Advertising on Word Press

• 

  raincoaster · Member · May 16, 2008 at 7:21 am

  • Copy link

  Agreed: the ads are ugly, and there are way too many of them.

• 

  terryandtouey · Member · May 19, 2008 at 4:57 pm

  • Copy link

  Sunnisme, I thought I’d read the “about WP” and “TOS” pages very carefully, and I don’t remember seeing that caveat either. I’ve only just discovered it today after seeing Google Ads on my blog and wanting to find out why they were there and what I could do about them. It’s still not in the TOS which I’ve just reread.

  I chose WP because it gives the impression that you could have a totally non-commercial blog here, and you really did have control of your blog’s content.

  (1) WP says to the blogger “no ads” on your free blog, AND you control the content. BUT WP then reserves the right to allow Google to randomly display ads on your blog, and you don’t get to control whose advertising it is. This is in direct contradiction of blogger control of the content. The ads may be there briefly, but you have no way of knowing when or how long they’ll be there, and you can’t approve or disapprove the product or service being advertises. And you can’t opt out.

  (2) One string of forum discussion on this had a comments which basically said “nobody sees the ads anyway.” — If I saw the ads, other people are seeing the ads. Some of us blog for the community aspect of it rather than commercial, and we are easily turned off by sites with ads, especially randomly generated ads, and don’t revisit those sites. — WP’s use of adsense made my blog appear to me to be the type I would not revisit.

  (3) I understand the need for WP to generate funds, but I don’t feel it is being straightforward about how it’s doing that. It’s being sneaky about it, with the hit-and-run google ads in which the blogger has no say. Just be honest. If WP can only function by having ads to generate funds, say so up front, including in the TOS, let the users either choose the advertisers themselves and take a cut, or have them pay for ad-free (truly ad-free) blogging. But this “Don’t worry, hon, we’re just going to pimp you out a little bit, and you won’t feel a thing” approach is bull****.

  Sorry. Don’t mean to come across ranty, but …