Is Selling Ads Evil?
April 22nd, 2008 by Court
Lately there has been a lot of talk about advertising and the ethics of selling it on your site. Two bloggers that I respect very much have both hit on this recently, and if you haven’t seen these two video posts, they will give you some context:
There are a lot of different questions that you would have to consider to make the decision on this. Before I get started on this issue, I want to make it clear that I’m willing to accept that everyone is different and YOU have to decide where you sit. I feel one way about this, but am willing to be open minded enough to look at all of the different aspects of the situation.
In the spirit of being thorough, I would like to add my thoughts to a few of the reasons why Mark took down his ads. Some of these were talked about in the video posts.
Goals
Mark talked in his post about how the ads really didn’t fit in with the goals he had for his site. Mark and Vic both talked about how they have other sites that they make money with so they don’t need to make money with their blogs.
You have to give props to both of them for feeling that way. While respecting their decisions on the issue, in the spirit of honesty I should disclose that I feel a little differently.
I also have other sites that I make my money from, but don’t see a distinction between those sites and this one. Selling ads on a site whose visitors I don’t know wouldn’t be any different to me than selling ads on CourtneyTuttle.com. Whether it’s on this site or another, the visitors will probably be mostly good people whose time is worth something. On CourtneyTuttle.com, I know many of you and have honestly tried to provide you with legitimately helpful information. It has taken me a few thousand hours to put the site together and I personally don’t see anything wrong with making the ad dollars I get each month from it.
I personally don’t know Mark as well as I know Vic, but we have talked several times by email. I have a lot of respect for both Mark and Vic as classy guys that honestly try to help people.
Since I know more about Vic, it’s easier for me to talk about him. 
I would like to see Vic be able to make more money with BloggerUnleashed. I’m not talking about getting into anything shady, but I don’t think it’s necessary for him to donate so much time without making money. I would not see anything wrong with Vic selling ads on BU. He deserves it.
I know that Vic created BloggerUnleashed purely as a platform to help people. He has never really planned on making money with the site. I have seen that put a strain on him - in reality it costs Vic money to teach people because it takes away from his time to work on other projects, not to mention the fact that he is creating more competition for his other sites.
So far, Vic has stayed away from direct ads because he has plenty of other sites that he can make money on. He really is just trying to help people out. However, I can tell you that Vic has considered shutting BU down eventually because in all honesty he has already helped a ton of people, who should be able to spread the techniques around in the future.
Who loses the most if Vic can’t continue his work on BloggerUnleashed? Everyone that reads his site.
As far as I’m concerned, we need Vic to make money on BU so that we can keep him around. If something happens to any of his other revenue streams, he won’t have any choice but to hang it up for at least a while.
Is it wrong to make a goal to create income with an internet marketing related site? To me it feels the same no matter what type of sites I’m running so I would say absolutely not.
I guess it’s just one of those things guys. We all have different goals and I have a lot of respect for Mark and Vic for the honest goals that they have. You have to decide where you stand on this issue.
Looks
For me there’s no doubt that any site will look better without ads. We have talked about taking the ads down on CourtneyTuttle.com and may do it someday.
Trust
Mark commented on 45n5 that people will trust you more if you don’t sell ads and/or use affiliate links.
I see a very clear distinction between selling ads and using affiliate links. I personally have never used an affiliate link to any product that I haven’t purchased myself. I have purchased hundreds of products that I’ve never linked to. If I don’t use it myself, I won’t tell you to use it.
Selling ads is a different story. While thinking this over has caused me to decide to change the name of my text link sponsor section, I don’t think that having a section for sponsors is evil.
Again, the distinction between an internet marketing site and any other site just isn’t there. If I felt bad selling advertising on CourtneyTuttle.com, I would feel bad selling advertising on any other site. My other sites also have good people that come to them looking for products and services.
Some people will say that I should personally endorse each ad that sits in my sponsorship sections. I would ask whether they personally endorse every ad that sits in their Adsense sections, or whether they personally endorse the eBay sellers whose products they are advertising. Again, for me there’s no difference - people come to a site and find a combination of content and advertising that some of them will inevitably follow. I love you guys, but still see visitors on my other sites as real people.
The brutal fact is that you may be pushing people to a crappy product or company with an Adsense unit. You might be pushing people to a crappy eBay seller with a Bans site. I personally don’t think we can account for every possible scenario and feel that we simply have to do the best we can to be ethical in our dealings.
To me, in a perfect world, we would all only make money through affiliate offers of products and services we have tried and endorse ourselves on all of our sites.
I would like to hope that people trust me even though I sell ads, I certainly would never point you guys in a post toward a product that I didn’t use.
Real Affiliate Money
Mark talked in his post about the fact that he makes real affiliate money, and therefore doesn’t need to make money from the people at 45n5. I’ve been reading Mark’s site for quite some time, and he has great ideas for making money online and uses them himself. He is a person of honesty and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him because of that.
For me, affiliate money is affiliate money. Visitors are visitors and it doesn’t make any difference to me what site they read or come across. I say if it’s wrong on CourtneyTuttle.com, it’s wrong on all of the other sites I run as well. Note: I don’t think it’s wrong.
Mark was very cool and open minded when he created his post. He said, “Removing them is good for me at this time, always do what is best for your situation.” That shows right there that he’s a classy guy - a fact that I already knew.
Conclusion
Each of you has to make your own decision on this issue. I don’t have all of the answers and we are all very different. I do believe that we all have to make decisions that are inline with our belief systems.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I don’t see anything wrong with selling ads on any kind of website. As long as you clearly label them Sponsors, for me they are just like ads in TV shows or magazines. I wouldn’t want to pay ten times more for my favourite magazines, only because they remove advertising pages.
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Court wow just read the post man and let me be clear and maybe I need to clarify my position.
A site like your provides value to the person that want to purchase an ad space I know this from first hand because of talking to one of the people that has bought a 125×125 told me. You have more organic traffic then most “MMO’s” including mine so the people that buy the ad space get a return on there investment. You sell your advertising space tied to the traffic you get as such you have set a dollar value to that traffic.
We have spoken this many times and you only promote products you have used and trust as such recommend and as also do.
But the facts are that the big sum of “MMO’s” they have not made one post and already have an advertise here link they promote products that they have never bought because they do not even have the money to buy and test the products and even worst they promote products that will cause harm to the new webmaster down the long run as an example “Text Link Ads”
I do not know if the trigger for Mark was one of the big things that I was glad when I watched his video was the scam around Joel Comm and the $9.95 ebook with the monthly $29.95 upsell. Personally when I saw a scumbag scammer that tried to thrash Mark for coming out and calling it what it is a scam when this so collaed “MMO” blogger is supposed to be teaching people how to make money online you have to ask yourself does he really make money online or those he really make money from selling links 5 dollar links in his blog that is supposed to teach others how to make money online. Now you have to be dead broke and looking to raise money to even pay your hosting bills when you advertise on your “MMO” at the following rates.
125×125 For $5.95
$5.00 Text Link Ads
But yet this scammer is telling noobs he is teaching them to make money online? It is laughable especially when you place his site in SEO Elite or any good link backtracker and you look at his links and anchors and he has no organic traffic. The you see how when Joel Comm comes out with the $9.95 scam with a monthly up sell of $29.95 he just jumps all over it to get his readers to buy this crap and have no real value but yet he is supposed to be an expert teaching others to make money online again laughable.
Now Court the day I come to your site and see you selling 125×125 at 5 dollars or whoring your site out at 5 dollar links then we really need to have a chat cuz buddy their would have to be some thing hugely wrong with your network. LMAO!!!
Dear friend I hope I clarified my position as my intention was never to generalize in such manner that legitimate sites that not only provide real value but also takes care of his readers would be included.
Vic
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Vic you don’t need to think for a second that I thought you were talking about sites like mine in your video - I would never think such a thing. I wanted to add my two bits because I see how much you do for people and want to do everything I can to keep you around.
The two videos got me thinking about the concept in general and I typed up some thoughts.
You are 100% right in saying that there are WAY too many MMO sites that provide no value, get no search traffic, and therefore are scamming by selling ads. I should have covered providing value to advertisers because that’s a pretty important part of the process.
I loved your video because most of these MMO guys promote every single product that comes out and there’s no doubt that they deserve to get smacked around a little because of it.
Vic you are one of the few that truly makes a difference. I could never say thanks enough.
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Ok, you two are in love with each others’ sites. We get it.
Court, you say that
You and Vic throw the label of “scammer” around so often that I’m not even sure I understand what you mean. How does getting no search traffic mean that you’re scamming by selling ads? When you sell an add, all you’re doing is promising to have that ad placed where you said you would. You’re not promising any number of sales, click throughs, or even impressions (if you get fewer impressions one month to the next you don’t refund the advertiser’s money do you?). It’s up to the advertiser to decide whether they are getting the value they need to be from the ad.
Now, if you’re lying to advertisers claiming you get 1mil page views a month when you’re actually getting 10 obviously that would be what I call a “scam” but I don’t see how getting search traffic factors into it at all.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
No reason to take it personally Ben. If you don’t think any of the MMO sites are scamming that’s fine - we think otherwise.
I should have said that they don’t get any traffic at all instead of search traffic - I’ll give you that.
I throw the label of scammer around because I see it happen all the time. If you tell everyone that every product that comes out is a good product, you are scamming. Most of the MMO products are worthless.
If these statements don’t apply to you, you have nothing to worry about.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:18 pm
*off topic* block quotes apparently don’t work in this theme, not sure if that’s intentional or not.
I haven’t tried most MMO products but there are plenty out there that aren’t worthwhile, that’s for sure.
I didn’t take it personally, I just didn’t agree with your statement. I guess my view of advertising is that it’s really up to the advertisers to decide whether it’s worthwhile for them or not. For example, many people think that putting your ads on Google’s content network is a waste of money. Personally I think it can be very useful if tracked carefully. Does that mean Google is a scammer if someone doesn’t get the value they need out of those ads? If someone sends 10 visitors to a site, and one of them converts into a high dollar sale, that might be a very good value.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:20 am
I started as a reader hear, and have recently become very active over at Vic’s blog. I have mixed feelings about the situation, especially in regard with Vic.
Is selling ads bad? No. I agree, I see no distinction b/t your flagship and your MFA or you affiliate sites or bans or w/e. No ethical distinction for me.
For me, trust is a big factor in the MMO market. I agree, there are many scammers. A lot of false info. A lot of wannabe. Lots of people jumping on the bandwagon, and only a couple of people making real money. Just a much as you have Vic calling out scammers, you have people pointing fingers are Vic… etc etc… so much conflicting info in this niche.
When I see a blog pushing a product with an affiliate link, I am iffy. I don’t trust anyone in this damn niche. Even Vic at first. I watched him talk about BANS and BMD and other tools. I was scared of investing the money. It wasn’t until his Challenge to Get Mad video that he earned my trust. He seems real. Now his ads do not bother me.
I agree that Vic needs to get more out of BU. He gives too much. I made a comment on his last links post. He just puts in too much time imo. He cares a lot, which is great, and I respect, but you can tell its getting to him. It takes up a lot of his time.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Hey Vic -
This is Mark, one of Court’s other business partners. I wanted to add my two cents. Court actually had me read the post before he put it up and when I read it my biggest thought was how unfortunate it would be if you stopped working on BU because your other projects (that actually pay you) required all your time.
Think about it from my perspective (or any of your other readers). I’ve been going through all your BANS stuff and man it is legit, as you know. So a couple thousand people are getting the knowledge they need to make anywhere from $1000 per month to even $5 - $10,000 per month because of what you’re teaching us. How much is that knowledge worth to us then?
For us it could be worth tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years, and your audience would have you to thank. So if your knowledge is worth hundreds of thousands to me, how much should I be willing to pay you for it? Easily thousands. You could box all your knowledge up and sell it for $10,000 and it would be well worth it. What’s the problem? Your readers don’t have $10,000 to give you, but you still want to help them. That’s the beauty of your blog. It’s the way for you to get the information to the people you’re trying to help. But your time is valuable, and if BU doesn’t give you a reasonable return on your time, then you have to leave it for more profitable projects.
Now I know you don’t do BU for the money. You do it to help. But what if you could do both? Get paid and help? You should be making $10k to $20k per month off BU, because that’s how valuable it is to your readers, and by putting it on a blog you don’t have to stick any of them with the “bill” for your time.
Now I don’t think any advertisers are going to pay you $10k to $20k for space on your site. But if you let the advertisers have some space on your site, and that gets you paid at least something so you have more time to spend teaching, then you win, your readers win, and the advertisers win.
Just my thoughts. Your site is fantastic. It will get huge and help tons of people, so get paid!
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Mark man you know when I read the post indeed that makes so much sense and as Court mentioned I am indeed looking forward to shutting down posting at BU as close as after the September Vegas convention.
So no doubt with the amount of work it takes to run a site like this or BU if the information is valuable and it provides a good ROI to the reader base compensation should be well deserved. In my case Mark I really look forward to going back to the shadows I can live with out the hassles and just make my money from my set and forget little sites. If people only knew how time consuming running our blogs is they would indeed be amazed.
But Mark the point Court made and you mention is not only way valid but more then justified. But for me Mark as mentioned before buddy I am tired and look forward to seeing these bunch of new webmasters paying forward by not only teaching the business but calling out scammers.
BTW: Mark please have Court pass you not only my skype but my email and anything you ever need that is at my grasp yous give me a shout
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Will do, and thanks.
And I definitely understand how it would be appealing for you to go back to the shadows and be rich, but NOT famous.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:53 am
I really can’t believe I’m saying this but…
Vic, obviously plenty of people enjoy your site and your style. Even though I’m not one of them, have you considered turning BU into a sort of testimonial, here’s what worked for me, here’s what didn’t type site for your readers?
You talked about wanting to see the new webmasters pay it forward, while it would require monitoring, couldn’t BU become a site where they do exactly that and free up your time for whatever else you want to do?
Or, like Mark said, box up all the info you’ve provided and create a course with it. Maybe instead of selling it for a high price you could set it up in an installment plan where as the students are making money, they begin to pay you. Sure you might get ripped off by a few, but I’m willing to bet if you teach people how to make an extra 12k or more a year, many will be willing to go lay out a few hundred as they go.
Anyway, just throwin it out there.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:55 am
Ben I have no intention of profiting from my teaching but do understand your point I have even said in my videos many times I have no problem with folks that make a quality ebook and sell their know how hell I learned squidoo with “Squidoo Queen” I know it seems to be outdated these days but for me it worked and had no regrets what so ever for paying for the knowledge I do have problems with people that make the book and have tons of affiliate links and say here is my free ebook like a nice person but all the person is doing is peddling most of it crap and some times even worst stuff that could cause harm like text links but for that person that has something they can teach and make profit from it Ben I not only have no problem with that I welcome the opportunity to buy such ebook if it helps me learn.
With BU is such a delicate subject as in the wrong hands it could be used for the same thing I mostly despise so selling it would never be an option to me so what I am considering is just shutting it down when it comes to posting you know maybe once a month do an update video if things change like Googles algorithm or what not, I have always said Ben what we do is not rocket science the problem is many people are confused because 90% of the information they have been reading is wrong it is just rehash of rehash so it takes time not only to de-program them from that mentality but also to built trust in them that if they make the commitment to put in the work they will see not only results but a sustainable monthly income. So in reality Ben in a short time there will be no more to teach as all will be said but many people need one on one.
See Ben what takes my time big time is not really posting at BU it is the one on ones I do via Skype ot the live transmissions to answer questions this is the part that is time consuming and also the fact that I am outspoken and when some one tries to defend something that I know is wrong I feel I not only need to speak out but make sure that if a new person is reading the comments back and forth not only understands what I am saying but is also clear on what is the right path. Ben I am not what you are accustomed to as a matter of fact I am probably the most opposite thing you have known since you started in internet marketing I am a guy who actually cares about your livelihood and I do not know you in person I am the guy who actually contacts you via Skype at 11 pm because you had a problem and your sites are down and I ftp and fix what ever is wrong and their is no monthly membership attached to it I do not see you as a dollar sign I see you as another person that is trying to make a living and get himself and his family ahead.
Ben you mention if I teach people to make 12k or more a year, BU started in Dec and I already have folks that follow what we teach and when I say we is Court, Grizz and me we all do things a bit different but our core basics are the same and in this short time since Dec and these people that had been following like sheep the people you know I despise are now making $100 plus on avg a day and these is not selling their websites or offering worthless ebooks is actually providing relevant search results that are not spam to organic traffic.
Ben it is funny but all the people that attack me always do exactly the same thing they come with I can not write I can not spell and I wet my bed but how funny not one including you debated the facts about what I say, the facts are the truth can not be debated when confronting the truth people will try to divert to something else.
Ben you seem to be trying really hard to make a living online. I invite you to read beyond the bad words to watch all my videos and look past the dirty words which at the end of the day is only a pattern interrupt listen to the message understand what I am trying to say and do apply what we teach for 90 days and I guarantee you you will make more money then you have in a single month since you started doing this know body has to know that you are reading my blog if you have a question you can contact me via email and I will give you my Skype and not one person ever has to know we talked and I will show you that their is a better legit way to do what we do and with real results.
If you choose not to take my invitation that is alright Ben I know these days people have a really hard time accepting people like me imagine a guy who works 20 hour days who has a family his real online business and for free talks to people on Skype on one on ones trying to help them achieve their goals and in return does not ask for a credit card just crazy right
Either way Ben thank you for your suggestions and remember:
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” Matthew 7:15
Ben I look like the wolf but I am really the sheep look around you and see who comes to you as a sheep
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:44 pm
great writeup. couple thoughts
re: “Visitors are visitors and it doesn’t make any difference to me what site they read or come across.”
i don’t think the majority of my readers come to my site with the expectation to be sold or advertised to, if they do I’m trying to remove that expectation.
Plus many of my readers I’ve personally met, will meet in the next year, or chat with via twitter/email/etc daily. They aren’t at my site for the ads
On my other product sites my visitors have an expectation to see products and get product info, find merchants, talk about products, so the advertising makes sense. That’s the reason they are there in the first place, for product info.
I agree with you 100% it’s up to the individual what is best and thanks for the great mention.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
By that logic there shouldn’t be any ads anywhere on the internet. I’m not here to be advertised to, I just want information.
Even on your product sites, if I’m there to get product info, how is an ad going to help me?
Obviously it’s your choice whether or not to run ads but I have to disagree with the reasoning you’ve given in this comment.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
if I visit a friends site I don’t want to be sold to
if i am shopping for a car I want car ads and dealers and prices.
makes perfect sense to me
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:40 am
See for me if I’m shopping for a car, I want consumer reports, consumer reviews, etc. I think that holds true for a lot of product related searches.
Also, haven’t you ever been sold by your friends? My friends are constantly telling me I have to go see this movie, or eat at this place, or check out this new desk or look at the newest gadget from Apple etc.
Maybe I just need new friends?
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 am
the difference is there isn’t an expectation that your friends are making money by pitching you products (if there is then I don’t understand your friendships)
the expectation when you are at a store or dealership is they are possibly making money from recommending you one brand over another.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Mark thanks for your thoughts. That makes total sense. I hope this didn’t sound too contradictory to your reasoning. I think we both agree that every person is different and has to make their own decision and that means it’s good for them to see the two sides of the coin.
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Court, I agree with you that selling ads on sites is either right for all or wrong for all. Just because it’s a MMO site or blog doesn’t mean you should or shouldn’t sell ads. Like you, I’d say this is something each blogger or webmaster should decide for themselves.
In terms of providing value for your advertisers, isn’t that also a subjective thing? Obviously if you’re lying about your stats etc that’s not kosher but one site may convert your traffic very well while others won’t get a single sale from it. That’s not something you can control.
Your discussion about Vic not being able to make enough from BloggerUnleashed to keep it up and running surprises me. He’s supposed to be teaching people how to make money online, shouldn’t he be able to do that with BU as well?
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Ben it definitely isn’t that Vic can’t make enough from BloggerUnleashed to keep it going. Vic chooses to not really monetize BloggerUnleashed because that isn’t the purpose of the site.
Vic could turn BloggerUnleashed into a huge income without any problem. He gets more traffic and has more subscribers than almost everyone, with the exception of the A-list (which is only a handful of sites).
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:02 am
I guess I misunderstood your statement that you’d like to see him be able to make more from BU. If he’s chosen not to monetize the site, then I’d go back to the comment I left above about different ways he could monetize it without advertising or charging an arm and a leg for the info to people that can’t afford it.
Hell, he could probably bring a decent amount of money by just putting up one of those “If you’ve benefited from what I teach here, please consider donating” buttons (as much as I dislike those). He’s certainly got a loyal following and if they’re making money from what they learn from him, I’d bet they’d be more than willing to donate.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I think as long as the adverts are relevant and actually provide a service to your users then its actually beneficial. By pointing people to quality resources you are doing them a favour and as long as they are not intrusive it should not offend them or put them off using your website.
Saying that, there are a lot of websites out there that have lots of irrelevant adverts on them that are not really functional to the users of those site and in some cases those really anoying flash ones with sound. Those sites tend to put me off using them very quickly and I cant imagine their conversion ratios are that high anyway.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Court, what’s a good way to sell direct ads on your keyword sniping sites? If you’ve already got a post about it can you please share the link?
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:51 am
Watch for a post on this soon - I’ve been thinking this over lately and will have a post within a week or so.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:19 am
Court man a post like this would be so awesome as I have had problems explain this and people would love to have a solid reference man I will so much look forward to this post.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Court, even a shrewd marketing person thinks twice before selling something to his friends and family members and get the commission no matter how good the product is. He will be ready to forgo the commission for the sake of feeling good. It is about the relationship with the readers makes people not to sell anything. I think this has nothing to do with trust of the readers. If you think you lose the trust of your readers by placing ads in your site, then change the title of your blog to “Court’s Spiritual Journey School” and remove the ads.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:53 am
I can definitely agree with you there. I guess it doesn’t get to me because with the types of products I link to, foregoing my commission won’t make you pay less. You would pay the same whether you bought through my link or not. That means I have to only link to products I would buy myself.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:47 am
Hi Court,
I’m going to disagree with you a little bit about Vic’s site (although I probably have no real qualifications to do such) …
I think Vic’s blog is monetized in Exactly the way that a “good” MMO site should be. He’s promoting the tools that he uses … and even better, actually taking the time to teach people how to use the tools themselves.
Selling additional ad space might bring in a bit more income. But, I honestly can’t imagine ever going to Vic’s blog and seeing an ad in the sidebar about making “$237,000 From Laptop”
From the day I started reading these type of blogs, the underlying message (at least from those who weren’t pushing the latest greatest affiliate program) has been that the MMO niche is a tough one to make money in. I think this post just further drives that point home. Even for those of you who have the knowledge to do it “right”, the time constraint will quickly catch up with you.
… it’s hardly a wonder that so many people simply resort to hawking overpriced junk to unsuspecting “suckers”.
Just my two pennies,
Todd
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:55 am
Hey Todd! I appreciate your thoughts, thank you. I would agree with you - I don’t think you’ll ever see that type of advertising on Vic’s site, although I’m going to keep trying to convince him to do it.
You have to love the way he monetizes - he only points you to products he uses and has bought himself. Definitely a great scenario for the reader.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:47 am
Ads or no ads has been a decision I have been grumbling with for some months now on my blog. So far i don’t offer advertising psace at all and it isn’t for a lack of interest either.
I just never felt comfortable with having ads stuffed into my readers face when they visit my blog. The whole purpose of blogging for me was to help others with my knowledge and experience in what I do and learn along the way, so ads never came into the equation.
Funny enough I don’t mind seeing ads on blogs, I simply look beyond them. I read both Marks’ and your post Court and still don’t know whether I’m doing the right thing or not.
But to be honest I also don’t worry too much as I make my income from writing, so it isn’t really an huge issue at all. In the end, I think we need to weight our options as bloggers and if we can allow ads that fit with our blogging theme, then fine.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:58 am
Monika I have struggled with that same decision. Mark, Cade, and I talked a few months ago about taking the ads down and I think you will see that happen at some point.
Since you have a blog that sells your services, I don’t know that it would be the best idea. I would prefer to see you raise your prices for your writing before you went with direct ads - you could still do it though and sell your writing.
You’re right though - each person needs to weigh the options and make a decision about how they want to make their money.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:00 am
I agree with you but for perhaps a slightly different reason. Ads are a necessary Evil. Much like when watching a tv program, commercials come with the territory.
The viewer has to make decisions on whether they will engage in the commerical content aired or not.
There is not a tv station around that can nor will vouch for the quality rating of the products they air on the tube.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:59 am
Very good points Sunshine. Without realizing it, that’s kind of how I feel about it as well.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:47 am
Hey Court
Interesting article. I don’t think selling ads on your site results in people questioning your trust or integrity as long as you don’t advertise sites you know to be undesirable or illegitimate. I have begun selling ads on my blog since the redesign, but have clear guidelines about what I will, and will not advertise on the site.
By the way - how about adding a link for us to comment on your articles at the bottom of each article, so we don’t have to scroll back to the top! Yeah, I’m lazy!
- Martin Reed
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:03 am
That’s a very good idea Martin, I’ll get that taken care of for you guys. Thanks.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:48 am
[…] Is Selling Ads Evil? | Internet Marketing | Strategy & Services To me, in a perfect world, we would all only make money through affiliate offers of products and services we have tried and endorse ourselves on all of our sites. I would like to hope that people trust me even though I sell ads, I certainly would never point you guys in a post toward a product that I didn’t use […]
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Post: Great
Discussion: Superlative!
April 27th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Great post Court, but ads do makes the internet more alive with content…
Thanks
April 28th, 2008 at 3:04 am
[…] that did not make sense to me at all, but fortunately he is rapidly climbing. His post on whether selling ads is evil or not is well worth reading, very interesting to see all the different points of views in the […]
April 30th, 2008 at 2:07 am
[…] Courtney Tuttle discussed why Mark from 45n5 removed ads from his blog. Many of the reasons were simple enough, ranging from the aesthetics, to trust, to goals. Courtney disagreed and outlined some good reasons for his own opinion, however I think it is important for anyone with a blog to really take the time to think about the goals of that blog. If one of its goals is to make money, then by all means use advertising. However, if your blog is a part of your company’s reputation management campaign, then is placing advertising helping that reputation? […]