Just For Fun
I was reading a post on another blog recently about the impact ads have on reader’s perceptions of the authors. Some blogs have no ads. Some blogs have a few text ads. And other blogs have full flash-based multimedia ads. Personally, I am not overly fond of sites with a lot of ads simply because it makes the pages load slower. So, while I think it’s the right of the author to have as many or as few ad as they want; I have a hard time browsing ad-rich blogs with the less than leading-edge computer that I normally use.
There is also the issue of authenticity. Does the author publish a post because it’s what’s on their mind? Or are they posting just to create “fresh” content so that their blog is always listed as “new” in the various RSS aggregators? I’ve always formed my opinion of a blog on the content and not so much on its look and feel; but, it seems there are many people out there who do the exact opposite.
There have never been and there will never be advertisements on Married in Ohio. We do this for fun and camaraderie, not for profit. Registering and hosting your own domain costs money. But, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not as expensive as other forms of communication and entertainment. We pay for phones, cable/satellite TV, etc. just so we can stay in touch and be entertained. Blogging is no different. California Girl and I would love to be able to blog for free. But we enjoy it enough to continue doing it even though its not.
I know just what you mean on this issue, and it’s something I struggle with all the time. I think it just goes to show that there’s different kinds of blogging out there. I do our blog because I’m passionate about the topic (hotwives, cuckolding, swinging, etc). I try to share as much as I can about it–including our personal photos and exploits (when there are any–LOL). Still, 2,000 people a day (and 600,000 page views a month) visit the site, and the affiliate links and text ads help keep the site online. But what I love the most about doing it is the fan mail (tons) and the blog comments.
Wow and do we ever appreciate the fact that the hundred flashing banners are missing. Most web pages are so polluted by ads and pop-ups that they hurt my eyes, ebay included. In my youth Fenway Park was pure and the only ad was for the Red Sox charity called the “Jimmy Fund”, which it still supports, but now ads cover every square foot of everything. The handles on the gas nozzles here in Charlotte have ads on them as well. Thank you for the clean page. It also appears that the NFL and NASCAR will be going the way of Pay Per View very soon. Merry Christmas to you, CG, the Girl and the Boy.
It looks like “ratings” is the names of the game. As for content, the large majority are rehashs, and stuff taken off other peoples blogs.
Just look at the photos on the majority of the sites, the large majority are stolen off sites like flickr and indie nude type of sites. I guess that it is easier to steal from other sites, rather than think of content using your own brain.
Text links don’t bother me, but when I get to a page with graphic links, I get out quick.
Also, google uses some serious algorithms to get ratings, and one thing that can down grade a sites rating, are to many links. The algorithm counts the amount of links, and at a certain point determines that the site is a “link farm”, and the rating gets cut.
I’m also not a fan of a bunch of ads because of the time a page takes to open. I don’t mind paid posts as long as that’s not the only thing someone blogs about. A blog I like does paid posts but they’re not done too frequently and are interesting to read.
I can handle lots of ads as long as they’re not all blinking and moving. Those are just annoying and distracting.
David: A blog is not a viable business for most people. It’s really hard to make content that is enticing enough for people to wade through tons of ads; especially when they slow down the page load time so much. I would rather read about the exploits of real people, even if they don’t happen as frequently rather than a “composite” character made up just to appeal to people online. Life is much more complicated for authentic people than it is for made p characters. You and your wife have to interact with each other if an experience doesn’t go quote as planned, unlike the “authors” of some other blogs out there. Truth is always better than fiction.
Carolina Jim and Wife: I know advertising helps defray some of the costs. But if someone has a Blogger blog, everything is free. So they don’t need so many ads that the pages are unusable. It’s not restricted to blogs either. The local newspaper has so many flash advertisements on their site that you can only open up one page at a time.
Richard: Blogs who steal content from other people’s sites are the lowest of the low. Copyright law can’t easily be enforced over the web; but I can’t stand some of the blatant thievery. That’s one of the reasons California Girl and I blur our faces on our photographs. Just to make our photographs less attractive to the thieves. You’d be surprised how many people link to photographs here with obviously fabricated posts. I know that Google pagerank is the name of the game; but they need to do a better job of filtering out link farms without penalizing legitimate sites.
Chickie: Our computer is ancient, so I really hate it when I visit a site where ads have a big affect the user experience. I haven’t made up my mind on paid posts. I don’t think I would mind them on a blog that I was already familiar with. But I don’t think I would like them much on a new find. It’s all about trust.
Boyfriend: Isn’t’ everything blinking and moving these days? I like to browse with multiple tabs so that I don’t lose my place. (Sometimes, I’ll have almost my whole blogroll open.) But, in the past few months I’ve noticed a few blogs that make open up any more windows impossible. So, despite liking the content, I read them very infrequently since they’re so disruptive. I like a nice clean site like yours that just pops right up.
While I agree that ads are supremely annoying…perhaps to help with costs you could set up a small Paypal button so those who enjoy your blog could contribute to keeping it going if they chose to! Just a thought…
Michelle: A Paypal donation button is an interesting approach that I had not thought of; but I still think I’d rather just front the money. That way I’m beholden to no one. Right now, if I get busy and don’t post for a few days, it’s no big deal. But, even thou it would be a donation with no strings attached, I think I would still fell like I wasn’t giving people their “money’s worth” if I didn’t post for awhile.