————————————————–
Appartement Leutasch

Nothing seems to surprise me anymore!

Grant

—————————
http://www.moneysavingcashback.co.uk

I think you’re right on the money (no pun intended, I swear!) with this one. And I agree with the comments as well. 99% people are ignoring or blocking all those annoying ads so all bloggers are really accomplishing is annoying visitors with really long load times.

That being said, on the other end of the spectrum there are people making money with Adsense-targeted blogs. In just a few hours’ time you can have one of those blogs online and making some good money if you know how to get it done.

But when it comes to a blog like mine or yours or any other blog that’s major aim is to provide fresh, interesting and educational content, I think ad overkill is a lose-lose for everyone involved.

By the way, I’m having a lot of fun with the Real Link Finder. Very useful tool!

Sara

Yes, some blogs do overcook ridiculously don’t they?!

If the content’s worth reading, its worth reading despite the ads. If its not, it won’t matter how clean the layout is – IMHO

How about “paid posts” though? These worry me more – I like to understand a blogger’s motivation for writing something, and paid posts muddy those waters..

Best wishes,
Alex

Mind you, I’m a capitalist through and through. I have no problem with advertising that solves a problem that I have.

But not the mindless visual noise that you see on many blogs and websites screaming ‘look at me!, look at me!’

Mark Widawer, made a great blog post along these lines with an offline example of advertising that misses the mark titled, “Bad Advertising – Zappos”.

http://www.trafficandconversion.com/bad-advertising-zappos/#more-279

Here are the takeaways:
“Know your Customer”
Get into the head of the customer.
What are their worries, concerns, hope or dreams in this moment?
What is their mindset likely to be in this moment?
Talk to the customer’s worries, concerns, hope or dreams in this moment.
Do not talk about YOU the advertiser (you are unimportant) your Customer’s problem is all that matters.
Solve their problem quickly and easily.

So, back to Neil and his blog and what he has to offer.

I am an Internet newbie. When I am looking for Internet Marketing advice I tend to be very skeptical of any claims and pay attention to the information and how that is communicated.

Essentially, I am asking my self, “Can I trust this Guy (or Gal)?”

Although I don’t know Neil well, he scores high trust points with me for the following reasons:

1. He gave away a helpful tool for free (RealLinkFinder)
2. He provides regular and thoughtful communication via blog posts and emails.
3. When he makes offers they seem relevant and have value.

Just my 2 cents.

Joel Smith
Ajijic, Mexico
http://www.CasaPreciosaAjijic.com

Neil.

Techies may well use blocking software, but most Internet users are not technically minded. Instead, they just ignore the adverts.

Importantly, though, it’s patience that is the real killer. If your web page takes more than a few seconds to load – people give up before the page has loaded. So your point about streamlined pages with low numbers of graphics is well made.

I make good money from my blog – without a single advert. How? Because people buy my expertise as a consultant and my blog “shows off” my specialist knowledge, ideas and so on. That’s how to make money from blogging – not from advertising.

Interesting topic.

I think a lot of the tech savy folks who are bothered by excessive advertising are using AdBlock or some variant. Personally, I use ABP but have quite a lot of exceptions – some site-based – generally the sites I revisit often that have explicitly asked visitors to turn it off – and some advertiser based: I usually view AdSense, mostly out of interest.

As for the non-techies, I think either they’ll be pushed toward finding an adblock type solution (if they know about it) or quit visiting unless the content is REALLY compelling.

You might be interested in this (part 3 of a series, but the most relevant):
http://adblockplus.org/blog/ethics-of-blocking-ads-part-3

Cheers,
Alastair.