Selling my soul to Google

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.

If you found this post informative or helpful, please share it!

4 thoughts on “Selling my soul to Google

  • September 21, 2004 at 12:10 am
    Permalink

    Blogging software is common and personal websites are a dime a dozen. However, not many people do much with them. It takes hard work to write a lot and try to keep it interesting. You do the hard work, and a lot of people enjoy the result.

    I block all pop ups, but have no objection to a few tasteful ads your site’s pages. If you can get a little income from them I don’t see a problem.


    -Steve

  • September 21, 2004 at 7:24 am
    Permalink

    I don’t mind a few ads, as long as they don’t move or flash. I find any motion on the page really distracting when I’m trying to read. Google ads seem to be just flat text, so that’s fine.

    Not to be crass, but do you get something for every click on an add, or just something for displaying them?


    Yeah, but it’s a moist heat.

  • September 21, 2004 at 10:57 am
    Permalink

    I despise everything that moves or blinks too. Google lets you specify graphical or text ads. I limit it to text ads just in case any of the graphical ads might move.

    As far as revenue, I get paid for clicks, not for page impressions. That said, I’m prohibited from encouraging people to click on the links. So if you’re going to click on an ad, click on it because it’s something you’re interested in, not because clicking on it will benefit me.

  • September 21, 2004 at 12:21 pm
    Permalink

    I’ve been using Google Ads on my weblog for a couple of months now:

    pubcrawler.org

    I’ve had no complaints and I think that google is good about giving you the option for non-intrusive, attractive ads. You can even use your own custom colours and they give you a wide array of choices of sizes.

Comments are closed.