I am dropping ads on this blog. I have been using Google Adwords for a while, but unfortunately Google doesn’t know what to do with my site. The contextual concept isn’t exactly driving huge click through rates. In fact in the four months that I have actually written regularly I’ve made a whopping $5.
I’m not complaining though, I want to make that clear. I didn’t start this blog to make money. And it doesn’t cost any anything to host it at this point, as traffic volume is low. I decided that having ads on the page, while it didn’t distract from the content, also wasn’t adding value. I just want to write and hope that a few people find me interesting enough to continue to visit once in a while. If my blog ever gets to the point where I need to pay for hosting, I may decide to put ads back in.
A couple other notes. I fixed my servers mail system so I can send mail again. This allowed me to re-enabled sending new posts via email to those who prefer email to RSS. Also, on the suggestion of Bill Roehl and Ed Kohler I’ve decided to add the ability to subscribe to comments via email. Hopefully some of you find it useful.
Edit: Well due to Bill Roehl, ads may once again grace the pages of this blog. His suggestion sounds promising.
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Using the WhyDoWork AdSense plugin also suggested by Ed, I am able to serve ads in a manner that I believe works well for my users and for my bank account. While my hosting is “free” I do like knowing that the site pays some bills. While I won’t get real specific on revenue, suffice to say I generally make more than enough to have it be worthwhile.