Yesterday boingboing unveiled a new sponsorship they’ve taken on - Microsoft Windows Mobile will be sponsoring various posts added to the site through mobile devices. Readers will know which posts are sponsored by a Windows Mobile logo and link at the bottom of said post. Interestingly enough, boingboing has been hyper-critical of Microsoft in all it’s forms pretty much since day one, so the announcement that they were now a boingboing sponsor set off a number of red flags in the bb community and the comments started to flow in saying as much.

Fair enough reaction, I’d say. However, the re-reaction from bb themselves was odd. After the comments section on the first sponsored post hit around 50, they were all deleted. Shortly thereafter, comments were re-opened along with the post being adjusted to explain that while bb was taking Microsoft’s money, they had no say over bb’s editorial content. Of course, readers have thrown back this quote at them:

“…by taking the time to answer a few questions, you can help us ensure that the sponsors we select match your preferences. (We have a policy of only taking “wonderful” advertisers in any case!).”

Considering the amount of criticism bb has leveled at Microsoft over the years, it’s kinda hard to see how they could be considered “wonderful” by anyone on the bb staff. They’ve made their reputation on being, for lack of a better term, independent-minded, always interested in rooting for the little guy and pushing for open-mindedness in the public’s thinking and open-source in their manufacturing. It’s one thing to have Microsoft ads pop up in rotation on the side of a blog, it’s another thing to have Microsoft - or any mega-corporation known for stifling creative thinking, for that matter - actively sponsoring specific stories.

That said, at the end of the day, it’s bb’s game and they can do as they please, no matter what the reading public thinks.

Is the reaction boingboing is facing a fair one? Do loyal readers of a blog have the right to determine who sponsors it in this fashion? Would KFR readers, for example, have the right to bitch us out if we suddenly plastered “Sponsored by: Awesome Entertainment” all over our posts? Do loyal readers of a blog have the right to determine who sponsors it in this fashion? Would KFR readers, for example, have the right to bitch us out if we suddenly plastered “Sponsored by: Awesome Entertainment” all over our posts?

General