Ads on Blogs

Posted on Oct 15, 2005

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That crazy Canadian D’Arcy Norman has grabbed my interest again with his post about him ‘selling out’ and putting Google AdSense ads on his blog (and since removing them again). I disagree with you D’Arcy, it wasn’t selling out at all.

I think that a blog has just as much right to place ads on pages as any other site. When it comes down to it, I don’t really care if they are to simply cover the bills of running the site, or to give the owner a little spending money. D’Arcy, if you could buy an iPod with revenue from running ads on your site, then I say go for it.

What I dislike though, is when said ads are invasive, distracting, or rude. I don’t have a problem with AdSense ads, but please spare me Flash ads!

I enjoy your content D’Arcy, so if you want to be remunerate for doing it, go right ahead. I don’t think your selling out, just making a living.

Brad Kellett

That is very true. While I never had an idea of making money of my blog, I did hope for a good following - and when that doesn't happen straight away it can be disheartening.

I guess I would be in the second stage, I do think of this site as a work in progress. I have a pretty good readership, and I am comfortable with the site at the moment. I think the blog is still too immature to be reflected on at the moment.
Unangst

I think that we go through a couple of phases as web designers / bloggers. In the first, we have wild dreams about raking in significant monies and eyeballs b/c we have an original idea/s. The second is when reality sets in and we realize that it takes time to build a substantial blog following, that we designed we sites are more like "works in progress" than checklists and that even though one can put bells and whistles on web pages doesn't mean that we should. The last phase is one of reflection and reevaluation and then making related tweaks.

If advertising is placed well, I have no problems with it. I'm far more likely to support a site by clicking "keyword based ads" than a "donate via paypal" button.
Brad Kellett

That would have been selling out, yes. But you strike me as someone with a little more integrity than that! Just because you run ads on your blog doesn't instantly mean that you will be going to the 'dark side'.
D'Arcy Norman

Thanks for the positive feedback! I picked Google Adsense for a couple of reasons. 1. They're tasteful. No "Punch the monkey and win a penis enlargement!" ads. Just text. 2. They are relevant to the content of the page they're on, so they sort of fit in.

But, what felt like selling out was the realization that I might change what I write, or the style in which I write, to attract more clickthroughs, or to attract higher-paying ads. That would have been selling out in a real sense.