PayPerPost, the controversial blogging service that lets advertisers purchase commentary on blogs, has released a new product called PayPerPost Direct. The new product is a widget that bloggers can add to their blogs that announces their willingness to sell blog posts.

Previously, bloggers perused listings on the PayPerPost website, looking for opportunities to make a few extra dollars. Now, bloggers can set their own minimum price when creating a widget, and let advertisers come to them directly.

This feature subtly shifts the way the company approaches the market. The current system has advertisers paying a set fee per post regardless of the differences in blog size or authority. The result was a low average fee of a $5 or so, which didn’t attract the larger blogs. Now that bloggers can set their own price and engage with advertisers one-on-one, we may see a few of the larger ones begin to use the service. Competitor ReviewMe has a similar approach that pays large blogs more, although the price is based on an algorithm.

PayPerPost keeps 10% of fees generated through the Direct product. Their standard fee on their normal product is a 35% cut.

We’ll wait and see if any of the large blogs adopt this anytime soon. PayPerPost is still deeply flawed – it allows advertisers to demand positive writeups, and they do not require bloggers to disclose within the post itself that it is sponsored text.

Look for a press release later this week. An overview video is available here.