It’s as if you were at a party and met a beautiful women and went on a date, only to discover that she is a prostitute. It my be emotional to you, but it certainly isn’t to her.

At least at a brothel there is no confusion about motives.

MyMindshare is like a brothel, in the most positive sense.

First, I want to differentiate from what Ted is doing (no offence intended, Ted). The huge difference is that MyMindshare is transparent. Everything is above board and it is clear who is buying what, and how much money is changing hands.

In the sense that to be more transparent is to be more honest, MyMindshare is more honest than any advertising vehicle that currently exists. Wouldn’t it be more honest if a blogger disclosed how much he/she is getting paid when you click on a blog ad? Wouldn’t it be more honest if Google disclosed how much it is getting paid when you click on a Google Ad? Ad-supported media is inherently dishonest, corrupt and corrupting. MyMindshare is not.

You are right on with the “Professional link clickers” critique. I call it the problem of the mindless click. Mindless clicks are worthless, and the extent to which it occurs at MyMindshare will detract from its value.

I am constantly working to address that problem and I have created mechanisms to minimize mindless clicking and ferret it out of MyMindshare.

First, users of MyMindshare are registered. Activity at MyMindshare is necessarily logged, and mindless clicking creates a pattern that is readily indentifiable in the logs.

But the thing I am most excited about is enabling the MyMindshare community of users to police themselves. An honest user has a vested interest in ensuring that the value of mindshare is not cheapened by mindless clicks. To that end, I am attaching community forums to MyMindshare interests. New members will be able to go to these forums and engage other users with common interests. Established members will be able to vet new members and deter dishonest actors.

I’ve just started setting this up — so stay tuned.

Finally, I want to address the emotional component that you so elloquently describe.

MyMindshare is a starting point for consumers and advertisers. In that sense, it is like a dating service. It is where introductions are made, and we try to make this introduction in a way that fosters the start of a good, healthy and rewarding relationship. Of course not every introduction is going to lead to marriage. But by starting on an honest footing, more good matches will be made and all parties will be more satisfied with the process.