This is a journal of my vegetable gardens. Skippy was my first dog and he thought the garden was his, even though I did all the work. Now Suzie and Charley follow in his footsteps. We're located near Boston (USDA zone 6A). I have a community plot, a backyard vegetable garden, fruit trees, berry bushes, chickens, and bees. I use sustainable organic methods and do my best to grow all of my family's vegetables myself.
Friday, February 22, 2008
to add-ads or not to add-ads ...
that is the question...
Ten of the 31 blogs on my favorite blog list (31%) have ads on their site. My first day of ads got me only $xxx with 707 page views. And then there are the sites with the cool "ad-free-zone" buttons.
i've been thinking about this too but can't make up my mind. i don't have nearly the number of visitors you do but every $1 is another $1 to buy plants, right?
Just a quick heads-up Skippy. You are actually breaking Adsense's TOS by disclosing your pageviews and monies earnt. It wouldn't be a problem if you had other advertising on your site and this was a culmination of all providers but as Adsense seems to be the only one, I would assume that the $1.04 was earnt through them.
In response to your question; it all depends what you are trying to achieve. If you're wanting to make money then I would suggest spending some time at the Adsense site and familiarising yourself with the basics of layout, ad placement and content.
Otherwise, just go the "I'm-blogging-because-I-like-blogging-route".
I think of lot of us wonder about this too ! Thanks for posting about it so we have a heads up on the complexity of the "to do ? or not to do ?" aspect ! Joy
I've never really looked into ads for my site. Although your $1.04 is more than I would have expected, I never thought I would earn enough to make it worth while and thought ads would clutter and detract from my blog. Perhaps I will change my mind someday.
Without a doubt there are a number of blogs I don't read because they are too full of ads. Even though I use adblock software, some ads make it through and in any case can slow the loading of pages or leave lots of empty boxes. Since many ads can be avoided via RSS feeds, many bloggers end up disabling these, making it all the more likely I don't end up reading the blogs.
I also make it a point of not linking to blogs that have too many ads.
I think if you have too many ads, go to too much trouble to optimize placement and make your blog too annoying to read, you will lose readers and end up with a different quality and circle of people reading your blog. There are too many other blogs out there, and it's too easy to ignore annoying blogs.
At the same time I, like most people I think, understand a few ads with the intention of at least paying any Internet or hosting costs you might have in connection with your blog perhaps with a little pocket money on top.
Well, I think I'll go with a small ad for now and see how it goes. Right now I have just one small ad on my sidebar. The rest are my links and widgets.
If Patrick stops commenting on my site, I'll have to take that ad out though.
I think the content of the google ad is very good. I personally enjoy reading ads, especially for seed companies.
It's a decision for each person to make for themselves. I have the Ad-Free Blog "sticker" in the sidebar of my blog, right below my profile. For me, it's a matter of principle and integrity.
I'm going to have to keep thinking about this one.
I can certainly see the point for a political blog or a blog where a lot of opinions are presented. Skippy and I mostly just dig and take pictures.
There's also a difference between posting a google sponsored ad that is linked to blog content (where I have no control over what company's ad shows up there) and directly working with a company or even posting content for a company without making this clear (which I have been asked to do).
By the way, I have added some company logos with links to my favorite seed companies. These are not ads.
By the way, my understanding after a second read through (aarrgh) is that Google's confidentiality statement does not restrict against disclosure of monies earned. And my site meter gives those page view stats.
As "Joe Average Reader" (does such a person really exist?) I wouldn't have noticed the ad without seeing it mentioned in the blog text. I check in a few times a week because I really enjoy your photos and comments, and the ad doesn't either detract from or add to my experience. So, if it makes the Vegetable Garden more sustainable, I am all for it. Now, if the page fills up with bright, blinky things that get in the way of enjoying the content, that would be a different matter...
12 comments:
i've been thinking about this too but can't make up my mind. i don't have nearly the number of visitors you do but every $1 is another $1 to buy plants, right?
That's true ...
Just a quick heads-up Skippy. You are actually breaking Adsense's TOS by disclosing your pageviews and monies earnt. It wouldn't be a problem if you had other advertising on your site and this was a culmination of all providers but as Adsense seems to be the only one, I would assume that the $1.04 was earnt through them.
In response to your question; it all depends what you are trying to achieve. If you're wanting to make money then I would suggest spending some time at the Adsense site and familiarising yourself with the basics of layout, ad placement and content.
Otherwise, just go the "I'm-blogging-because-I-like-blogging-route".
Sorry. I didn't read it carefully enough.
I think of lot of us wonder about this too !
Thanks for posting about it so we have a heads up on the complexity of the "to do ? or not to do ?"
aspect !
Joy
I've never really looked into ads for my site. Although your $1.04 is more than I would have expected, I never thought I would earn enough to make it worth while and thought ads would clutter and detract from my blog. Perhaps I will change my mind someday.
Without a doubt there are a number of blogs I don't read because they are too full of ads. Even though I use adblock software, some ads make it through and in any case can slow the loading of pages or leave lots of empty boxes. Since many ads can be avoided via RSS feeds, many bloggers end up disabling these, making it all the more likely I don't end up reading the blogs.
I also make it a point of not linking to blogs that have too many ads.
I think if you have too many ads, go to too much trouble to optimize placement and make your blog too annoying to read, you will lose readers and end up with a different quality and circle of people reading your blog. There are too many other blogs out there, and it's too easy to ignore annoying blogs.
At the same time I, like most people I think, understand a few ads with the intention of at least paying any Internet or hosting costs you might have in connection with your blog perhaps with a little pocket money on top.
Well, I think I'll go with a small ad for now and see how it goes. Right now I have just one small ad on my sidebar. The rest are my links and widgets.
If Patrick stops commenting on my site, I'll have to take that ad out though.
I think the content of the google ad is very good. I personally enjoy reading ads, especially for seed companies.
It's a decision for each person to make for themselves. I have the Ad-Free Blog "sticker" in the sidebar of my blog, right below my profile. For me, it's a matter of principle and integrity.
I'm going to have to keep thinking about this one.
I can certainly see the point for a political blog or a blog where a lot of opinions are presented. Skippy and I mostly just dig and take pictures.
There's also a difference between posting a google sponsored ad that is linked to blog content (where I have no control over what company's ad shows up there) and directly working with a company or even posting content for a company without making this clear (which I have been asked to do).
By the way, I have added some company logos with links to my favorite seed companies. These are not ads.
By the way, my understanding after a second read through (aarrgh) is that Google's confidentiality statement does not restrict against disclosure of monies earned. And my site meter gives those page view stats.
As "Joe Average Reader" (does such a person really exist?) I wouldn't have noticed the ad without seeing it mentioned in the blog text. I check in a few times a week because I really enjoy your photos and comments, and the ad doesn't either detract from or add to my experience. So, if it makes the Vegetable Garden more sustainable, I am all for it. Now, if the page fills up with bright, blinky things that get in the way of enjoying the content, that would be a different matter...
Blinking! Now there's and idea to get the ad noticed....
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