- How many blogs do you read each day?
- Of those blogs, how many are jam-packed with Adsense or other advertisements?
- How many have more ads than content?
- Do you enjoy sifting through the ads to find something worth reading?
- Do you ever wonder how careful the blogger is being so he or she does not “offend” any of their advertisers?
- Do you ever wonder if he or she is being paid to post something?
- Do you feel like these bloggers are trying to take advantage of you?
- Do you trust these bloggers?
Over a year ago I removed all advertising from my blog making it 99.8% advertisement-free. It would be 100% but I do still post the occasional affiliate-link for products that I use or recommend – but I always make it clear that the post contains affiliate links, and never hide them or try to ‘trick’ anyone into using them.
Why I removed all advertisements from my blog:
I did it for three reasons:
1) YOU
If you read my blog on a regular basis I am guessing you are probably a webmaster/blogger or thinking of starting up a website or a blog of your own. I also assume that you are at least an above-average internet user and are familiar with how PPC and other advertising systems work. Finally, I assume that A) you don’t click on ads very often and B) you probably get annoyed with advertisements. I am going out on a limb and going on the theory that you might enjoy my blog and trust me just a tiny bit more without ads cluttering it up and without me trying to trick you into clicking on them or otherwise trying to sell you something.
2) The ADVERTISERS
Because most people coming to my blog are probably totally ad-blind, any money that an advertiser invested in my blog would probably just go to waste. And since we all know that some (not you, but other) webmasters/bloggers often click on PPC ads just to “support” other bloggers, I feel putting this kind of advertisements on my blog would not be fair to advertisers such as Adsense, Kontera or YPn.
3) ME
Now can can say whatever I want, however I want, whenever I want, without having to worry about breaking any policies or TOS’s – I can curse excessively if I want and I can talk-bad about products I don’t like. Heck, I can even post naked pictures of my next-door neighbor if I wanted to! Can your favorite blogger do THAT without getting a nasty-gram from the Adsense police?
How Can I Afford Not To Have Ads In My Blog?:
Earnings at GrownUpGeek.com are averaging over $7,000/month, so I can afford not to have ads here in the blog – and frankly I’m surprised that other “rich” bloggers don’t do the same. To me, being “owned” by the advertiser makes me trust these bloggers just a little-bit less – not to mention that it’s just damn annoying on some blogs.
Now don’t get me wrong – if some advertiser made me one of those offers that I could not refuse, AND if I thought that you the reader might also benefit from the ad – for example if it was for low-cost web hosting or something, I would probably jump on it – However, I’ve turned-down several direct-ads in the past, and I seriously doubt that any advertiser would be willing to pay me enough to sway my feelings on this subject. So for now and the medium-term future I shall remain 99.8% advertisement-free.
If you think that other bloggers, particularly ones that are already rich from other ventures should follow my lead, post a comment on their blog and ask why they aren’t Ad-Free like Randy Brown’s blog!
This post was orginally made in 2007. It has been slightly updated and reposted for new readers to enjoy.
Most of you probably know that I started advertising with the Cow (johncow.com) 14 days ago. I purchased two post-level 250×300 spots out of 10 that he was selling, at a cost of $150 for 30 days. Since this was my first-ever attempt at advertising the blog I was not really sure what to expect.
