Ad Hominem
For the bloggers amongst you, I’m curious if anyone has had offers to put ads on their blog?
It’s something that’s happened three or four times now for me with HIAF. I’m not really hugely for or against the idea. But I’m not in favour of it enough to agree to it. Or at least I’ve yet to see an offer that I felt okay about.
My first concern is that I don’t want anything to make the site annoying to use or difficult to read. But beyond that I don’t really see the worth of taking a fairly miniscule sum of money (as most have offered) for something which would allow my credibility to be questioned, however legitimate or otherwise the criticisms. I say that even though none of the offers have been from record labels or artists or even the music business, but that’s not totally exonerating. I still think to some people ads are or would be a negative presence, by default.
The thing about credibility is that I suppose it’s in the eye of the beholder. It doesn’t matter if I personally think something is okay if a percentage of you guys didn’t think that. And once you lose credibility you can’t really get it back. I am quite protective of this place like that.
For instance I’ve lost count of the amount of times somebody, often a good friend, has asked me to put a mix or a track up for download. I never really do it because I only ever want to post about something based on my own instinct. On other occasions somebody might be running a gig and ask me to do an interview with the person playing to put up here. I never do this either, even when it’s a good friend and a gig I might actually like. I guess I am a bit of an autocrat, I hate the idea of being prompted to do a post.
I mean, just because you don’t have to physically print a post, doesn’t mean it’s right to just belch them out whenever somebody you know is doing something does it? I try and make each post at least worth a read. I mean most of the time I forget or refrain from plugging my own gigs! Hence the sidebar to remind me.
On the other hand, if a non-intrusive ad was placed somewhere on the site that might be okay, depending on what it was for. Ads formalise the process at least and it wouldn’t be me saying “hey this is great” in an actual blog post, cos somebody had told me to, or paid me to.
Sometimes I think maybe I am entitled to make some money for the writing I do here, and the time it takes. But only if it could be done in a way that I’d feel positive about. I mean, I guess it’s even possible that some ads might be interesting or useful to some people who read here, like links.
What do you think? Should I reject ads forever as a matter of principle? Or should I assess each offer on its own merits? And have you had these offers, if you are a blogger yourself?
RoK wrote:
I have no objective to a little advertising like Google Ads, as long as it is not intrusive. Like a pre-roll ad or a banner which moves over the page..
However I feel that an advertisement should be recognisable as such and am not in favor of mixing redactional content and advertorials.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 4:45 pm ¶
Ronan wrote:
I agree yeah. There will never be advertorials here!
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 4:46 pm ¶
tom/pipecock wrote:
if you were okay not making any money from this blog in the first place, i’d say keep it ad free on general principle. its annoying seeing ads everywhere online already, if you can keep it going without them then do it.
i do post things that my friends have done, but not at their request. my friends do some good shit! i’m pretty bad about self promotion in general, though i think having a link to a page with your gigs or whatever on it wouldnt be a bad thing. your sidebar thing is about the same idea, i think that is also pretty appropriate.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 5:27 pm ¶
Sotek wrote:
I know there’s been a lot of discussion on this subject on other music blogs, etc. Personally, I have no problem with advertising on any site/blog as long as it’s not excessive or annoying and - most importantly - doesn’t affect editorial/content in any way. I have ads on my blog too. It won’t make you rich, however, it covers monthly hosting & domain registration fees.. and it also feels good to be kinda “rewarded” for your time invested. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Do you?
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 5:33 pm ¶
Paul M wrote:
Maybe some ringtone ad’s that play without having to click on them.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 5:44 pm ¶
Sotek wrote:
@Ronan: “There will never be advertorials here!”
Damn straight. If you do that once, you’re finished.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 5:44 pm ¶
Ronan wrote:
Good idea Paul! Or those smiley faces that say “hi” as you roll over them.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 5:45 pm ¶
Steve wrote:
I recently added Google ads to my blog after moving over to the .com because it costs me a pretty penny to host the site/files/etc. It hasn’t earned me much yet, but I’ve only been doing it for a month now. I was similarly worried about credibility, but I figured that most of my readers were interested enough in reading my posts and listening to the tracks that a few, relatively unobtrusive ads (only three on the main page) wouldn’t be a bother or seen as advocacy, necessarily. Some readers might even be interested!
No one has offered specific ads to me yet. I guess that’s a moral quandary I’ll have to mull over if and when it happens. I also just noticed that Earplug has an ad for Landrovers in its most recent issue. Gotta pay the rents, I suppose.
As for promoting other people’s stuff, I can empathize with being put off about being prompted to post something. Like many other bloggers receive a ton of pitches but am interested in only a few and post about even fewer. I’ve committed myself to not posting about something I didn’t choose to write about or personally approve. So in some cases (like with the track my boyfriend did or more recently my friend James’ tracks), I’m eager to share my friends’ talents for reasons that go beyond our relationships.
That said, I leave the option open for a rare and qualified quid pro quo situation. I don’t plan on it becoming a habit, but I’d argue that saying never is a dangerous thing.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 6:00 pm ¶
Sotek wrote:
@Steve: Google Adsense is good for shit if you don’t have enough traffic. CTR is very low, however, if your blog pulls some serious pageviews it’s worth giving it a shot. Also don’t expect to earn more than 20-30 bucks in first few months. Like I said already - I have no problem w/ ads on any site as long as they’re not distracting me from reading.
Posted 03 Jan 2008 at 6:12 pm ¶
jake wrote:
i would not doubt your credibility as a journalist or hit your site any less often for advertising, so long as it’s of decent taste, meaning, related to the music. there was a time when i was very scrutinizing of the mixing of music/art/journalism with advertising but i’ve learned how nigh impossible it is to pay bills DJing (or promoting or blogging). everyone involved in the global (and our local) house/techno scene have to support each other for what we love. besides, haven’t actually seen it, but i’ve heard there’s hummer commercial on the U.S. airwaves to the tune of mr. dear’s don & sherry. everyone gotta pay the bills.
Posted 04 Jan 2008 at 12:42 am ¶
Eoghan wrote:
More than happy to have a few ads on the blog if it gives you a dig out with the costs associated. While there has been some sleazy connotations with certain types of financial support, as long as it doesn’t descend into a free for all it is fine.
I would rather the blog with a few ads than no blog at all…..
Posted 04 Jan 2008 at 12:49 pm ¶
Lindss wrote:
They want you to be talking about them, thats why they targeted you.
THINK. ABOUT. IT.
Posted 04 Jan 2008 at 6:55 pm ¶
loopus wrote:
As long as you don’t put some of those ads that cover half of the screen (kindda like the one from $047 on RA) i’m good
Posted 04 Jan 2008 at 9:27 pm ¶
Lozz wrote:
THe Only ads i generally find acceptable are google style ads. I dislike lare banners, they spoil your site’s Look and feel, and slow the load time. these are both the reasons why i sacked off hotmail or Gmail.
Posted 08 Jan 2008 at 4:39 pm ¶