The Los Angeles Times looks at a continuing trend of bloggers who post for money.

The bloggers who take assignments from the likes of PayPerPost, ReviewMe, Loud Launch and SponsoredReviews.com call the hubbub overblown. They say the services provide a way to make a profit or keep their blogs going. Technorati, a search engine that tracks 71 million blogs, says 175,000 are created daily.

Posties, as PayPerPost calls its crew of 15,500 bloggers, say their posts are sincere, sponsored or not, and that financial incentives are disclosed.

“I would never make up a lie,” Caldwell said. “My sister reads my blog and she would call me out.”

She has earned $7,743.54 since signing up in July, shortly after the Orlando, Fla.-based marketing firm was launched, by promoting such things as wireless outdoor speakers and online coupon sites. The part-time job has helped her pay for a wall-mounted TV, dishes and a family ski trip.

Caldwell’s traffic has doubled thanks partly to PayPerPost’s fanatical users, who link often to fellow Posties. That gives her a bigger audience for her unpaid musings on topics including a recent dream about Rainn Wilson, the actor who plays Dwight in NBC’s sitcom “The Office.”

“People talk about how we’re destroying the credibility of the Internet,” Caldwell said. “Let me tell you — there are a lot worse things happening online.”

Even so, the Federal Trade Commission has cautioned that word-of-mouth marketing sponsorships must be clearly disclosed.

Like many Posties, Caldwell typically relies on a blue disclaimer button on her home page that, when clicked, informs readers that compensation from marketers “may influence” the entries on her blog, and that posts “may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.”

PayPerPost urges the bloggers it works with to use a personal touch as long as they cover the topic, meet the required word count and provide links. Bloggers scan offers — usually in the $5-to-$20 range but sometimes as high as $1,000 — and, if their site qualifies, sign up and then write about the product or service. Afterward, they collect the fee.

Proponents of the trend liken it to product placement in movies.