Barneys New York, Gap, Coach and other big brands are collaborating with bloggers to create new and controversial forms of advertising for a more social age. They might invite a blogger to guest blog, sponsor a series of daily outfit posts featuring their product, create or request a video of the blogger talking about the brand or wearing the product, or even ask the blogger to design for the brand.

For influential bloggers, sponsorships can be more lucrative than display ads alone, with payments reaching into the thousands for a multipronged campaign stretching over weeks or months. For the brands, it’s a way to market more conversationally to potential customers as well as exert more control over search-engine results.

“I think the media industry is changing, and bloggers are leading the change,” said Sea of Shoes blogger Jane Aldridge, whose collaborations include Barneys and Urban Outfitters. “The term blogger doesn’t do it justice—so many of the top bloggers are trusted experts that have developed loyal fan followings.

“Fashion bloggers are a unique combination of publisher and talent,” she continued. “This is part of the next evolution of advertising—a more integrated approach. It’s important for both bloggers and advertisers to stay true to their brands.”

Whereas in the past a young woman interested in fashion might have been lucky to be featured in a magazine, now she is creating that environment herself. She can be muse, celebrity, stylist, editor, and publisher all at once—and, theoretically, at least, get paid for it.

But the tie-ups have stirred controversy because they are a form of “integrated” advertising that blurs the line between editorial and promotion. Recent changes to Federal Trade Commission guidelines are an attempt to bring light to rapidly evolving online advertiser-publisher relationships by requiring bloggers to disclose when they receive free merchandise or are paid by a brand.

“Seeing bloggers in ads you know is cool,” said Jessica Schroeder of What I Wore, who has worked with Coach, Loft, ModCloth, J.C. Penney, and many others. “Not only do you see her image and what they look like, but you know about that girl. The companies who are doing it right understand how valuable the word-of-mouth influence is that these bloggers get.”

“Blogs are starting to amass the numbers that are appealing to companies,” said Jennine Jacob, who, in addition to blogging at The Coveted, founded Independent Fashion Bloggers, an association of 10,000 fashion bloggers.

Some of the better-known fashion blogs attract audiences in the hundreds of thousands per month and garner hundreds of comments per post. Popular video bloggers can attract upward of half-a-million views per video.

To put that in perspective, some personal style blogs have equal or, in some cases, bigger followings than many niche print fashion magazines. Only a small number of fashion sites—and they are not blogs—such as the Polyvore community and fashion search engine ShopStyle, draw monthly audiences that exceed 1 million, similar to the circulations of big fashion glossies like Vogue or Elle. One of the biggest stars on YouTube, Lady Gaga, attracts upward of 200 million views per video. An episode of Mad Men may get 2 million to 3 million viewers when it airs on television.

Even more than traffic, brands need bloggers for search-engine optimization, said observers. It’s especially important for luxury brands, so positive mentions in blogs come up high in searches rather than knockoff sites selling fake handbags, said Jacob.

As marketing becomes more social, the old advertising model of repeating one message over and over doesn’t work as well, said Pete Spande, senior vice president of Federated Media, which sells advertising and arranges sponsorships for blogs.

“You’re talking at the customer rather than with the customer,” he said of the old model. “As the advertising environment becomes more social, you need to be more conversational too. You need to be able to carry on a conversation at scale with your customer rather than talk at them.” Blogs are ideal vehicles for that. Also, brands are starting to think of themselves as publishers and need content, he continued.

After all, brands have to think of something to say on their own blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Tumblr. and other social sites. Like everyone, companies are no longer limited to editorial mentions or advertising buys to get the word out, but can speak directly to the public online.

Companies may turn to social media to seem hip. Coach is becoming well known for its campaigns with bloggers, perhaps more than other brands. The iconic American company is leveraging blogs to change its image, said Jacob, who has worked with Coach, J.C. Penney, and others.

Some of Coach’s earliest efforts in online marketing and social media were around the launch of Poppy, a colorful and more affordable line aimed at a younger customer. On August 17, Poppy unveiled its fall campaign, a scavenger-hunt game and tweet contest on 334 blogs. The more a consumer tweets about the brand, the more likely she’ll win Poppy merchandise.

The blogs offer an intimacy that print mediums can’t. If fashion magazines serve up the untouchable fantasy, then style blogs keep it real and personal.

Blogs are more interactive and accessible than other forms of media, said Jacob, who was a graphic designer for 10 years before she became a blogger. “One of the things people crave is a feeling of importance and feeling ‘part of,’ and that’s what bloggers can offer that other forms of media can’t do as well.”

For more on how fashion brands are collaborating with bloggers, click here for the full story from WWD.com.

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Cate T. Corcoran covers technology for WWD.