Blocking Blog/Website Advertising

[mamaham]

For all the bloggers out there - I am curious - when a person uses an ad blocking service, does the owner of the blog still receive compensation for the ad posted?  or does your website advertiser "know" that it was not actually seen by the web surfer?

I really dislike website advertising and I recently heard of a service that will block the ads.  I have been trying it out, but then I was thinking that my ads may not be generating revenue for the website provider.  I do want to support websites that I like and that provide free useful content - WCI, POF, etc., but I do not want to support ads generated by my online searching (amazon, ebay, google, etc) which are trying to entice me to over-consume.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

The vast majority of the ads on this site are privately placed, i.e. they aren't Google adsense matching your recent searches to your ads. There are some on the site however, mostly on older posts.

In the world of online advertising, some ads are pay per view, some are flat-fee, some are pay per click, some are pay per conversion. It just varies. If you don't like Google showing you relevant ads, you can turn on your browser privacy settings to prevent that without using ad blocking software. Google will still show ads, but they won't be related to your recent internet use. Generally Google adsense ads are pay per click, so if you don't click on them, nobody is getting paid anyway.

https://support.google.com/ads/answer/2662922?hl=en

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/komando/2015/10/09/stop-facebook-targeted-ads-and-tracking/73588820/

 

[mamaham]

Thanks for the info, WCI!  Ironically, when I opened this page, there was an ad there in my post!  haha.  I do not feel bad about blocking it if you are still compensated.

As for google, still seeing ads (whether relevant to my surfing or not) is not something I want.  I even get ads in my email.  With the ad blocker, all the ads are gone.  If one pops up, you can tell it to block it and then it won't come back next time.  I do not yet have it on my phone - just computer.  So when I am on my phone, I am now really noticing the ads since there is just white space on the computer.

This question arose because I recently visited a site and in every white space that there is normally an ad, they had a very sad little caption saying something like "we know you don't like ads, but they help support our site (insert very sad emoji face)."  It was like anti ad shaming!

[Donnie]

Off topic, but I find the POF ads on the forum slightly confusing at times since the icon shows up in the post. When I view on mobile, it can make it appear that POF authored the post.

[The White Coat Investor]

mamaham wrote:

Thanks for the info, WCI!  Ironically, when I opened this page, there was an ad there in my post!  haha.  I do not feel bad about blocking it if you are still compensated.

As for google, still seeing ads (whether relevant to my surfing or not) is not something I want.  I even get ads in my email.  With the ad blocker, all the ads are gone.  If one pops up, you can tell it to block it and then it won’t come back next time.  I do not yet have it on my phone – just computer.  So when I am on my phone, I am now really noticing the ads since there is just white space on the computer.

This question arose because I recently visited a site and in every white space that there is normally an ad, they had a very sad little caption saying something like “we know you don’t like ads, but they help support our site (insert very sad emoji face).”  It was like anti ad shaming!

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I think I know how to do that. I think I'll start trying it.

I mean, in the long run, if every one uses ad blockers, I'm not going to be able to sell ads. But the truth of the matter is that those who click on ads and buy stuff from me and my advertisers are not the hard core WCI readers. They're the casual readers that come here with a specific question or wander in off Google.

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

I have the Chrome extension AdBlock that hides some of the Google Ads, but not the privately placed ads. It doesn't bother me if you use it on my site if it gives you a better reader experience. It can be a nuisance, though, as several sites like Forbes and others require you to turn it off to read a site.

 

 

[mamaham]

PhysicianOnFIRE wrote:

I have the Chrome extension AdBlock that hides some of the Google Ads, but not the privately placed ads. It doesn’t bother me if you use it on my site if it gives you a better reader experience. It can be a nuisance, though, as several sites like Forbes and others require you to turn it off to read a site.

 

 

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yes, i have found a few sites that make you turn it off to view the article, but not many.

[mamaham]

The White Coat Investor wrote:

I mean, in the long run, if every one uses ad blockers, I’m not going to be able to sell ads. But the truth of the matter is that those who click on ads and buy stuff from me and my advertisers are not the hard core WCI readers. They’re the casual readers that come here with a specific question or wander in off Google.

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agreed.  i have used your advertisers for a specific service, but it was not because I saw an ad in a side bar.  It was because I needed a particular service and went to your recommendations or heard about them in podcast.  it is not quite the same as consumable products (shoes, clothes, cars, food, etc) where you can be persuaded to want/need/buy something simply by seeing it advertised in a side bar.

[The White Coat Investor]

mamaham wrote:

The White Coat Investor wrote:

I mean, in the long run, if every one uses ad blockers, I’m not going to be able to sell ads. But the truth of the matter is that those who click on ads and buy stuff from me and my advertisers are not the hard core WCI readers. They’re the casual readers that come here with a specific question or wander in off Google. 

Click to expand…

agreed.  i have used your advertisers for a specific service, but it was not because I saw an ad in a side bar.  It was because I needed a particular service and went to your recommendations or heard about them in podcast.  it is not quite the same as consumable products (shoes, clothes, cars, food, etc) where you can be persuaded to want/need/buy something simply by seeing it advertised in a side bar.

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Different strokes for different folks. In your case, the display advertising or podcast sponsorship alerted you to the fact that I had advertisers offering a service so that caused you to go to the recommendations page. Either way, their advertising dollars worked. You got the service they needed, they got the business they needed, and I got paid to make the connection.

[mamaham]

The White Coat Investor wrote:

the display advertising or podcast sponsorship alerted you to the fact that I had advertisers offering a service so that caused you to go to the recommendations page.

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agree, but more than the display advertising or sponsorship - it is your blog posts (and sometimes guest posts) that alert me (and I assume others) to the fact that I need a particular service - which leads to the recommendations page.  In my case, the best example is the disability policy.  I did not previously realize before reading a particular set of blog posts that we should have our disability policy reviewed and that we might need more coverage.  I have investigated other services that you have recommended, but have not found that we need them at this time.  I guess the bottom line is that you put out many different types of advertising and people pick up on what they need and hopefully it is enough to keep the great content of this blog flowing.

[beagler]

I'm happy to click on the recommendations when I need services. Just keep the ads from being too intrusive.

[The White Coat Investor]

beagler wrote:

I’m happy to click on the recommendations when I need services. Just keep the ads from being too intrusive.

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I agree. I don't like glitzy or flashing ads or pop-ups, so I don't use them.