With ads covering everything from newspapers to television, hub caps to foreheads, blogs present an obvious opportunity for advertisers.
But despite the potential to profit from advertising, there is a growing movement of indy bloggers who intend to keep their web space commercial free.
Ad-Free Blog
Keri Smith, an author, illustrator, and blogger, started noticing ads popping up on her favourite blogs. As her own blog grew in popularity, she was approached by advertisers to run ads and endorse products — something she opposes. "I really wanted to differentiate myself between blogs that took money for advertising, just so people know that when I mention something on my blog, that I was not getting paid to."
So, she created an "Ad Free Blog" icon for her site — a diminutive owl chosen, she says, for its iconic wisdom. After receiving requests to use the image, she decided to launch a separate site, which features the icon. Bloggers who share her philosophy — opposition to corporate blogging, the belief corporate advertising on blogs devalues the medium and affirming they do not profit from advertising — can copy the icon and add it to their own blogs.
Her site, which she runs with her husband, Jeff Pitcher, even has an evil twin, a mirror site that hijacks her owl icon and uses it to promote commercial blogging.
Ms. Smith explains that it's hard to track the number of blogs participating, but that she has supporters all over.
Post secrets, not ads
Frank Warren, who operates Post Secret, is also ad free. Post Secret is a popular blog that features anonymous, crafty, personal postcard secrets sent in by mail. His site features no ads, only a public service announcement for www.hopeline.com. Post Secret, which ranks ninth on Technorati with more than 10,000 blog links, receives more than 800,000 unique visitors a week. No other blog in the Technorati top ten is ad free.
Mr. Warren says he keeps his site ad free because advertising would take away from the sincerity of postcards, and the project. "I felt strongly about not having advertising and pop-up ads on Post Secret. I think it's one of the reasons people have been able to trust me with their secrets. And it's one of the reasons Post Secret has become so well known."
Like Ms. Smith, Mr. Warren has declined offers for advertising and sponsorship.
"I hope [Post Secret] can be used as a model, because I don't think it's necessary for blogs to have ads. Just like I don't think it's necessary for books to have ads."
The ads make sense
Not all bloggers look on advertising as a bad thing. Jill Murray, who blogs at JillMurray.com and Torontoist.com, is also a freelance blogger for corporate projects. She welcomes advertising at her site and says she uses online advertising "to find out how it works and if it works."
Ms. Murray discovered advertising for her own Café Press products has proved extremely useful. She feels that ads benefit the actual content on her site. "Having the advertising is more of a motivator than not having it, increasing the quality and causing me to write more often."
She also has no issue with product placement. Ms. Murray recently accepted a camera phone, given to her to help create buzz for the product. While the agreement did not overtly state she must blog about the device, Ms. Murray informed her readers about her new tech toy, and where it came from.
As an avid promoter of commercial blogging, Ms. Murray is skeptical of adfreeblog.com's claims that advertisement corrupt the medium. "People blog for all different kinds of reasons and I can see how maybe if you were keeping a personal blog or journal, or if you were trying to make a statement against commercialism, then that could work for you. As for the concept of advertising somehow negatively impacting content, I don't buy that."
She doesn't understand why bloggers shouldn't also cash in. "I don't see why one medium should automatically be more pure than another."
Jennifer Hollett is a broadcaster and journalist best known for her time at MuchMusic as a VJ and Videographer. She is also the founder of YouthCARE, a youth engagement program at CARE Canada.
