Measured Against Reality

Monday, January 15, 2007

Ads

I've been meaning to do this for a while, and somehow I always forget. But here it is:

Should I take my ads down?

I've reached the point where Google will actually pay me, and it's about enough to buy one of my books this quarter, and from here on out (unless my readership grows dramatically) I won't be getting very much from it (a few pennies a day). I don't really like the idea of having ads, (a friend convinced me to do it in the first place), but I don't see them because of Adblock, a nice Firefox extension.

So I'm leaving it up to my readers. If you care, tell me, and I'll remove them.

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posted at 1/15/2007 11:49:00 AM

6 Comments:

  • My opinion: ads that don't annoy users (like popups, popunders, flash animations, ads with sound and similar crap do) are perfectly fine. They don't make you a "sellout" or something.

    Some people, for some reason, seem to believe that earnin any kind of money for doing something you like "cheapens" it, is unethical, and all that. I disagree.

    If people like what you write, they will come, regardless of ads. If you can buy a book a month with the money you get from those ads, who don't bother your readers at all... why not? Are your readers "harmed" in any way?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:43 PM, January 15, 2007  

  • Hmm well I must admit i have never looked at them until today, but having done so they all seem to be anti-evolution which strikes me as odd as no-one is likely to click on them from this blog unless they are looking for a fight.

    By they way how many visitors do you need get a return on these?
    I am just starting up my onw blog and am wondering whether it is worth it?

    By Blogger mc2, at 8:59 PM, January 16, 2007  

  • Google is Pay-per-click, so clicks are what really matters (although it's combination of the two that I don't really understand). If you're not getting much traffic then it usually won't amount to much. I get about a hundred hits a day, and maybe one click for a few pennies.

    It's worth noting that Google only pays you once you reach $100 (and then monthly), which took me about four months (during which time I got around 200,000 hits).

    What it amounts to is that, unless you put substantial work into it, (through increasing your exposure, updating content, etc) you won't get much out of it.

    And I tried to block all of those anti-evolution ones, but since I don't see them I don't really care too much. However, I think it says something that the anti-evolution brigades advertise so heavily. Very indicative that they're fighting a PR campaign, not a scientific debate.

    By Blogger Stupac2, at 9:05 PM, January 16, 2007  

  • The ads aren't a problem. They're certainly not oppressive, and if they bothered me I would probably just use adblock myself. I'm glad you're going to be able to buy one of your books with it and that your hard work on this blog is paying off, at least somewhat. Keep up the good work.
    -Mike

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:37 PM, January 16, 2007  

  • Yea, I say keep 'em.

    By Blogger Jeremy, at 7:54 PM, January 17, 2007  

  • Keep them. I hadn't even noticed they were there. If you get a few bucks out of this blog then great.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:47 PM, January 21, 2007  

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