Confession: I do not click advertisements on websites or blogs. Ever. The very idea that a site’s content is so crucial to my daily reading that it would not be possible without sponsorship is hooey. In fact, the bigger blogs annoy us with posts every Friday about how great their sponsor’s products are. New media is looking like old media and I do not like it. Whatever happened to enthusiasts who do something well because they enjoy it?
I’d agree that there are startup costs, server space to pay for, equipment, etc but after that, is it reasonable for you to expect us to pay for your salary? There are no more niches. You are not unique anymore. There is too much competition now. If you start charging for your content on top of your advertisements on sites, embedded inside feeds, in podcasts, you will get unsubscribed.
For the past 5 years (web 2.0), we have enjoyed social media apps that are free to use and laced with advertisements. Even though they can be ignored or even blocked with scripts, they are still present and distracting.
Is this a good business model? I cannot believe I am alone in my loathing for web ads but the internet is a new frontier for companies. How often do new markets come around, after all?
I’d love to get your feedback on this, please.
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Nothing worse that the 'thank the sponsor' posts, but ads don't have to be bad. I have lost count of the times I have clicked on ads around my hotmail account as they are offering something I want. Personally I have two small ads on my blog pages, one from Amazon, which can be seen as value added as it shows books that may be of interest, and one GoogleAds which is pretty rubbish…but I live in hope that one day it will pay for the server space.
Nothing worse that the 'thank the sponsor' posts, but ads don't have to be bad. I have lost count of the times I have clicked on ads around my hotmail account as they are offering something I want. Personally I have two small ads on my blog pages, one from Amazon, which can be seen as value added as it shows books that may be of interest, and one GoogleAds which is pretty rubbish…but I live in hope that one day it will pay for the server space.