Wednesday, August 09, 2006

The Whore of Blogylon

Am I the only one who thinks those Adsense bars are a little ridiculous? To my mind, they mar an otherwise excellent format for personal expression, a brash bourgeois intrusion into otherwise thoughtful narratives. Whenever I see one, I always wonder what the blogger was thinking when he or she signed up.

Now, I am the first one to admit that if I believed there was real money in it, I should abandon my artistic integrity and proudly peddle links of dubious utility. And of course, something is always better than nothing, especially since in this case the "cost" is somewhat ephemeral, and indeed to some perhaps non-existent. It is easy to put sign up for AdSense, and it's burdens are actually quite slight.

If it made me any money that would be more than I had before, and I would seem none the worse for it. However, I think in a real sense there would be a price to be paid for free money. I do not intend to criticize anyone who may employ AdSense, after all it's their blog to do with as they will, but I can't help but think that the pittance they offer is an insufficient incentive to become a tool of commercial advertising.

Relatively harmless, if somewhat demeaning, AdSense may be. Unfortunately, some other people have chosen less innocuous forms of advertising revenue. I hate to encounter pop-ups of any kind, and I have yet to encounter any truly malicious, but there are many blogs that trigger these unprovoked windows. Some of these ads contain brutal, vicious viruses or worms. Others, maybe, "merely" annoying adware.

But there is an injury even aside from technological inconveniences. I know it might seem strange, but I have it in me to be personally offended at the attempted usurpation of my attentions. After all I think I should be free to govern for myself the advertising content I consider. Each precocious pop-up just makes me want to leave the place that much sooner.

Of course, it should go without saying that the standards differ depending on whether the site in question is personal and professional. But even commercial sites, in my opinion, would do well to craft less obtrusive advertisements.

4 comments:

Laura said...

AdSense is an extremely clever marketing ploy. (Incredibly annoying, but clever.) I'm not sure why I'd want to put those ads on my blog. They obviously don't pay you that much for it and I never click on ads, so it makes me wonder how many other people do? And without the clicks, you make no money, right? Also, I think the ads look tacky. But to each his own, I guess.

thethinker said...

Well said. There is nothing I hate more than coming across a blog where I can hardly concentrate on the actual writing because the advertisements are in the way.

Sky said...

Pop up's are the worst. I hate those. However, I did have Adsense up on mine for a short while. It was unattractive and I doubted that anyone clicked on it so I took it down. If it actually made me money, I'd probably leave it up, but I don't think it does.

Bethany said...

I don't really know how they work, and I think they're ugly. I highly doubt my blog sees enough traffic to make them worth any meaningful amount. Thus, no Adsense for me.