Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Poll: Advertising on Blogs

Which of the following statements best describes your thoughts regarding advertising on blogs?

Sure, why not? The more the better!
OK, so long as it's not a freaking billboard
A few discrete text ads are all right, I guess, just not the graphic pictures
I think advertising sometimes distracts from a blog's content
I dislike all advertising on blogs

7 comments :

Richard Windsor said...

It's a tough call, Bonnie. While I agree that it can certainly be aesthetically unpleasing, there is a lot of money out there for the entrepreneur to make.

Some blogs started out as spanking blogs, but as time went on they no longer focus on spanking specifically, rather they are just modules to promote affiliate programs. Even if a spanking post is made, you can guarantee that the post in question will contain upwards of 30 links to affiliate programs neatly disguised as a spanking related post.

Now I don't have any problem with it, those blogs that are entirely devoted to spamming affiliates I rarely go to, however, I'm also not a hypocrite because I run 3 such blogs myself outside of my main one and my vintage one.

Even on my main blog you will see a host of links to paysites, what I do try to do though is at the very least make them aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Not saying I succeed, but I at least try. :-)

Now in regards to my main site, I do try my hardest to keep the promotions at a minimum, but quite honestly, my main site is where I make the most money.

At the moment I am pulling in around $500 a month from promotions, so while I understand that not everyone is going to like the ads, I am also making good money from it. So much so that this weekend I am planning on creating a main hub for affiliate type material, which in turn may reduce the amount of advertising that I put on my main site.

I know that this reply doesn't address your simple question as to whether people like advertising, however I thought I would provide you with a little extra information as to why people choose to do so :-)

Richard Windsor.

SPANKEDHORTIC said...

Even as a 100% amateur blogger, I am still a potential customer of many of the products advertised and I like to know what options are available for me and my plastic.

Nothing wrong with commercial bloggers making a few folding ones, as long as the blog is still worth reading or viewing.

Prefectdt

Salvia said...

I don't mind the ads so much, but if they are really graphic then I might be a little put off. I would think it is a good way to make some extra cash :)
Salvia

A.S.S. said...

We used to avoid all advertising when we were on Blogger... even though we often mentioned professional spanking video companies in posts (and provided links). When Blogger decided to censor our site though, we moved to our own .com site... and that costs money (about $15 a month). So, we added 6 affiliate banners to our site and provide affiliate links (instead of just regular links). We put them on the sidebar and tried to blend them into the overall theme of our blog. Also picked spanking related affiliates that we actually do recommend.

That's covered the cost of owning and controlling our site... and then added a little extra. We haven't changed the way we blog though. The goal was just to break even and not ~lose~ money blogging. Just a little insight into why one blog advertises.

For our personal tastes... we avoid blogs that are focused strictly on getting us to click links. Don't have any issue with folks that create such blogs and we do understand the motivation. We're just more interested in personal experiences and insights... or creative ideas / stories. If a blog has that and has advertising that doesn't make navigation difficult, we're totally fine with it.

:)
~Todd & Suzy

Uncle Nick said...

Yeah, I started Strict Uncle to make some money out of something that I find agreeable. It isn't doing that as conversions from click throughs are standing at nil. Thus I am going to have to change the programme, I suppose, but the blog will continue. Maybe I will start taking sponsored postings?

Unknown said...

I basically agree with what Todd and Suzy said in their last paragraph.

I don't mind some advertising on a blog, but I go for the personal stories and commentary. While the sites that provide a comprehensive list of updated blogs seemed like a great thing at first, so many of the listed blogs are primarily advertising sites that I find myself going back mostly to visiting blogs via links from other blogs that I like.

Nothing against advertising in general though. I'm happy for folks who can cover their expenses or make a little (or lot) of money from it.

Anonymous said...

Advertising can also slow down the page loads.

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