Friday, August 05, 2005

AdSense conundrum

I’ve experimented with Google AdSense lately not for some concrete hope in getting loads of money like some of the other bloggers out there but just for some vain hope that I will be able to scrape enough to cover some minor expenses in my life, I am of course an unemployed struggling student without income. My daily traffic stems mostly from photo viewers from my weekly contest entries and my daily total visitors does not amount to anymore than 120 visits on an average day so my target advertising viewers is just a tiny trickle compared to the total number of net users out there.

But the real question is, is putting up ads on a personal blog betraying the true meaning of what we call the ‘blogging phenomenon’? Many out there would say yes, that there is no place for commercial adventurism when you’re supposed to be blogging about you personal happenings and thoughts. That by pasting a series of codes in your template you’re selling your soul to commercialism and abandoning any form of idealism. Many other might just be turned away because I can emphatise for the fact that a deluge of ads would make anyone go bonkers just as what they did with NTV7 where the ads re actually longer then the total run time of their shows. But I disagree, a blog space is your personal arena and with that you have the right to do whatever you please with it, adding advertising revenue is not a betrayal but good business acumen especially if people are interested in your site and the contents are related to what you’re talking.

The bad side is that many people out there misuse AdSense turning to churning out entries with specific key words to grab traffic and writing content aimed specifically to tie in with hot topics. In the end what may result is a behavioral change that causes a blog to turn fully into a commercial entity and no longer true to what it aimed to be in the first place. This may be one bad side to catering for ad revenue but thankfully many people out there are not so. Most write still true to themselves and the only addition is several columns of ads related to their writings. Others set up specific websites such as blogs on technology and science, others on recommending food and dining places, some endorse products while others are more on giving support groups or on a theme say parenting tips. Placing ads here is not only logical but a natural progression as your visitors most probably share the same interests as you subject matter and thus ads would reflect their needs.

Many have turned sour grapes that others are raking in money, this should not be so. These people with checks heading their way have done so by the strength of their writing and efforts put in attracting daily visitors so they have earned whatever dollars they have. Yes I hope to someday reach USD100 so I too can get some of the action but after half a month and only USD 1 I still have a long way to go. My blog is still my personal reflection, nothing has changed, the spirit that I first showed in setting it up is still carrying strong and nothing has changed abruptly with the exception of ads. I still have long way to go in integrating the ads so they are more seamless and less intrusive and maybe one day I will. Nicely placed ads will not distract while offering an avenue for people interested in them to follow the links. It’s a question I thought about a lot before I inserted ads into my blog but in the end I felt it is justifiable and correct. So to end, a toast to a long perilous journey heading for USD50.

P.s. Addition to my earlier post;

Today I've just read about Aunt Lilian's current post about her AdSense dollars being voided due to suspected tampering. From her suspicions that it was malicious intent from parties that are jealous of her money making success. If that is true, then my heart goes out to her for the fact that us as humans can drop down so low and be envious of other's success. It's ugly that when we see someone rise up with their own integrity and strength we feel a compulsion to drag them down to earth to their level instead of being inspired and look up to them as role models. It's shame really as Lilian had so much to offer, besides her usual blog she has others that give advise and councelling as well as helpful efforts in promoting goals like breast feeding (to which I am an advocate as well). So whither the good and let evil triumph, maybe Malaysian are truly like that, if so again I am ashamed. I hope whoever the sabetour is he/she/it is happy with themselves, they can revel in this little moment of triumph, relish their efforts in felling a good samaritan and rejoice in such petty accomplishments. It sickens me, Aunt Lilian my sympathies. If people hate others for getting money from AdSense then stay away from their site, they don't need you, they have others more genuine in intent. Nobody if forcing anybody to click. Lilian God will provide, be strong and have faith that retribution will be given to the deserving and rewards to those that do good. Call me naive for that belief if you will :)

6 comments:

problogger said...

Well, believe me, Google Adsense doesnt work.. and it does work.. Google will find some ways not paying you the money earned. And there is no way you can argue with them.

Adrian said...

Hmnn... Would you allow advertisers to paste posters or erect a billboard on your house, just to make a few bucks? Stop selling out. Its supposed to be your little place. The minute commercialism comes in, it sucks...

ihsanhassan said...

The first time I laid my eyes on claims such as Adsense, I knew it was a major con. But come to think of it again, hmmm... WEI EVERYONE, DOES IT WORK?????? YEAYYY Im starting my own now! (screaming in euphoria to make money)

To hell with anti-commercialism, I mean idealism such as that is very backward. What is the reason of hating commercial ads? Yes I agree if you say that certain commercials lie and are exploitative. But not all. Your analogy of a blog and a house is irrelevant. It's like comparing apples with oranges. Just embrace the spirit of entrepreneurship and MAKE MONEY Adrian. ;)

But I will not dismiss your claim so easily, there are some truth in it. Sometimes I hate it if my favourite band becomes overcommercialised - they tend to succumb to popular trends and abandoned their intial musical/cultural stand. So yea commercialism sucks. But I’m having one in my blog!

lucia said...

quote kervin: "a blog space is your personal arena and with that you have the right to do whatever you please with it, adding advertising revenue is not a betrayal but good business acumen"

exactly! i don't see anything wrong in using adsense, in trying to earn some money while doing something we love.

i started adsense in march and up to now i get less than US$1.00! and am i unhappy? angry? frustrated? no! jealous of those who do earn a lot? no way! i don't really care if i earn little. it doesn't matter since what matters is the blogging. earning is not a priority.

like you said 'good business acumen' well, if we do the things we love (blogging) and we can also earn money at the same time, why not? it's just good business acumen! as long as one don't get obssessed over it... to do things like purposely want to generate traffic, or get jealous of others who earns a lot.

btw i started to put in amazon ads. hehe. i know this is near impossible to earn (as the person must not only click but buy the products) but what the heck, just put it in, just in case. if no earning never mind but i do get to know of updates of new books (the category for ads i choose)... which is something informative.

5xmom.com said...

Kervin,
I am so touched with your kind words and thoughts. If only everyone is as insightful.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Kervin said...

mmulibra: :D Biggest legitimate scam out there huh, maybe I wouldn't know. Guess corporate sharks are eating the little fishes again.

Adrian: Ya, speaking from someone earning 50k yen a month and me peniless.

ihsanhassan: Everyone wants a piece of the pie whether its real or not. Yes we all hate commercials but its the more blatant ones that are detestible. For non profit causes I think it can be a good way to reduce costs with somer evenue.

Lucia Lai: Hehe maybe we should start a USD1 AdSense clubs for us downtrodden folks. I'd like the Amazon system better but getting people to fork over in USD for books is not easy.

5xmom: You're welcome Lilian, hope things get better for you, like you said you can go back and curse all you want now without violating any contract XD