It’s been put to me by both advertisers and Fourtheye members that I should consider having ads on this website. I have a couple of points of view on it, that I’ll discuss below, but I’m interested in hearing what you guys think. Are ads obtrusive? Do you use Adblock and ignore them anyway? Even if you saw an ad of interest, would you click on it anyway? Opinions on this appreciated.
My personal take is that since 90% of the material on Fourtheye is sourced from other locations, I’d feel uncomfortable with taking money that is really generated by other peoples content. Making money to fund the costs of hosting, etc is fine, but any profit would feel somewhat tainted.
Secondly I find most online advertising to be irrelevant, nor do I think that Fourtheye readers are receptive to this kind of advertising. I like to think that most Fourtheye readers are pretty smart with their web browsing, and use tools such as Adblock to remove ads from websites. I also expect that you guys are somewhat skeptical of online advertising as well. I know in my personal experience that the best online shops are not normally found via context sensitive ads. The last thing I’d like to hear is “your website told me to buy Lateralus from here and they ripped me off”.
Anyway, make your opinions known, I don’t think I will rush to an advertising model just yet, but I’m still curious to hear your views.