Thoughts concerning ads on the website

[doyle]

First off, Billy, great job on the Full House Reviewed site. It makes my Fridays a little funnier, and I appreciate that. And, by the way, I love Full House, but I still think the site is great.

Anyway, as far as the ads go, I think it's perfectly reasonable to have a little reminder at the end of each post or however you want to do it. I would like to think that the vast majority of your readers understand that keeping the site costs you money. And it's not as though your site is a business that focuses on selling goods or services. Unless you are somehow making a killing on those t-shirts, ads are the only way to make the site pay for itself.

I appreciate very much your honesty in noting that you don't care for advertising, but you can benefit from it. There are some other folks out there who run blogs and put forth a large effort into bashing ads, corporate logos, product placement etc., while their own website is covered with those very same things. At least your up front about it.

I wish I had a creative way to encourage people to click on your ads without you needing to remind them, but I've got nothing. I think that mentioning it with the explanation that "Hey, I don't like it either, it's a necessary evil" is a solid, honest way to go.

I hope that all makes sense and that I wasn't too long-winded. I think I'm gonna go click on a few of those ads now...

[djkatyk]

I was recently reading another blog where the blogger was asking people to click links. Then her ads disappeared. Apparently, it was explained later that you can't mention ads on your page, and if the advertisers see you asking people to click on their links, they pull the ads. I don't know if this is true, and it doesn't bother me since I have clicked on your ads a lot. I just thought I'd throw that little nugget out there. For all I know, she just had shitty ads.

[joeysmannequin]

I have ad blocker plus, and when I try to disable it so that I can click on your ads the website takes a long time to respond and usually loads weird. But its the thought that counts I guess cause I totally would click on them. Also, unless djkatyk is right, there's no issue with a friendly reminder to help keep this site sustainable.

[LS]

I did want to point out, actually, that asking people to click links can qualify you for link fraud. Billysuperstar may want to check his TOS for the conditions of mentioning his adverts.

[billysuperstar]

yikes! i didnt know that link clicking requests were against the rules, i just thought they were annoying! either way i'll stop mentioning them and see how it goes.

this has gotten a little more complicated now that a little bit of time has passed and i know what these ads are worth. the site seems like it should pay for itself pretty easily and after that it will probably turn a profit. i never thought about trying to make money here but now that it seems like a possibility im having mixed feelings. on the one hand, why wouldnt i want to make some money? on the other, i feel like readers have had a pretty negative reaction towards anything that seemed like it would save or make me money (like when i asked for fans to buy the dvds). this makes me wonder about what the actual value of free content is on the internet. at this point, i still enjoy writing these reviews but the motivating factor is that i now have about 10,000 people who check the site every week and i feel like i owe it to them in this strange way. but what's the value of building such an audience? its an interesting question.

[djkatyk]

I think it would be great if you could earn extra money. You provide a service. A very entertaining service for people. Maybe it's the quality of the ads? It annoys me when I check out a blogger and all of the sudden their page is wallpapered in Tyson nugget ads. Then my computer freezes. Then I get annoyed. But having a few ads on the side bar or whatever don't bother me whatsoever.

[LS]

Make your money, Billy. No reasonable fan will begrudge you the the ability to supplement your income for something you work hard on.

There will always be entitled pricks who believe they're somehow owed an Internet full of advertisement-free content. They're dumb and wrong, and don't make up a significant portion of your readership. Merely a vocal portion.

[doyle]

I agree with ls and djkatyk. Make your money. Plus, it's not as though anyone is required to click on the ads, or pay anything for the privilege of enjoying your rather hilarious reviews.