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It seems that Microsoft and AMD have partnered to [hand out some nice Christmas presents][1] to select bloggers. Microsoft has reportedly sent out new AMD-equipped Acer laptops in an effort to get prominent bloggers using Microsoft's new Vista operating system.
The promotional effort comes just before the release of Microsoft's new Windows Vista Operating System, but Microsoft isn't a computer manufacturer so why are they giving away computers?
Typically when a company wants journalists to review their new software on a fast machine they loan it out for review purposes and then the machine gets returned. If Microsoft were to giveaway copies of Vista that would make sense and probably raise no eyebrows at all, but giving away a whole laptop understandably strikes some as little more than bribery.
Dan Warne a journalist at [APCmag][2] left a comment at the site linked above in which he points out:
>It's bizarre for one of the world's largest PR companies, Edelman, to think it could get away with this. Perhaps they don't know bloggers as well as they thought they did... now that some of the bloggers have disclosed the receipt of the gift, the public knows. Whatever the subtleties of the offer were, it comes across as nothing more than a bribe, and that is a very bad look for Microsoft.
[2]: http://apcmag.com/ "APCmag"
Companies have long sent promotional materials by the boatload to journalists who typically disclose that the item was a gift. Given the increasing influential power of blogs, it's no surprise that companies are beginning to try the same tactics on bloggers who often hold even more sway over tech-savvy consumers.
Earlier this month there was widespread controversy over the fact that companies have been offering money to prominent users of Digg in return for posting links to products and favorable reviews.
But getting paid a few pesos from PayPerPost or to put something on Digg is one thing, getting a $2000+ Acer laptop is a whole other ball of wax. As Warne says, now that the word is out, expect the negative publicity to be every bit as shrill as the positive which means Microsoft's PR move may well end up backfiring.
[1]: http://www.istartedsomething.com.nyud.net:8080/20061227/microsoft-free-ferrari/
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