Would you advertise to your friends for cash?

Buddy beware: your friend's recent enthusiasm for Starbucks' new blonde roast or Gap's latest skinny jeans might be less about the product than the promotion itself.

PowerVoice, a peer-to-peer marketing platform with the motto "Make Money Sharing," has been gaining popularity since its launch in December.

The site allows social media users to get paid for recommending brands and products to their friends and followers on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Powervoice allows users to turn a profit by recommending a product or service on social media. This instagram users' picture of their coffee could be worth a commission from Starbucks. (Chris Shielzo/Instagram)"We connect companies with influential people online, and those people basically go out and help promote goods and services that they have an affinity to," Andrew Landau, who founded the company with his brother Ryan, told the Pulse network.

The Detroit-based 20-somethings note that people talk about brands all the time, so they might as well get paid for it. PowerVoice users are presented with a selection of ads to share on social media in return for a fee or a commission, depending on the company's offer.

Users are also asked to flag their recommendation as sponsored by adding #ad hashtag on Twitter, for instance.

Companies including Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Starbucks, Gap, and Match.com have already agreed to fork over cash for consumer-generated buzz.

Andrew Landau insists that being paid to endorse a product does not necessarily mean the endorsement is inauthentic.

"At the end of the day it's the user's decision if they want to share something with their friends," he said.

What do you make of this concept? Would you want to cash in on your recommendations to friends? Why or why not? Can sponsored recommendations still be authentic, do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.


(These surveys are not scientific. Results are based on readers' responses.)