The one thing I was less impressed with was the site's ethical standards and control over its writers. We repeatedly asked the founder about that, and I found his answers to be quite evasive. To be honest, it's not the end of the world in Thrillist's case. The worst case scenario is basically a writer receiving some payment in exchange for a favorable review, which would lead to one mediocre night out for a reader that followed the recommendation.
Nevertheless, the general idea bothers me. Should I trust the stuff I read online? I'm always suspicious of gushing Yelp reviews, but should I trust Thrillist? or even Techcrunch?
This story from a few weeks back is just one example of what I believe to be a very common issue. Thrillist's founder may have said that he trusts all writers are honest and that editors are able to monitor them, but I remain unconvinced. Let's not forget that a minute later he spoke about the non-compensation perks of the job, which apparently include "Sleeping with PR girls."
Again, no biggie when discussing Thrillist. The issue is that branded content overall is a hot topic in advertising now, be it in TV or online. My fear is that soon we won't be able to tell the difference anymore.
Jonathan Shulman
