I’ll give you a hint: it isn’t clicking on ads on my site because you appreciate the content. And this advice isn’t from some random dude with a blog, it is from an author of several books on my personal bookshelf (Mr. Seth Godin).
Chris over at 1 Good Reason lays it out pretty simply:
Seth today proposes that we should simply click on ads on blogs that we like. This will pay the website owner for the free content they have provided. This way only the advertisers will have to pay for the useless clicks they receive. Seth even goes on to say that, “Pretty simple, but not an accepted online protocol, at least not yet.â€
For a big picture guy like Seth this a really stupid idea. For an experienced online marketing expert like Seth- this borders on criminal conspiracy.
I worked for a company that did quite a bit of pay-per-click advertising so I understand the irritation completely. Click fraud hurts real companies with real employees. It is the epitome of nickle and diming a thousand times over.
Being on both the advertising and content side of the equation helps though. I want to make sure that anyone advertising on my site gets value from it. High click through rates with no sales means I lose revenue in the long run. People at these real companies do the smart thing and track results of their paid advertisements. If a source isn’t paying for itself, it goes away.
If you want to check out one of the few advertisers on my sites, you should do so. You shouldn’t do it as a “tip jar” though, you should do it out of genuine interest in the product. The point of these advertisements is to be targeted and relevant enough so that you are compelled to click through without any goading from me. That’s best for both the advertiser and myself.
If you want to thank me, here are a few ways:
- Read regularly. You can get updated through RSS feed, e-mail or just stop by every once in awhile.
- Comment if something is interesting.
- E-mail me and say hey.
- Link to me on your blog or website.
- Tell people about my blog.
Those are the things I love about blogging. If you are looking for ways to thank your favorite bloggers, those five will be more than most people do.
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Even though I love the delicious subversiveness of the idea, I agree with the SEM folks. I have done CPC advertising both as a blogger and a brand manager and I have always had zero tolerance for websites (or keywords) with high clicks and low conversions. If clickthrough rates go up and conversion rates drop, marketers would shift ad dollars to search, away from content/ placement, and ad budgets available to bloggers would drop, instead of going up.
Seth Godin’s “more clicks -> lower conversions -> better landing pages -> higher conversions -> higher budgets†hypothesis assumes that marketers can learn to design significantly better landing pages to convert disinterested (or mildly interested) leads. I’m not sure if I share his confidence.
Gaurav – Great point. There is no sense in breaking something that works for such a wide variety of companies (from Fortune 50 to mom and pops).
I really appreciate this view of the issue. There’s no such thing as free money and companies already have a hard enough time surviving without people taking advantage of a system just because they think it’s fine.
I am also a huge fan of seth and am rather surprised to see him take this position. He always tends to emphasize the need for quality content, quality leads, and professionalism in the blogging world, this point goes against all of that. Part of it may be his background dealing with big companies throwing unlimited budgets into advertising, however you would think his work with start-ups would allow him to see that there are more businesses struggling . Good post