As expected, the bloggers were not pleased and the room erupted into heated debate.
I don't want to turn this into a question of whether or not the company did the wrong thing with their announcement and stance on bloggers. However, I do feel this is a good opportunity to discuss some of the nuances and intricacies of working with bloggers.
The issue of paying bloggers is far from black and white. Surprisingly, even the bloggers themselves have wide range of opinions on the matter. That makes sense, given the different factors that play into the blogger-brand relationship.
Some bloggers worry that accepting payment for a review comes across as "buying off" the review and alienates them from their audience. Many brands feel the same way, and don't want the review to be rendered pointless by the negative light it gets cast in.
I myself have worked with several bloggers on product reviews for companies, and have found that as long as you treat the blogger like you would any other writer or journalist everyone ends up happy.
But companies have different policies for working with bloggers, just like bloggers have varying policies for working with companies, and at the end of the day being open about the nature of the business relationship is vital to keeping everyone happy.