Advertising on Personal Blogs

I've had numerous conversations and e-mail exchanges with bloggers asking me why I don't put ads on my site. 

It's not that I couldn't use the extra money. After all, cashmere boxers, gold-laced shower curtains, and beluga mayonnaise don't grow on trees, right?  And am I the only one who cares that the price of domestic help is starting to reach stratospheric levels?  Just this past week, my personal foodtaster Toto asked for more dough because his maid needed to get the tires on her BMW rotated.  So yeah, who couldn't use a little extra green in their pockets? 

All kidding aside, I generally find the idea of advertising on personal blogs to be the complete antithesis of what blogging should be about and that's generally why I've shunned them on this site. 

However, I've never really been able to fully articulate my feelings on exactly why I dislike the idea of ads on personal blogs.  Thankfully, I have Mimi Smartypants.  As she writes in a recent post:

I got into a minor debate recently about ads on blogs, because I was naively shocked to see one of my favorites with a big old honking McDonald's ad in the sidebar. I am sure when you sign up with Federated Media or any of the other blog-ad conglomerates, you don't get much of a say in what ads show up. Which is precisely the point.

When you attach your personal output (your song, your blog, your likeness) to a corporation, you align yourself with everything that corporation has ever done. In a small way, to be sure: no one is going to hold the aforementioned blog writer directly responsible for junk-food marketing to children or the destruction of the rainforests. But the fact remains that when you get advertising money from McDonald's, you become part of their business. If that is cool with you, then fine---it would be a cold day in hell, personally, but whatever.

It is not really my intent to pick on McDonald's, as my insides are not entirely Filet O' Fish free. My point is more that, through my lame, idealistic, aging-punk, Diaryland-colored glasses, I have a hard time seeing personal web pages as a business. There is something so cool about getting to read the thoughts of people I have never met, and then over there in the sidebar is this big honking ad for a multi-billion-dollar corporation, and that punctures the pleasure balloon somewhat.

Ads are fucking everywhere. It would be nice to see just a sliver of handcrafted, non-commercial, free-to-all, personal-expression space in the world, even if just on the internet.

I couldn't agree more, Mimi. 

Now I might not be most objective guy to lecture anyone on the dangers of advertising and pervasive consumerism, given the fact that my apartment is overfilled with a random array of useless shit and makes Charles Foster Kane's basement look like an empty breadbox.

But you know the omnipresence of advertising in our daily lives is getting out of hand when parents start auctioning off naming rights for their unborn babies and college girls start tattooing corporate logos on their breasts. 

As usual, I'm not passing judgment on any personal bloggers who feel the need to post ads on their site.  Advertising is a biological impulse found throughout the natural world. Peacocks attract the attention of a mate through a multicolored feather display. Baboons signal their sexual readiness with a pair of red, swollen buttocks. And shit, my wife and I just got a great deal on some attractively priced insurance from a fucking gecko!

So yeah, you probably won't be seeing any ads on this site anytime soon (of course, should the good people over at Aston Martin feel like sponsoring the site and donating the use of one of their fine automobiles, I'll be the first in line to tattoo their logo on my ass and name my second child DB9.)

But just out of curiosity, how do you feel when you see ads on personal blogs?  Do they turn you off?  Do you even care?  If you have ads on your blog, do you feel they're worth it?  Have you ever considered removing them?  In all honesty, I've stopped reading more than a few blogs because I couldn't deal with the advertising.  Have you ever done the same? 

An inquiring mind wants to know...

Comments

[amy]

I guess it is a "tired" old discussion, but I think it is still interesting so I am glad MD started it up again. I personally do not do ads, but I am one of those people who believes that if you feel you need the money or want the money, go right ahead. Who am I to say no? I think ads are ugly and look weird on people's blogs, but I am sort of used to it now. I will read the blogs that I enjoy regardless of ads except I have stopped sometimes when I feel people are purposely "hawking" stuff on their site with their reviews etc... I prefer when bloggers have separate sites for their product reviews. Ok that is my 2 cents...

[The Parents]

Well first of all why you visit a blog? Very simple to read the posts. For me ads won't bother me, I only give importance to the content. As few said it depends on blogger situation or reason behind blogging.

As long as they won't blink or pop-up it's fine with me.

[William]

Ads do not really bother me as long as the layout of the overall blog is good. I also think that the advertisers that place their ads on blogs should have blog friendly advertising. For instance the Mc Donalds ad should say somthing like "Since you are reading blogs when you should be working you probably have time to go to MC.D's for lunch."

[Scott]

The only thing that makes me crazier than seeing ads on a personal blog is seeing people put up those stupid "award" badges on their blogs. That's just lame.

[melissaS]

I think Mimi Smartypants needs a big hug and a large fry.

[Mark D]

While I think ads on personal blogs are a bit ... tacky, I really can't knock anyone for wanting to make some extra money.

And while I know things like Google Ads are keyword driven and can have some weird ads show up, some do you let you pick what companies get space.

That'd be the only way I'd do it (if I got enough traffic to justify ads), lest an ad for Wal-Mart or some other devil-driven company show up.

[Just another dumb guy]

Wasn't Dutch the one who posted all that stuff about Wal-Mart being completely evil? Wonder how he would feel if a giant Wal-Mart ad popped up on his site!

I guess it would be ok because he's using the money to support his family, ya know. Just like the 1 million hard-working Americans who work at Wal-Mart!

[Nisha]

Actually, I don't care much if there are ads in a blog. Except that it shouldn't be intrusive like a popup ad, that has to be clicked to shoo it away.

[the weirdgirl]

OK, I'll probably be the only one to say this but I kind of enjoy it when people get all pissed off over something like this. Such passion, such vitriol spit in the face of bloggers! Let's face it, the summer has been dull so far and we really needed a good smackdown! (Dutch, Mimi, you'll YouTube any physical fighting, won't you?)

That being said, my beef with ads is purely aesthetic. I like a clean site. A few tasteful banners with advertisers appropriate to the site's content, I couldn't care less. Twenty plus honking, blinking, titty-flashing ads and I just think it's ugly (and ineffective, and that's from someone who actually works in marketing). And if you can get paid to stay home, why not? No one else is handing out money.

[Rengirl]

I want to chime in and say that if the writing is good enough, I honestly don't care about the ads. If it helps support the writer in some way, I don't mind some of these ads invading my peripheral vision.

[mom]

I am speaking at Blogher next week on this very topic and now thanks to you and your awesomely opinionated commenters, I'll know how to fill the time.

With any luck, brawls will break out and we'll make the Chicago evening news.

On, uh...PBS. Ad-free.

[mom]

And just another dumb guy - maybe you're not dumb, maybe just unaware that ad networks give you the right to decline ads from particular sponsors as the publisher. So I doubt you'd ever see a Walmart ad on Sweet Juniper, although I can tell that bums you out a little.

[mo-wo]

I love that you do not have ads MD. I think your site is beautiful (among other things) because it doesn't. I wonder sometimes why you don't.

Part of it is that you are old school internet like us. You partake in aspects of the web that seem 'non commercial'.

I think dutch has some points but I despair this world he lives in, poor young man. While accepting it is educational for me as a parent. I have to face these facts.

Ad laden sites are ugly to me. I freaked out last week realizing that our national public broadcasters site (cbc.ca) was advertising for Disney. Fuckers!

As a media librarian I have been a part of a few events designed to develop good media literacy skills for children. It is freaking IMPOSSIBLE. How are our adult media literacy skills doing? Not so good judging by this thread.

ps... I hate McDonalds. It did seem disingenuous that a site so regularly prepared to expound on consumer issues would be seamlessly aligned with such a corporation. dutch you are not simply dealing here with advertising ... but more the appearance of sweetjuniper.com being a cog in a corporate machine driven by mindless, random acts of mechanized (read technological) branding.

Don't do that Dave.

[mr. big dubya]

Ads? On blogs? Never see them - I TiVo most of the feeds.

Personally, I really don't give a rat's ass. If people are getting paid to blog, all the more power to them. I wouldn't mind a little coin being thrown my way if I could get it. Do they stop me from reading? Not in the least.

[Much More Than A Mom]

I love my ads on both my sites, but I am with BlogAds and I choose who gets to advertise on my sites. I choose independent parent-run businesses. They make money and so do I. It pays for my site fees and a little extra for toys or whatever I feel like spoiling my kid with that month. I click on them from other sites I read (even though BlogAds are mostly flat fee) just to help out. But...I will not read a site with music or pop ups. Ever.

[Mark]

I am sure I am late into this opinion fest. Sometimes I think about a Quarter Pounder so as Rene Descartes "Coginto, ergo advertizo". So I think about mickey Ds I should advertise it. I think about Hooters hell advertise. That is personal information about me. Of course if I was writing a PC sensitive well balanced blog about mom's I guess putting and ad for Hustler Clubs would be a bit off post.

[Jade]

Ads on blogs? I read blogs at work and the ads are blocked by the company filter. When an blog is mostly filtered black bars, it doesn't invite me to fish for content.

Don't want to see ads? Sensor yourself like the children my job thinks we are.

[GIRL'S GONE CHILD]

Whoa! Apparently I'm totally out of the loop. I don't get what all the hate is about with ads. Why can't we all just appreciate a blog for what it is? A place to read a great writer's writing? It's shocking to me that anyone would make an issue out of a fellow writer making some bones for their words.

I would assume the same people fussing stay away from magazines? Movie theaters? Um... Cities and towns with billboards?

It's all the same shit. If you aren't "selling out" you're out selling (something else.) A penny for (our) thoughts and we have more time to write said thoughts down.

[bitemycookie]

i'm riding the outerloop with rebecca, but the one thing that nobody is discussing is the ubiquity of the blog ad - and when there's tipping point in one's traffic and your interestingness to justify posting the ads, nevermind getting income from it.

if i may speak for another, i know the first time a highly trafficked blogger friend took ads she made no money on it the first several months. *and* she had the traffic to justify taking the ads in the first place.

i left a similar comment on citymama.com (a another ad-taker with the traffic to justify going dot com, as opposed to dot typepad or dot blogspot). you've obviously got the traffic to make sense of owning metrodad dot com. you don't do that unless you have a brand to protect and something to sell.

"a blog is a web log. a personal journal. that's personal. as in, not commercial.

i look at it like this:
once you are paid to write your personal nonfiction, then you graduate to being a freelance writer. regardless of subject matter.

then. if you are writing paid-to-post advertisey-type of stuff (infomercial/advertainment ilk) then you are a freelance copywriter.

you do both? good. be a freelance copy/writer.

i weblog. i online journal. i am a blogger. (cue the A-Team theme song) for free. for me. (now i'm shaking my fist in the air, defiantly, of course)."

everybody wants to be rich and famous. but nobody wants to be interesting. every blogger wants a book deal and a trail of followers like dooce. sigh.

luckily my blog is so vulgar and uninteresting that not only have i almost never (as in one time) have been approached to shill anything, but my traffic after 2 years at this old school personal online diaring blog still touts only enough daily traffic to fill a bar mitzvah.

i hate blog ads. so do the other 3% of us who are not running them. maybe we're the assholes for not taking the money.

either way, this is exactly the kind of discussion that makes the blogging climate so shiteous at the moment. yawn. who cares any more? it's the old breast is best debate cum 2007; polarizing american parents just for fun.

everybody's else's points were far too erudite for this tiny brain.

[Chris]

I'm all for the "live and let live". I don't read too many blogs that have ads because I find them distracting.

[Jason]

Wow! How did this turn into such a vitriolic debate? Your post seems so innocuous. You just mentioned your distaste for ads and asked what other people thought about them. Guess people had some pretty strong feelings!

[croutonboy]

Christ, you'd think you'd waded into the abortion debate or something. Who really gives a shit? It's not like we're writing the fucking Bible, people...

Easy for me to say, with my 6 unique visitors a day...

[Suburban Turmoil]

To be honest, all I really care about on a blog is the writing. There are some great writers out there giving us enjoyment for free- If they want to run ads on their site, more power to them.

As for me and my four-kid family, the ad money I earn makes a huge difference in our house. I would hope that my readers wouldn't mind a few sidebar ads, knowing that it's helping me to make a living and stay home with my kids- and it's not costing them a dime.

Plus, there's something really empowering about corporate money being doled out to mommies now, rather than the magazines and networks getting all that cash. I think that's pretty awesome.

[Phoenix]

My God, I love your site MD. I love coming back after a few days to read all the comments and this one did not disappoint.

Am I too late for the McDonalds run, because I could really use a McFlurry today.

[Taste Like Crazy]

I don't have an issue with ads. If they are professional looking and are not the main focus of the blog than I'm cool with them.

If the content is there, then I'll keep coming back.

This is my first time on your site and I enjoyed it.

www.TasteLikeCrazy.com

[Her Bad Mother]

Holy late to the party - and now I've gone and missed all the fun.

So I'll just say this: Love ya dude, but I am totally with Dutch and Chag and Liz and Rebecca (and?) on this one. Ads are keeping me out of the grubby politi-pit that is the academy.

(And? Liz? This topic is also on the agenda for the momosphere panel, so I'll be cribbing the same notes - one day earlier, mwah ha ha!)

[Ashley]

Really late here, but I read the blogs I like whether or not they have ads. It doesn't bother me one way or another.

Go Dutch! ;)

[Kelly]

I strongly dislike looking at ads, and use Adblock on everything I can. Besides preferring the "clean" look of a page with a matching colour scheme, I'm not ever going to click on any of those ads, so why should I have to look at them.

Given the choice between a "clean" looking blog and one that's plastered with ads, I'm going to read the clean one.

[nicki]

the more i think about personal blogs and ad space, the more i am turned off by the idea. your post is right, having ads on a personal blog is attaching yourself to advertiser and their message. i guess it wouldn't be bad if you could filter out what ads you wanted.

[Juan]

It's all about the content (usually that means the writing), right? Sweet Juniper could be 90% covered in ads for Hummers or Colt 45 or some shit, and it would still be 100 times better than most blogs (including the sanctimoniously "pure" ones that don't accept ads) because Dutch and Wood just write better and take better pictures.
And most blogs, ad-free or not, aren't aesthetically pleasing anyway.

[Izzy]

You know, Pierre, as much as I come here and read, I have NEVER noticed that you don't have ads. Not very observant of me. Durrr!

I don't mind ads so much, particularly if they're not intrusive.

What I don't like is when I get the feeling someone is writing something "sponsored" on a reputedly personal blog because then everything they write is questionable in terms of it's ingenuousness (is that even a word?)

[BOSSY]

Bossy's ads are a signal of hope. The hope that she will one day earn $0.63 every six months -- instead of her current income of $0.63 a year.

[Amanda]

I think it's ridiculous that so many people are upset over a McDonalds ad or any ad for that matter. Those of you who don't put ads on your blogs must already have a lot of money and I'm happy for you but don't knock someone who is trying to support their family through personal blogging.

I've been blogging & creating websites since 2003 and I finally started making enough money for my husband to quit his full time job and go back to college and get his PHD so I'm all for advertising! Some of you have never been in this situation but I bet if you were and had the opportunity to make money by blogging then you would. period.

[Shawn]

I just can't believe Dutch can pay his Mies van der Rohe mortgage with his blog. What the hell am I doing at work? Oh right, no talent.

[Tracey (Sweetney)]

What Dutch from Sweet Juniper said: YES.

[Tracey (Sweetney)]

ps: This entire thread? I'M LOVIN' IT! bwahahaaa!

[Kady]

Go away for a weekend and look what happens. I hate ads. Hate them. They skeeve me out. And the worst part? I think that the cultist bloggers all became popular b/c of their anti-establishment, cooler than hip, in-your-face, sassy attitudes. How cool is it to belong to the man? Hey, I know that I belong to the man,but I make no pretense of marching to my own drummer.

[Laylabean]

I agree with many of the previous posters. If the ads are in the sidebar, I usually don't even notice them and they don't bother me. I have a harder time when they're interspersed throughout the text or blinking and flashing or doing something else obnoxious. I have stopped reading several blogs because the ads were too intrusive. Also, product reviews rub me the wrong way and I've stopped reading blogs because of too many posts that feature glowing reviews of the latest crap on the market.

I know, everyone has bills to pay so I don't mind a little bit of advertising. But when it gets to be too big or too often or too much, it feels like a sellout and I'm gone.

[Henri]

Dear Google,

For the 793th time, my blog has nothing to do whatsoever with Meeting Single Indians. However, your utterly awesome ad unit, keeps insisting that I am the best place to attract visitors to SingleInMumbaiAndLovinIt dot com. Just thought you might want to fine tune that a little bit. Otherwise keep up the kick ass work.

Love,
ImRichBitches

[Val]

I do not, and will not ever, put ads in my blogs. Such a great topic. I've even had friends who have done the ad thing for the money and it's turned me off from reading them. So. Not. Cool. And so very annoying.

[Gray Matter Matters]

Ok, late to weigh in, but since I made my career being a copywriter I have to come down on the pro-side of small, unobtrusive ads. I think authentic bloggers are authentic bloggers. Presumably we do this because we love it whether or not Gerber has a pretty green graphic somewhere on our site.
Frankly, if you're already a nymphomanic why not be a hooker?

[Kyran]

wow, late to the party as usual.

and now I am a little traumatized.

creative output and personal or corporate patronage has gone hand in hand since time out of mind. find a way to pay the bills, however, whatever. just keep telling the story.

I haven't decided on advertising for my blog yet. I'm not traffic-driven, and I don't really like to mess with my layout. but a great big Citizen Kane magazine just bought a handful of my posts. ditto a large newspaper. am I supposed to tear up the checks when they come in because my work will be tucked in between pharmaceutical and chicken ads? you've got to be kidding me.

(not you, Metrodad, I did get that you were stating a personal preference, not handing down a netwide decree. calm the hell down, people.)

people seem to be making the money itself a moral issue. like touching it taints you. i don't see how someone (again, I mean some of the commenters) can take that stance if they recieve pay for any kind of work they do.

my dirty, dirty two cents worth. ;-)

[Kyran]

Also, I am experimenting with invited patronage myself, as an alternative to commercial advertising. I was surprised to read in the comments here that this approach really flipped someone's switch.

How do they feel about brandy snifters on pianos? Do they kick over open guitar cases on the sidewalk?

[-]

That Dutch guy is an asshole!