Whitey - 1:51 pm on Mar 2, 2013 (gmt 0)

I just noticed a press release on Reuters from Federated operated in conjunction with Zemanta - looks pretty big. I just wonder what Google thinks.

“By combining best practices in content marketing and new authoring tools, we will help brands target exceptionally relevant authors and conversations at a scale that was not previously possible,” said Deanna Brown, CEO, Federated Media Publishing. “FMP finds relevant conversations and Zemanta offers authors unique ways to give their content more engagement, greater relevancy and extended reach.” “The products we create together will bring tangible revenue to independent writers,” said Bostjan Spetic, Zemanta’s CEO and Co-Founder. “We believe this is a major next step in building the blogosphere as an alternative to traditional media.” [reuters.com...]

... hmmm , still makes me nervous.

Is the editorial choice a publisher exercises without payment, strong enough to be within Google's threshold of not moving the goalposts to redefine "paid" or "networks".

There have been plenty of disqualification in the past with regards to things like reciprocal links, automated footer links , etc etc many without payment and many with editorial choice involved. Some were arguable, others blatant, but in this age of Penguin is it really worth the risk?