When The Outline published an expose on “blog bribes” this December, many people were surprised to learn that brands were “bribing” their way into outlets like The Huffington Post, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and more austure publications. Digital marketing agencies were nonplussed. The word bribe is a big of an exaggeration here. Companies weren’t bribing the editorial wings of these publications. Rather, contributors to these publications could be paid to mention brands and include do-follow links to those companies in their
