GeoffBrady

My pet hate when it comes to blogs is advertising. There is so much I hate about advertising (except the "Price Cuts" from BT – I want that kid’s hair and his t-shirt…), but putting them on blogs seems worse somehow.

First of all, I ask two things: "Why blog?", and "Why advertise?". If the answer to the first is to make money, then I am of the opinion is that you’re in the wrong game – few blogs make a fortune, and there are by far more lucrative pastimes on the Internet around than just writing.

I feel the ethos of blogging is to write about what you find interesting, give your own personal views on subjects, and also write about your own experiences. The key is that blogs are almost meant to be private, but we let everyone else read them anyway (on the offchance that someone else finds them interesting). But then some of us stick adverts in. It’s like letting out a secret. You are meant to read this blog in order so that I can make a few quid out of you. Furthermore, it’s almost like getting people to your site with the sole purpose to send them away again. Those people must be blogging for a different reason.

My other dislike for advertising on blogs, is that it tends to make the blog seem less prestigious, less special almost. Far too often I come across blogs with fantastic content, nice designs, and inspirational ideas throughout – only to find some poorly formatted box saying "Cheap Laptop Cases" or "Looking for Castration".

I don’t advertise on my sites because I don’t think it adds to it. Even if it would make me a sizeable amount of money, there would be a niggling thought at the back of mind telling me that people don’t visit my site to see the advertising, and the amount of traffic I receive will not be at all altered by having it there. Feel free to call me an anti-capitalist bastard. (And I’m sure some will.)