Differences in content, for one.
While most of the articles on TheBeijinger are great in that they keep readers up-to-date with life in Beijing, there seems to be an increase in the number of blatanly promotional non-paid-for editorials. When these articles are posted, its hard not to wonder if there are undeclared conflicts of interest.
Why this app over another? Does the writer personally know people involved with this product? Are they simply shilling for their friends?
Of course one might argue that TheBeijinger is just letting people know about a cool new product/service that's available, but there's a difference between informing readers about something that is taking the city by storm and trying to get people to hop aboard one of any number of startups. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of this, of course, but it brings into question TheBeijinger's motivations.
Maybe TheBeijinger is just at the point where it would be a good idea for its writers to reveal any potential conflicts of interest, or the lack thereof.
Why not this app over another? Do you prefer that no apps are written up, out of fear of not touching upon all of them? Surely it is simply impossible, without an infinite amount of staff, to cover everything.
My articles are not paid for unless they are marked as such, and are about things (in this case, an app) that I come across and find interesting.