Pay-For-Blog Site...Is it Kosher?

Associated Content is a user driven site that allows bloggers to write articles and get paid for it. Online content is the major component of any good site and Associated Content have seen a market for licensing content to online publishers.

However, issues have been raised about the style of the content that is been generated by Associated Contents' bloggers. Instead of quality articles, the content has been described as "made for marketing"; written specifically for its advertising-value as opposed to its value for site users. This is probably valid given that the amount each blogger gets paid is dependent on how well their articles "perform", viz. how much revenue it generated via Googles' Adwords.

Questions have also been raised about a potential conflict of interest for one of the Associated Content board members, Tim Armstrong - he also works for search engine giant Google. Working for both Google and a company that makes money from a Goggle service is not illegal, but is it perhaps a little dodgy? Does Tim Armstrong have unfair advantage over other companies that look to make money from Google services? Surely he is the best person to make money from Google if he works there too?