I've enabled Google ads on my site for all visitors. Previously, for the past three months or so, I had been displaying ads only when the site referrer was something outside of this site.

If you object to online advertising, you can easily log in to the site, go to your preferences, scroll to the bottom, and check all the boxes you want, leaving the Google Ads block unchecked. So long as you don't sign out before your next visit, the site will hold that preference the same way it holds your theme of choice. You can turn off other blocks as well, to make the page load faster or whatever.

I don't object to advertising as long as it's somewhat relevant. I used to buy Computer Shopper magazine primarily for the ads, back in the days when it was the size of a Sears catalog. Seems hard to believe, looking at it now, but in the days before the 'net, it was the way people in the know bought their gear.

I do believe that the ad and editorial departments should be completely separate. I deliberately choose not to subscribe to one particular hobby publication specifically because its editorial content seems to cater too much to its advertisers.

Outsourcing the advertising to a third party like Google is a good way to do that. I have no way of controlling what ads Google places and where. So I write what I would normally write, and Google tries to come up with some ads that are relevant. I carry on just as I normally would, and if all goes well, I make a little money.