Comments on: To ad or not to ad

By: Adrian

Adrian — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:30:26 +0000

But I guess everyone’s starting to do the same kind of thing with different variables.

I also don’t show adverts on the last 6 months (what I consider most current) of my blogs. I’m sure putting adverts on these would increase my income. Lets see how much I want a new snowboard eh …

I also show adverts to people 10 times before I hide them. Unless you comment.

This way I feel the user experience is good for my regulars, and I can make a bit of money from the google hordes.

I don’t see it as selling out. I see it as a new snowboard. Eventually.

By: Blue Witch

Blue Witch — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:43:05 +0000

Given that one makes so little money from ads en blog, and the number of regular readers who find them offensive on blogs (myself included), have you thought about totalling your blog-costs per annum and working out just how little work of a different sort you might have to do to cover them? I can cover all my costs with an hour and a half’s normal other work (or less than 20 minutes if I did the right sort of stuff that I disapprove of!).

Personally I will never, ever, carry adverts of any sort. Believing that there are few enough outposts in the world untouched by commercial greed (and those wanting a share of it), I’m not going to sell out. If I was worried about the monetary aspect, I’d simply use blogspot and put up a redirect from my domain name. There are free ad-ons for practically everything else I might want too.

Why does everything have to have an extrinisic value these days? Why isn’t blogging an intrinsic reward in itself any more? It’s a cheap hobby. Let’s not cheapen it further, eh?

By: Gordon

Gordon — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:57:54 +0000

Inevitable? Of course, we live in a commerical world. And I think everyone agrees that the websites that are purely about the adverts are wholly loathsome.

As for ‘making money’, as other bloggers will testify, if you are successful then this hobby starts to cost you money. I give my content away for free, have done for over 7 years. I run a directory website, arrange blogmeets etc etc. I doubt I’ll even earn enough to pay for my hosting but if I can make even half of my costs per year FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS then I’ll be happy.

I have no desire to get rich using adverts on this website.

By: bobbins

bobbins — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 13:27:03 +0000

I don’t like ads. They’re a waste of screen space – I never pay any attention to them*, other than to think in passing “oh go away”. I don’t like the way they’re plastered all over the net. I don’t like the fact that people seem to be accepting them as inevitable – it’s getting to the stage now where some sites have little more than a third of their screen space given over to actual content, with the rest just ads. I don’t like the way that seemingly everything – even reading blogs these days – is boiling down to a means of making money. I know, I’m a hopeless idealist!

* the few that get past my ad-blocking HOSTS file, that is

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:31:59 +0000

Ads are clearly not evil. What your commenter means is that he/she doesn’t like ads. And that’s fair enough. It would be a wonderful, caring/sharing world if everyone offered their internet efforts in a vast pool of altruism. But that hasn’t happened. Isn’t how it’s gone. With one or two notable exceptions, (BBC, Wikipedia), site providers now seek some return on their investments. Some to cover costs, others as a business to make profit. It’s a harsh world, possibly, but I don’t see J K Rowling giving that many of her books away for free. The kiddies have to pay.

Ads are clearly not evil. But many people, including myself, don’t like them. Those people might find some other way to pay the author of the work they enjoy, possibly by contributing in return their own efforts to the common good. It would have been nice if that model had prevailed.