I miss those happy, care-free days when the internet was more or less free from advertising. Up until a few years ago, most non-corporate websites (outside of the porn world) were lovingly constructed by people passionate about their topics; links were exchanged based on the quality of the content, not on Google’s mysterious Page Rank; and besides the occasional Amazon affiliate link, most of these sites had no advertising. Webmasters toiled for hours, motivated more by helping people than making money.
These days, sites seem to have Adsense splattered all over the place, text links are sold to the highest bidder, and affiliate programs lurk seamlessly within the content. There’s money to be made on the internet and us webmasters want our piece but I still miss those early days.
So in an effort to save my soul and get back to the good ol’ days Nerdy Nomad will be staying ad free. Here’s why:
- No point with low traffic – As a new site I don’t get many visitors which means there’s not much point monetising. Revenue is a numbers game: no traffic = no revenue = no point having ads.
- Readers don’t like them – Sites plastered with irrelevant ads that stick out like a sore thumb are annoying. I’ve got no problem will well blended, relevant advertising but coming across websites that look like they only exist to sell me something is a big turn off and I can’t get to the back button soon enough.
- Able to provide more objective content – If I’ve just sold ad space to a company that provides backpacker tours, I’ll probably be less likely to openly give my opinion that tours suck. Losing objectivity could lose a lot of readers. You can monetise your site and still be objective but it might not always appear that way.
- Aesthetics – Ads look like crap, especially Adsense. Banner ads usually don’t look too hot, either. Pop-ups and the ones that play music are the devil. It is possible to blend ads nicely into a design but a site will always look better ad-free.
- More space to play with – Fewer ads means more room for content, improved navigation or even space to spread things out for larger fonts, more white space and easier reading.
- Get that warm fuzzy feeling – All this amazing content and helpful advice and not an ad in sight. I am such a great person. Quick, someone pat me on the back!
I can’t be too anti-advertising because that’s how I make a living but for the time being this site will act as my escape from the bright blinking lights of banner ads.
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