In our opinion, currently the only legitimate blog nomination contest is the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100. Generally speaking, other contests are designed to be more beneficial to the contest administrator rather than the blogger. Competitions or contests like this are designed to drive inbound links to the host company website(s) and generate free PR for the company.
By flattering a legal blog author or group via an unsolicited message, some companies are able to get away with holding these type of contests. Occasionally, these companies convince bloggers to promote the company without a second thought.
Because these contests are generally run as PR campaigns for the host companies, our opinion is that it is professionally unbecoming to promote it.
Evaluating blog competitions
While this does not apply to every blogging competition, we encourage members to use a healthy dose of skepticism when being solicited regarding blogging competitions. Warning signs include:
- Lack of host company’s historical connection to the legal blogging community
- Newness of the contest or competition
- Prize money