Google ads here to stay for a while
by Volker Weber
A few days ago I added Google ads to the individual posts. I skipped the front page as well as all of the other semi-static pages, but individual archives of the blog posts now carry two text ads below the text and right above the comments section.
I have discussed this arrangement (in german) the very next day and received some mixed results. Some people are bothered, some think they are OK. A number of different placements have been suggested.
I played around with different designs, but the current arrangement turned out to be the best compromise. There is a small trickle of income from the ads. Not enough to cover the amount of work that goes into the site, but enough to keep them, at least for a while.
A big thank you to all that have voiced their support. It is really nice to see that you are paying forward by supporting this initiative. What I found really interesting is that Nico, who works in this business, said that he clicks on lots of those ads whereever he sees them. He has opened my eyes to the fact that you can support other free sites by doing something that does not really cost you a lot.
Comments
Mine's 5/10 is that good or bad ?
PageRank (the other post)? Yes, 5 is very good.
We put Google adds on OpenNTF one week ago, and it generated more money in that time then the paypal buttons did in 3 months.
Vince, you have more specific traffic, more people who understand the value of advertizing and much better ads. So, I cannot imagine getting to your levels. But it certainly beats a Paypal button. I would never have put that here on my site, for the same reasons I would not put an Amazon wishlist here.
If people ask to donate money (via paypal) i'm not the guy to put them down ;)
Vince, that is very kind, but I don't feel like I need to ask people for money. If a third party, here Google or their customers want to do it - fine. But not my readers.
We never intended to ask people for money because that would go against the intent of open source. We implemented it because somebody (Ray Davies actually) asked us to implement paypal for donations on OpenNTF projects he implemented at clients.
Have fun on your vacation and leave your mobile at home :)
Thanks, Vince.
You would not believe how many chargers we are carrying. :-)
Well, after some debate I signed up for AdSense. I haven't been "reviewed" by them yet, so I don't know if they'll accept me - but we'll see.
Have a great vacation, Volker. See you at LS04!
OK, I now have Adsense on my site - I also added the feature to Blogsphere as a configurable option. I liked your placement, Volker, so I stole the idea.
I'll let you know how it goes...
