Are Blog Ads Immoral or Fattening?

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I haven’t posted much recently. Most of my time has been taken up with the “Thirty Day Challenge” course on internet marketing. This is the start of day four and so far, I’m totally impressed. They’re beta testing new software called Market Samurai, so that is a bit of a hook. For each step they teach, though, they also show how to do it the old way, without the software. The net effect is to make the software tool that much more attractive. Anyway, the course is very good value if you are interested in learning the game and the only thing you need to invest is your time.

Taking part in the course has got me thinking a lot about making money online. This is an obvious path for any of us who are computer savvy to consider once we leave the formal work force behind.

A lot of people feel there is something almost immoral or dishonest about putting ads on blogs. Even many bloggers feel this way. In their mind, a blog should only be an online journal where you share your life and your thoughts with friends and anyone else who might discover you.

If that is what you want to do with your blog, that’s fine. Monetized blogs are certainly not immoral, though.

The cool thing about the internet is that no coercion is possible. If someone lands on a site and doesn’t like it or doesn’t want to take part in what is going on there, they bounce. Looking at my stats, people generally bounce within 15 seconds. It is literally impossible to force a visitor to do anything. In my mind, that makes the whole question of whether it is acceptable to put ads on a blog irrelevant.

One of the things that led me to this conclusion was thinking about different types of money making websites and looking for analogues in the real world.

First, and most obvious, are the sites whose sole purpose is to advertise a product. Smitty’s Gold Jewelry, for instance. Smitty wants you to buy his jewelry. There will be pages about why it’s good, how they make it, where to order etc. Obvious analogue for this is a conventional store.

At the other end of the spectrum is a This is My Life type blog. Articles are general interest or amusing, and various ads appear along with the stories. The best comparison for this is a carnival. If you go to a carnival, there are various exciting or sexy attractions that people want to see. All around the edges are the booths offering things for sale or games of chance. If you’re anything like me you find the products offered around the edges much more interesting than the attractions.

Attempting to make money with a blog is often equated with spamming, but the analogy doesn’t hold. Spam comes to you uninvited and it is very hard to turn off. If you land on a monetized blog and the ads offend you, bounce. Nobody makes you come and certainly nobody can make you click an ad. Even if you do click an ad, you can’t be forced to buy. Conversion rates are only about 3% on internet ads, so obviously people can say no.

By the way, did you know that May 22nd of this year marked the thirtieth anniversary of spam? In 1978 it was against the rules to use email for any commercial purpose. Digital Computer broke the rules, and was severely chastised for it. Here is the first paragraph of the message. If you want to see a full article about it, check out Freedom to Tinker blog post about it.

DIGITAL WILL BE GIVING A PRODUCT PRESENTATION OF THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY; THE DECSYSTEM-2020, 2020T, 2060, AND 2060T. THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY OF COMPUTERS HAS EVOLVED FROM THE TENEX OPERATING SYSTEM AND THE DECSYSTEM-10 (PDP-10) COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE. BOTH THE DECSYSTEM-2060T AND 2020T OFFER FULL ARPANET SUPPORT UNDER THE TOPS-20 OPERATING SYSTEM. THE DECSYSTEM-2060 IS AN UPWARD EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT DECSYSTEM 2040 AND 2050 FAMILY. THE DECSYSTEM-2020 IS A NEW LOW END MEMBER OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AND FULLY SOFTWARE COMPATIBLE WITH ALL OF THE OTHER DECSYSTEM-20 MODELS.

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Posted by: swampy | 08-04-2008 | 04:08 PM
Posted in: Uncategorized

  • I do not think blog ads or bloggers who write about products are immoral.

    I would certainly not mind earning a few bucks from blogging. And I must admit when you called for partners in the 30-day challenge, I was somewhat tempted (but didn't come forward, afraid of the demands it might take on my still limited time and more limited computer knowhow).

    But I do have reservations I have yet to resolve.

    I cannot imagine writing about a product that I haven't tried for myself nor seen nor know little about except for some info that googling might yield about it. I find myself skipping blogs like that when I stumble on them in my blogsurfing. I dont know that I want my blog buddies and readers (the small but devoted group that I have) to do that with a blog piece that I write.

    And I think my blogsite is committed to some purpose(s) that may be somewhat at odds with writing about products.

    I have a prospective assignment to be among a handful of channel editors in a blog site sponsored by a big commercial company. They are giving me a topic that I am familiar with and will be compensating me on a monthly basis.

    I think I should be more comfortable with this type of problogging.

    BTW, Glenn, my google reader is all set up ... have been using it for a week or so. Ty for your help.
  • Nice one. I have stumbled and twittered this for my friends. Hope others find it as interesting as I did.
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