Comments on: When Ads are Good for Bloggers But Bad For Dogs

By: Kimberly Gauthier

Kimberly Gauthier — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:52:55 +0000

This is such a great post. I blocked adds from breeders; when I did a search for how to do this, I learned that it’s not possible. A fellow blogger showed me how to do it. Now I’m with the BlogPaws network so I feel more comfortable with the ads that are on my site. I can’t wait until my second blog is eligible to join the network.

What I count on is other bloggers and my readers emailing me to tell me what they see. It’s really nice to work together, because many of the networks don’t seem to make it easy for us.

Kim

By: From a Laugh to an Ad Network Gaffe: This Week In Social Media | Life Embarked

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 05:27:15 +0000

[…] Twitter, I stumbled upon a link to a great post by Pamela of Something Wagging This Way Comes. In her post titled When Ads are Good for Bloggers But Bad For Dogs, Pamela describes a pattern […]

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 23:25:21 +0000

Great post! I’m so glad I saw a link to this post via Twitter, because I have been going back and forth for the longest time as to whether or not I should put ads on my blog. Supplementing my income always sounds like a great idea, but I have seen not-so-favorable ads on fellow pet bloggers’ sites (most likely due to ad networks) , and I always change my mind about the idea of ads. Making money was not the reason why I started my blog, and I always envision that ads being placed alongside my sidebar dedication to my first dog, Hopper, would look unclassy (in my opinion). Your post is excellent food for thought…thanks again!

By: Pam | Words With Wieners

Pam | Words With Wieners — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 18:04:45 +0000

OMG… I just typed a ridiculously long comment and accidentally deleted it all. I think I might cry. I had it all selected so that I could copy it to the clipboard – I’ve learned to do this because of having comments eaten so many times… I copy my comment, hit submit, then if it doesn’t go through for some reason, I can just paste and try again. Well, I had selected it all, then I accidentally hit the L key, and that one keystroke undid everything… my whole comment was overwritten by L. Just L. *cries*
I’ll try again. I have to. Even though I already spent too much time on the first comment. Anyway… here it is again, or something close to what it was.
This is a great post. I have struggled with this issue quite a bit myself. I do have a lot of ads on my blog, but they were/are there in hopes of making a little money for rescue. I don’t want people to be turned off by all the ads, because they are there for a good cause, but I don’t really know where to indicate that.
My ads are:
– Some BlogPaws ads, which I’m not totally happy with because many of the ads are for products I don’t use and wouldn’t necessarily recommend. I do wish they’d partner with some better advertisers. The FAQ for the ad network is not accurate, specifically the third Q/A. I have never received any notification for what ads will be showing on my site, nor any opportunity to opt out of any I don’t approve of. The ad code was placed, the ads began showing, I haven’t heard from them since. I have only been participating for one month, kind of as a test to see if it was worth it. I haven’t received a payment yet, so that is yet to be determined. If I decide to continue with the program, I will be contacting them to see about having certain ads removed from my rotation.
– One block of Google AdSense, which I actively block ads for. Like others have mentioned, I do not see the same ads my readers see, so I can only hope they would tell me if they saw something offensive (like an ad for puppy sales when my site CLEARLY supports rescue/adoption). No matter, I may remove it anyway. To make money with AdSense, people actually have to click on the ads, which they don’t. So, no cents from AdSense.
– Some affiliate banners – These were chosen and placed by me, so I approve of the content. People actually have to make a purchase through an affiliate link/banner for me to make any money, which hasn’t happened yet. Wait. Let me check my affiliate accounts just to make sure I’m being honest. Well, I’ll be dithered! I had my first sale yesterday. I’m RICH! Haha, right. My commission was a few bucks. And like Halley’s Comet, another affiliate sale may not happen for another seventy-five years.
– Some random images to support stuff/people I like – they are technically ads, I suppose, but they have no income potential.
So, all in all, I haven’t really made any money so far. So no worries for anyone who thinks I’m trying to strike it rich with all those ads. I just hoped to make some money for rescue, and right now, I’m not even covering my expenses. So yeah, I’m paying to blog, not the other way around. I’m not giving up, though. I hope to make the blog even more rescue/advocacy focused, and I’d like to completely revamp the aesthetics of the blog, but I certainly can’t justify paying anyone else to create a header or logo for me. If the theme/format changes, I’ll be the one to do it. As far as the ads, those will be changing, but I’ll always have some. I’d love to have sponsored ads for products I actually use/would recommend, but I don’t think my traffic numbers are high enough to seek out sponsorship. As it is, I’ll always have some affiliate ads, even if I end up dropping AdSense and BlogPaws Ad Network. I actually really want to keep BlogPaws, but I’d love to see them partnering with some companies whose products I like.

By: Vlad & Barkly's Dee

Vlad & Barkly's Dee — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 02:28:11 +0000

Things that bother me about Google Adsense and other AD providers– I’m often at computer sites. Computers are probably my #2-inanimate-object love–right behind books. A lot of time, our firewall shuts out some of the blog pages I want to read–including pet blogs–just because I’ve been reading tech blogs.

Those so-called companies with malware that shuts your computer down unless you buy it to clean up your viruses it found–there won’t be any on here–or some of the trojans from infamous hackers in other countries, that want to steal all of your personal info, are detected. When THAT happens, I either have to use Clean-up and get rid of all of my history (requires closing browsers; logging off; then signing back into everything), or just wait until I’ve had enough history of other searches to make those AD providers detect something else that’s not computer related. I’ve told several people in Twitter at times that their page is throwing out a malware ad, and it wasn’t letting me read it.

Now, my husband does work at home some of the time, so there’s a network firewall that I’m not supposed to shut off for any reason. I understand why I’m not supposed to, so I don’t. His work comes first before anyone’s play. I like eating and having a roof over our head, and the dogs do as well. So, a lot of time I won’t get to read a blog that I wanted to read. I MIGHT decide I want to read it badly enough to sign back into everything (We’re talking an average of 24 tabs open between both Chrome and Mozilla and 9 sites signed into.), but usually I won’t. So, there’s a good chance I don’t get to read a post.

I understand needing to make money, but how much good is it doing if some of us rarely get to see the page because of it?

By: dawn

dawn — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 01:21:05 +0000

I’ve held off on the ad networks because of the Google ads that are used to backfill. The Google ads also use information from where the reader has been to determine what ads they show- https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/9713?hl=en-

I can’t monitor my site 24/7 and there are many readers who don’t understand how those ads work and could get upset over what appears. So I wait until there is a time I can have complete control.

By: Jackie Bouchard

Jackie Bouchard — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 23:46:08 +0000

Since I have a free blog via blogger, and I do my own graphics I don’t really have any blogging expenses to defray, so I’ve never considered running ads. Even if it was costing me something, I don’t think I’d do the ads, just cuz I’m a terrible control freak. (Sponsors would be something I would consider, but random ads wouldn’t be for me.) I can totally understand, though, that some folks like to have them on their sites to help supplement their income/defray some costs. To be honest, I’ve trained my eyes to zero in on the center “meat” of the page. Unless someone’s got some kind of annoying flashing ad on their site, I rarely notice any of the ads/sponsors.

By: Ann Paws

Ann Paws — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 19:03:45 +0000

I have the “Pet Breeding” category blocked on my Adsense. Before I learned to block that, I noticed an ad on my blog to buy baby turtles or something. The category is really broad, so I don’t need to worry about new breeds popping up or anything. I certainly would like to know if anyone ever notices an ad on my blog that they don’t care for.

I like the Pet Blogger ad network so far. It certainly seems far more productive than anything else I’ve ever tried in the past.

Sponsored posts are nice, but most companies want follow links only so it’s hard to actually get them to sponsor a post with a nofollow link. It’s too risky to do sponsored posts with follow links for me, so I won’t do it.

I love blogging and think it’s so fun, but I also like some of the opportunities I come across. I am in a low income family and it’s nice to think I can supplement our funds just a little here and there from home.

By: Diane McCornack

Diane McCornack — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 18:51:47 +0000

This was a very enlightening article! I see those amazon ads on blogs but had not idea that by clicking there to shop, even if not for that item paid the blogger. I shop on Amazon ALL THE TIME. I will do that from now on.
Diane

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 18:18:35 +0000

Great post Pamela! I actually don’t mind ads and think learning how to generate a bit of money to cover the cost of blogging is a great thing! How to do it and actually earn some money is something I haven’t quite figured out yet.
I have used Passionfruit Ads to moderate sidebar buttons/ads – which I did get one sale from, but then it fizzled out. I really don’t care for Adsense and text ads, and it seems that every pet blogger has the same BlogPaws ad on their site – so why would I want to put the same ad on my site that everyone else has? Product reviews seem like a hot ticket item to charge for, but every dog blogger does them for free, so that might not work. I have never earned anything from affiliate links…
Maybe one day I will figure it all out.