Epinions Deactivated Me - And Took My Earnings

Okay, wow, I guess my blog is starting to sound like a rant about bad tech companies. Perhaps it is, but that should only be a bad reflection on the fact there are so many bad tech companies. Long before blogs even entered my mind, I wrote reviews on a site called Epinions. Epinions pays their members "Eroyalties" - a tiny (and tinier over the years) percentage of their advertising revenue. My last "Epinion" was written nearly two years ago, but I still logged in every few months to claim a $10-$20 check. It had probably been six months, so I figured today was the day. I should be at the $10-$20 range by now. Guess what?

I was informed my account was deactivated, and that all unclaimed Eroyalties had been revoked. Wow. They were still making money off my reviews, but not sharing it with me. I suppose their contract allows that, but I sure won't be writing any future reviews on Epinions. Product reviews of note will be posted *here.* Epinions and other sites are useful for what they are, but they've really lost their base of strong writers that made them special. Now most of the reviews are similar to the ones you find on sites like Amazon. Who can be remotely surprised, with decreasing commissions and stupid stunts like this?