Should Blogs Advertise?

Should bloggers seeking more readers advertise by buying AdWords or blogads directing potential readers to their sites?

Yeah, why not? I don't see a distinction between a blog and a general web site in this scenario. If a site owner wants to increase their traffic then they should be able to use any legitimate method of doing so: buying ad space, optimising their site for search engines, using trackbacks, and so on. It doesn't necessarily mean that those blogs will end up more popular than well-written ones which choose not to (or can't afford to) advertise; word-of-mouth is a powerful thing, and I've subscribed to way more blogs because a friend has told me they're worth reading than because I've seen an ad somewhere for them.

It saddens me to see how the Net has evolved this way. When banner ads first began, people were outraged at the intrusion. The Net began (after its DARPA military roots) as a person-to-person communication tool. Unis could connect to other schools and allow the free sharing of information. Usenet came along to handle specific discussion topics, and email connected everyone.

Then corporate America took notice, and took control. How do you get on the Net today? I don't, but I suspect most people now go through a telecommunication giant, whether it's a cable giant or a phone giant. Now with the new AT&T (basically the old SBC) making noises about charging Google for "using" their lines, we are seeing the beginnings of the total crackdown of the Net. It will go from it's open and free-wheeling nature to one where the big boys set the rules and they will allow you to pay to play.

Now the idea of advertising is so entrenched that it sounds reasonsable to ask the question theannalog did. Should we use ads to direct people to our sites? Yes, I suppose that is the reasonable thing to do. However, I prefer sites that get by without advertising. The ThisWeekInTech podcast, for example, is not sponsored, but depends on people donating cash to help pay the bills (though they go give a shout out to AOL Radio for hosting the files, and that is a form of advertising I can live with much as I live with PBS-style "This show is brought to you by..." and then they shut up about it).

I run a web site that has been running for almost four years of daily content (not a blog), and it has never had advertising on it and it never will. To address the question of attracting attention, I wondered if anyone would ever notice my site since I refuse to advertise it. To my surprise, word of mouth worked in a modest way. I average over 100 visitors a day, a piddling amount to a big site, but quite nice for a personal site that although not a blog is sort of in that same spirit, just one person expressing thoughts. If I were to get Google ads, I'm sure I could ramp up my visitors, but I don't care. I'm just sharing stuff with the world, and I have no other motive other than that. I'm not looking to make a buck, I pay the hosting charges myself (they're modest), and I even say on the site that I will never have ads.

Why no ads? I don't believe the Net should have ads. Period. To me it is a corruption of the spirit of the original Net, which was to be a person-to-person communication tool where we could all share our knowledge. But I'm well aware that I'm totally in the minority on this issue now. The corporate world has shaped our thinking, and the wild success of Google advertising has inspired a generation that advertising is cool. Good for you. I'm just saddened by it all.

If you want to run an internet hobby site go for it, but there's nothing immoral, perverse or even mildly wrong running a business blog online and profiting from it, to believe otherwise pretty naive.

No, if you are in a business to make money, by all means you need to advertise. You gotta make a living.

But the original spirit of the Web was to share, and blogs are usually of the one-person-talking variety. Those can still live up to the Web spirit.

This all sounds naive now because business has taken over and is propagandizing people into thinking it's wrong to share. The pay-for-play world is coming when you'll have to pay to read a book a second time, or watch your recorded TV program. This is now normal, so the old way is looked down on as naive. It is naive. The world has changed. Go for it. Enjoy paying.

This is a great example of how commercial interests will always get involved, and dominate, if they can. And I would wager that they usually can. However, I wonder how much this sort of forum will be affected by advertising? I get the feeling that the net will be used, in effect, to distribute interactive TV, which will be well suited to advertising, leaving cheaper models such as this with minimal ads. Perhaps that's just a pipe-dream.

To tangent a bit... Re: power law, I found that quite interesting. Does anyone know if this concept has been looked at in terms of in-person groups in the context of discrimination (sex, race, etc.)? I've done some searching but I've only been able to find discussions of IT and science related things.

google search for '"power law" sociology' might be best

Tried that. :)

I do agree that explanation is beyond the scope of the power law itself, I was just curious because I've never seen it mentioned in a discussion of, say, group dynamics.

What, exactly, do we mean when we talk about the democratization of content production that the internet offers? My friends and I just started a modest news commentary blog. We're sort of writing out the kinks. having fun and figuring out this whole blog thing. We haven't gotten to the point where we're polished enough to really try to drive traffic. We're amateurs who love to think and write...but when the time comes, we want to share our voice with the world. In addition to becoming better blogosphere citizens, buying Google ads is a part of our long-term strategy.

It's a big internet out there, and even sites that aren't driven by profit or the cultivation of clientele want to be heard. Anything that gives us a better chance to drive traffic is a big plus to us because we aren't entrenched in the tech world--we don't live in San Fran or New York, we don't have any face-to-face interaction with the peeps behind big sites like Engadget, and we all have full time jobs that don't afford us the luxury of living in the blogoshpere. We don't want any part of link farms, spammers or disengenuous "community participation" (i.e., "I'm a first time commenter, but I agree! Check out my blog.).

For us, buying google ads (even though we don't have any hope of making a profit) gives us a better shot at developing readership and getting our hard work out in front of the world. I don't care if you're an experienced hand at this or if you just don't like ads on the internet...we're good writers, we have something to say, and we'll take any chance we can get. Why begrudge us that?

Since you say you "don't care...if you just don't like ads on the internet," there's no value to my opinion to you. So I will just say good luck with your site. Ads will help.

NebulaqCrash, I didn't mean to dismiss your view. Your opinions does matter to me, because I care about the grand potential of the internet as a clearoinghouse of ideas unpoluuted by governments and big business. My opinion is that if we can use the capitalistic advertising model to get ourselves out there then we will.

"I don't care if..." is taken out of context. Going into something like this I know that throwing $50 a month at Google won't get a new site a real readership: a real readership is built through quality, which is at the heart of old-school internet meritocracy. Even if that paltry sum could win me a readership overnight, I would be disappointed by the end result. TI perceive this reality:

* It's too late to take the corporate-ness out of the internet. It's so big that The Proverbial Man has taken notice. People who aren't willing to understand the hacker ethic have also taken notice, and corporate America is more than happy to capitalize on that growing audience.

* I started my website because I thought that my friends and I had something valuable to say--that we could balance the rapid-response capabilities of the 'net with the depth of thought associated with the Chatauqua. We aren't even close to realizing that vision, but that's the model in which we want to work. I hope the current state of the internet has room for us.

* If you aren't a full-time techy then it's hard to get out there and share your vision. Google ads hold the promise of helping us do that, if only in a small way. They're the one sure bet that an aspiring author has of getting some damn hits on their website--as far as developing a real, valuable readership goes, the true internet meritocracy (presumably) takes care of the rest.

I admire your stand against the corporate-ization of the freewheeling 'net. But I suspect that the corporate-ness is here to stay, and if I can shell out a few bucks for the opportunity to game their system then I will. I'm a liberal in America--I'm used to taking what I can get and turning it into something that promotes my values.

Eric, you're OK in my book. I like your style. Gaming the system is part of the true hacker spirit. Good for you.

I worked for a tech startup once, and we used Google ads to try to get attention. Our experience with them is that they are amazingly active -- your bill goes up like crazy, so be sure to put in monthly limits or you could go broke. It did drive traffic to our new web site. We didn't get much business from that traffic that we could tell, but we were selling high-end expensive, custom stuff, not the sort of thing that a casual web surfer would have interest in. We just wanted to get our names out there, as you want. For that, it works.

But once there you have to have the content to keep them there. The Net has room for more, so don't worry, if your vision is interesting and compelling people will make room for you. Good luck, sincerely.

When I first saw the headline of your post, anna, I thought it was going to be about something else, which no-one has yet touched on. Newsvine is going to place ads on our posts and seeds, and we're going to derive revenue from that. I think it's a marvelous idea that we, the users and writers, will make some of the money flowing to the site rather than Newsvine getting rich, but it is a new concept as far as I am aware. What do people think?

No, if you are in a business to make money, by all means you need to advertise. You gotta make a living.

But the original spirit of the Web was to share, and blogs are usually of the one-person-talking variety. Those can still live up to the Web spirit.

Having a site incurs costs, I dont have a problem with ads on someones site - I might even click a few if I like that persons site. They need to be sensibly discreet though.

Newsvine is going to place ads on our posts and seeds, and we're going to derive revenue from that...rather than Newsvine getting rich

I never knew that, sounds clever and a good idea. Id like Newsvine to make some profit all the same, the days of everything on the web being free are long gone .. and arguably for the best.

Seems to be two threads here. Adds on blogs and ads for blogs, the latter being what this post is concerned with. For 99% of blogs out there ad revenue will be almost non-existent. John Walkenbach who runs J-Walk, a very popular blog has posted his revenues and they are pretty paltry in spite of very high traffic. All that most of these sites are doing is advertising Google itself - for free or very cheaply!

As for spending money to advertise your blog, well,why not - if it has a specific selling point. Advertising a general purpose "what I had for breakfast" type blog would be, in my view, a waste of money. I generally don't like adverts on blogs but I prefer them to those 'Paypal Donate' icons asking me to subsidise what is, in effect, someone's hobby. I have a small sign on my sidebar, it says "This site is monetized by...my day job!" And that's the way it's going to be for most of us :-)

I think Josh stated a great point: quite probably, the blog ad I will receive won't interest me, just like I never felt the wish to click on a AdSense banner. Doesn't matter if it's a blog advertising or a company. To me, blogs are about community - a community one can join without buying stuff.

Good thread, good discussion!

I dont mind if someone advertises their blog, but Im less likely to click on an adsense link to a blog than I am some product Im interested in, but Im also more likely to visit a blog via a community site such as this where i know theres a strong likelyhood Ill share an interest with the author.

Dare I be simplistic: If it's you're blog, do what you want with it :)