StumbleUpon works as a random generator of pages that other StumbleUpon users find cool or interesting. A plugin on the browser toolbar lets users "stumble" on a page whenever they are bored. I've been using it for about a year and it is often funny and sometimes useful.Chris Pirillo reports getting a solicitation from StumbleUpon's Director of Ad Sales for paid placement of pages as StumbleUpon pages. I certainly didn't know advertisers were paying to put their pages in front of me. Does it affect my view of StumbleUpon?
Definitely. Now I don't have to wonder why someone recommended a certain page that has no interest or value - the owner paid for it to be there. I wonder what percentage of the pages served by StumbleUpon are "fake" - not really recommended by a user?
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