Ads by The Gooble...
First of all, I'm writing from true ignorance about how blog advertisements are bought and sold through The Gooble. I'm assuming that a blogger throws his/her blog into some massive pool with others, and ads will randomly appear on their blogs.
I am also assuming that SOME editorial leverage is given to the blogger. Like, "I don't want any child porn ads on my blog, etc." Not that I think The Gooble would even take ads from child porn sites. I mean, The Gooble is wrong...but not that wrong.
And, I know that some bloggers sell ads directly to advertisers, which gives them complete oversight of the deal.
But, some funny things can happen with these random ads. I was reading a post the other day where homosexuality was mentioned. In the side bar appeared an ad for a "Meet a Gay Millionaire Online" site. The photo attached to the ad was creepy. Just sayin'...
I was reading an article about Arkansas college football last fall, and an ad appeared in the sidebar: "The average IQ of the Razorbacks is 87. Take our IQ Test!" I'm pretty sure the fan site I was reading didn't have that in mind when they decided to sell ads.
Once I was reading a post that was extremely critical of Michelle Obama. In the sidebar appeared an ad from a company selling a Michelle Obama Inaugural Edition Doll. It was a beautiful thing...she was all decked out in a dress that was quite attractive, unlike the crap she really wears. But you get my drift...
So, I was reading posts in my The Gooble Reader yesterday. A Canadian blogger that I read (a very conservative female, not RightGirl, btw) has ads that appear beneath her posts. A link titled "Say Goodbye To Limbaugh" appears regularly in her posts. This is the linked page:
Now, does this blogger REALLY want to promote a site designed to collect e-mail addresses for solicitations by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee? Certainly not. Will any of her readers bite? Probably not.
I understand that there are some big boys and gals out there that blog for a living. That's cool! Good on 'em! But, low traffic blogs like Andy's Place would probably not generate enough to pay for the web space (which is free).
I am curious though, about those mid-traffic blogs. (Say, those that get 1,000 visits or so a day). Are the funds generated by the ads worth the prospect of promoting some cause or product that the blogger may be firmly against?
Like I said, just typing out loud...
I did The Google The Ads a few years ago, when I was but a wee FOUR in PageRank. I made a total of one hundred smacks, plus had my content filtered.
ReplyDeleteScrew that.
I never tried it, never was really tempted. Andy, why don't you give it a shot and let me know how it goes :-)
ReplyDeleteI did it from December of last year to about February. All in all I'd say I made enough for two deluxe pizzas and a case of diet coke. Then again my traffic average was in the 80 to 150 range unless it was a really hot topic then it would spike to the 280s. Unless you are a dedicated blogger, commenting every ten minutes on all the top stories from Drudge or memeorandum, it isn't worth your time or worth cluttering up your blog with a bunch of AdSense garble. If you are doing that you aren't running a blog, you're chasing headlines and your content is boring.
ReplyDeleteWhat Red said. Echo chamber. *YAWN*
ReplyDeleteHeh! Jim, I wasn't considering it for this podunk blog...just pondering WHY others do.
ReplyDeleteRed...I like the new commenting logo (it is new, isn't it? Maybe not...but I like it). I think you and Paul have well stated why I don't care to personally mess with it. Heck, I blog just to prove my ignorance.
That doesn't pay too well, unless you get elected to some office.
Paul, I knew about your experience with GoobleAdnonsense. Like I said...was just typing out loud.
But, as always, I appreshunate the input!