Wednesday, outlining editorial indiscretions and demanding that Ziff Davis resign its membership with American Business Media.

The source of Conley's ire is Ziff's use of an ad service called IntelliTXT, which links keywords in articles to sponsored pop-up text ads related to the term.

Conley posits the method flouts advertising transparency, though pop-up windows are labeled ads and the hyperlinks are formatted differently from others may appear on a site.

Proponents of IntelliTXT argue these provisions satisfy the ASBPE Guide to Preferred Editorial Practices, which state that "advertising and sponsored links should be clearly distinguishable from editorial, and labeled as such.”

Others feel the distinction is insufficient.

Ziff Davis Editorial Director and SVP Michael Vizard calls the ads compliant and states, "Should [ASME and ASBPE] adopt specific policies related to IntelliTXT ads, we would welcome that clarification and would also be inclined to comply with those guidelines."
Apparently the inclination does not ring well with contenders. This isn't the first time Conley has cried wolf on Ziff Davis, but it is the first in which he's encouraged employees to boycott. "Grab a few coworkers, head to a nearby coffee shop, and plan a rebellion,” Conley writes.
On May fourth, ASBPE President Roy Harris e-mailed the organization's final word on hyperlinks, stating committee members "came back strongly supporting the code’s statement that editors should have the final say about whether to use hypertext links in editorial - whether they are hyptertext edit links or links to vendors. That is our preferred editorial practice."

Harris emphasized the responsibility lies on editors to make final decisions on links used in their copy, but that ad links within the text should not be sold under any circumstances.