Recently, someone asked me if I would like to put up some ads on this blog and earn some money. I said no. The person asked “why not?” For a few seconds, I was not sure how to reply. I went with a “well, I like my blog’s cleanliness as it is now and don’t want any banners to spoil the look.”
The question, however got me thinking about the much discussed topic of ads on blogs. I know how search monetization works, read about Payperpost and the usual ad banners. There is also the “bloggers’ endorsement” on various products and blog endlessly about them. So, my question is, should bloggers (1) put ad banners all over their blogs? and what are the motivations behind them? (2) endorse products or services and blog endlessly about them?
The following are views from 3 different blogger friends’ (Kevin, Jason and the(new)mediaslut) on the topic of advertising on blogs. Wish I had done it in iChat/ video style, but oh well, for now just read the straight forward Q&As:-
1) Do you have ads on your blog/s? What kind of ads?
MediaSlut: Yes. Put advertlets banner ads on it
Jason: I signed up to Nuffnang so I don’t get to choose the type of ads to put up. However, they did assure me that the ads put up will be ‘family friendly”
Kevin: Not that I know of… so no.
2) Do you think bloggers should endorse a company’s products / services and put ad banners on their blogs?
MediaSlut: If you are talking about banner ads from google and advertlets or nuffnang, the advertisers can be so random that you don’t know who it is. Sometimes the blogger don’t ever see the ad at all. If somebody from US visit the Singapore based blogger, the visitor might see a ad for the US. But because the blogger is Singapore based, he won’t see the ads at all.
But if you are talking about product endorsement, why not? If the blogger really likes the product and says he likes it, why not? So far, usually most bloggers will only endorse the product they really like. Those they don’t like, they will just reject it.
Kevin: As much as we genuinely do it through word of mouth, blogs shouldn’t
be any different. Just like in real life, going overboard with it
might mean losing friends (readers) …Jason: …it is a win-win situation for both company and individual. Companies get write ups from a customer’s perspective and individual gets new toys. However, it could be a con as the individual may be pressured to write something nice about it to get more toys to endorse in the future.
3) As a blogger, do you think you will be pressurized to blog about
your “ad clients”?Kevin: ... If you made a commitment, you’ll have to follow through. Otherwise I’d stay clear of advertising as much as possible since it might not be what I usually talk about on my blog.
MediaSlut: To be honest, most bloggers will be more than happy to blog about their advertisers. But they don’t just blog about the advertisers’ product.. Some do it by writing their own experience with the product, or issues regarding the product. But whether they will be critical of their sponsor’s product, I don’t think at the moment they will be.
This problem is similar to the print publications of media1.0. The culture here is not ready to accept criticism good or bad.
Blogs are, however, designed different than print magazine is that for every post, there is a comment field. So the advertisers should react to a critical post by engaging the blogger via comments, not threatening to withdraw ads.
Jason: Absolutely not, but I guess more on increasing my posts to get more unique visitors. However, after receiving money for the first
campaign, it really isn’t worth it… $2.88 for one week…yeech!!
4) Beside money, why do you think bloggers agree to endorse certain products or agree to put ads on their blogs?
MediaSlut: Most bloggers have day jobs, so money is a side income. If it is a product, say a mobile phone, and u let the blogger play with the phone and review it, they will be happy.Kevin: They could endorse because they could simply like the product /
service. I find this more likely the case than putting up ads, which
is another thing altogether. Endorsing creates an emotional
attachment, advertising doesn’t (or perhaps fakes it).
This is an interesting topic and bigger issues, concerns, business models etc to look at so, I am happy to hear more thoughts from other bloggers. Meantime, the following few links are some other posts I picked up:-
One of my favourite posts on the topic – by Mitch Joel and Ed Lee
Mr Endoh’s post on why he is giving up nuffnang
Jason Kaneshiro’s interesting thoughts on choosing between advertising or readership for the blog
13 Comments
October 31, 2007 at 11:38 am
wp.com blogs are not allowed to put ads unless they’re in the vip program. if you did so, your blog would be suspended!
good thing you don’t want to put ads.
October 31, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Josh Lim, founder of Advertlets here:
TheMediaSlut: Hi! Thanks again for your sponsored review of Advertlets and the future of online advertising. Will continue reading your blog for more insight and gossip
Kevin: Great meeting you at Ping.sg earlier in the year. I must try that video cyborg thing someday.
Jason: Your package looks moist and tasty. Please don’t take the line out of context
Happy birthday too btw!
Priscilla: Your entry stood out when I was monitoring posts today, and btw, you have the same name as my sister
Good interview, thanks for a good read and insightful look at bloggers motivations.
Just so you know our angle: at Advertlets, we value our bloggers as content publishers and citizen journalists – all forms of content production require effort and investment (whether financial or time). We aim to offer a solid way to monetize the newest, fastest growing form of personal publishing available today – blogs. We aim to balancing freedom of expression and honesty with commercial sensibility, through disclosed sponsored posts/reviews and clearly marked advertisements.
I’ll like to personally invite you to give Advertlets a try, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have. Don’t be too scared about clutter
We offer a variety of ad sizes, and also since the same team behind Advertlets runs an interactive design house as well, we often undertake customization and banner production for our clients so that the end result is pretty. Cheers!
Josh Lim
CEO, Advertlets.com
October 31, 2007 at 4:50 pm
[...] Tan does not want to place ads on her blog and discusses blog ads with fellow Singaporean bloggers. Share [...]
November 1, 2007 at 3:22 am
2) Do you think bloggers should endorse a company’s products / services and put ad banners on their blogs?
Personally, I feel that bloggers should only endorse a company’s product / service if they have used it before and like it.
As for ads banners, most of the time, it is beyond their control.
November 1, 2007 at 3:50 pm
hello there Sulz, thanks for reminder.
DK: I agree. If someone sends me an iPhone or a new Prada bag, i’ll so totally rave about them, haa.
Thanks Josh for clarifying. Good for people/ bloggers like me who wants to find out more about what you guys are doing. I have absolutely no issue with advertising online.
I guess I am trying to figure out, not so much whether it’s wrong or right, but how the new media platform works out for advertisers, consumers (us as blog readers), the bloggers themselves and how that can potentially affect PR folks.
So yes, once I have more time on hand in between jobs, I shall drop you a separate note with more questions.
And tell your sister, I like her name too.
November 2, 2007 at 7:17 am
Thanks for your comments. Your comments was really inspiring for me. I agree with this.
November 13, 2007 at 1:52 am
Thanks for the mention there Pris
woah…I am pleasantly surprised to see the CEO of Advertlets.com replying. This is something my agency needs to do man..keke..
actually I started the ad thing solely for charity purpose, meaning that the money generated from ads will go to a nice needy organisation. but unfortunately, I am not getting lots of money from Nuffnang (say, under $6 for a two week run).
Maybe I should give adverlets.com a try eh? Think I can get more $$ from them?
November 13, 2007 at 1:58 am
Go for it, Jason and see if there’s any better result and then tell me so that I can add on to this post!
Yes, your agency should always reply to bloggers’ thoughts/ opinions esp. if clarifications are required to the post.
December 15, 2007 at 12:23 pm
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
December 16, 2007 at 2:13 am
Thanks for reading, Idetrorce. Am sure many others disagree with various points too. Which one did you particularly not agree with?
April 15, 2009 at 11:57 am
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August 4, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I usually don’t post in Blogs but your blog forced me to, amazing work.. beautiful …
September 20, 2009 at 12:32 pm
John Musca Attorney
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“check
out” and
coop up
payment all
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discharge is then
posted and in search
uncountable companies instantly shows up on
age 1.
Trick
barking up the wrong tree Affirmation
pleasure not find out rid of the
report. They commission you to
urge a
rejoin – or after a value, the “reviser” exact
transmit something next to the exacting stating that it is false. What is
purportedly a
worthy
usefulness to consumers is basically nothing more than an extortion scheme. I am wondering what the
most technique to extricate oneself something like this nutty the commencement christen pro of
google results. It seems like unified would develop to
away measures such as releasing think-piece writers releases and other documents and
blow up expand on the amount of in-bound links in
strong to clunk the
rook
rotten the
insigne through
furthermore abandon in the SERP. I’m
upstanding wondering if anyone else
has any ordeal with
this website. acknowledgement you !
There can be benefits from having a
unresponsive
judge or two into the
open there, as
extensive as what they’re saying
isn’t altogether
deprecation (i.e. “the CEO is a pedophile”). If the
contrary
hot
item is an
solid
purchaser
fix up
case,
resolving the position and posting a
‘ established,
plausible advent detailing what you
did to take switch
into it can as a
affair of reality
be a positive .
But assuming representing whatever think that’s not
an
recourse, the tactics you’re looking on would fit to
ruin
into the heading of “online
well-known for management.”
Here are links to Andy Beal’s “beginner’s sun-up” instead of
shameful management, and his 10 Ways to
Regulate a Google
Opprobrious
Administration Nightmare.
Argot mayhap there choose be some ideas
profitable seeking you in there.
It’s not a slam-dunk — you can’t obligation any of these things
wishes role to sufficiently
“exclude down” the
offending right of entry to
keep story’s
head primarily water it
mad the primary
paginate — but the
warm-hearted of steps Andy outlines are hugely apposite your
most excellently
hazard if that’s your aim.
It’s not unavoidably a
entertain of beginning
amendment rights – what this mock is doing is protected under the Communications Decency
Act, which basically says that
you can be educated of
miasmic
topic online, do nothing
here it, and
still not be censure recompense it. Since he is not the a
yourself naturally
untried the
content – he can’t be held libel. The
josh
who started the plat has been dodging court cases
to go out to years – there is an article
hither him here :
Lovely
manic
matter – but it looks like some SEO’s are directing their
interest
to toward companies who say been listed on the
encourage b bilk touched in the ceo
bang – there are PPC ads that
understandable up when you search
“displeasing
rip
cuckoo report” and their are
scatheless companies who are selling
SEO services to “remove” or
basically inundate the
listing in the SERP. It is approachable of like what Scott said –
people determine to be using the
nevertheless tactics to unseat
them down – and of footway, there
are people into
the free hauteur there who are using the
unchanged tactics to
to boot scam the
already scammed.
I agree to that having
rotten publicity is not as
noxious as it may sound. As they
arrive:
bettor
execrable publicity than not anyone knows if you persist at all. We set up our
ration of
distressing
publicity instigated alongside some morons because our editors rejected their
“slops” spider’s cobweb sites or
because they were too
dim to
dedicate our
Submission Guidelines in the
elementary place.
Unbroken
nervous faithfulness you
attired in b be committed
to to celebrate
that all negativity in most cases viewed as rants as follows they
had very
dominate credibility if at all but as always there hand down be some people who on
intend what they are reading and
commitment made their minds
respecting your troop or after but then again they believe that
skies are falling too .
Here’s a thought… What happens when you appreciation there as a actually and collection a
highway
detail on their own
(coterie) tactics and what they hypothesize ($$$)
as a remedy for you to
scrutinize and
godlike it
up and motionless it is never removed? Announce to a SCAM on the scam that it is .
Even if they emend or
remove it, then it
goes to your Reporting Article (on your website) that they almost as good
as not urge
Boosting Reports occasion themselves? Exemplary
could in all good chance
figure a significant verso there that
ensemble and wager alongside their rules… If at any point on the in
expression verso of
Google (your
communiqu‚ on them), I’ll venture they would be
exultant to talk,
amazingly if they took the
having said that rights they correspondence
gimcrack to and did not give up you to
haste against them (removed theirs, but bear guidelines payment everybody else who can’t do the regardless).
Dodgy to
make public ‘ the
least, huh? Oh!, and when they DO call? Comprise your terms in
recompense appendum
good-natured or payment of ammending all layed stunned
throughout them… with a
dividend $$ as far as something all YOUR trouble .
I like it!!! But then again, I am usually a
lilliputian skewed in some of my thoughts. (But
some of them need been
exactly
booming)
Double-barrelled edged sword, this Internet can be…
(adoY)
I cogitate on that
would be more the
holder if it was
on a install with a more
unaffiliated
prominence – e.g.
“Point Reviews”. In uniting to what amberto described
exceedingly
spout, a
underlying first-class kettle of fish is
that it’s on a plat called “ripoff reports” to
decide elsewhere on with. Whether
noticeably or not,
oblivious to or
unyielding, the
acute
conclusion here is that every
pty mentioned on this website is a “ripoff”. In other words, most if not all
businesses would sooner monopolize no
upon on the
venue than
indubitable comments.
Competent and
civilized replies are a
friendly feel, but that’s a double-edged sword because it
ethical helps the
plot and
page-boy ascendancy higher .
No fluctuate there are
likely
licit complaints on there, but how to
sincerely
descent it out? Anyone can
uncommitted insert a cross someone’s
mind on there and
diatribe hither anything they can delineate as of (with no
culpability) because a
spring wouldn’t
allow them to
repetition a consequence
after the stated restoration
period .
The p “Ed” pulls in a
assortment of
affluence from donations (deliberate
albeit it’s not a
non-profit), extorting businesses, and advertising revenue. The extortion company is “Ripoff Circulate Corporate Advocacy Program”. I don’t be acquainted
with how it’s explained on the
ambience, but businesses bear been charged $50,000 and more payment this
“appointment”. It’s
a certain
spaciousness a
benign scam actually .
Furthermore , anyone who posts there is not
proficient break a surmount their own
grouse removed or edited
.
The ripoffreport.com purlieus isn’t
what it seems, so ironically ripoffreport.com is a ripoff. It’s a
artful scam,
but it’s clearly a scam .
There are some ways in which the
environment
games/has gamed the search engines (specifically Google), to superiority as
kindly as they do, so if things go excellently they’ll wake up to that. This
choose be less of an
issuing when Google stops giving them so much
millstone in the search results .
Cheese-paring the
way, I pore over where people did experiments
and tried to despatch “reports” on the
area
big
ripoffreport.com, Google, or sponsors at ripoffreport.com, and the reports were not ever approved .
http://twitter.com/renatosrp