James Sherrett, the man behind Adhack, was the force behind the "is advertising killing blogging?" seminar at Northern Voice 2008 on February 23rd. After polling is audience of bloggers and professionals, Sherrett found a mix of people using ads to pay for hosting or work from home, along with those who felt ads weren't suitable because their sites were purely personal, or would compromise their editorial integrity. The consensus of the crowd was that you can run ads, but not in a way that alienates your audience. Advertising on a blog is much more of a trust issue than with old media. Cam Cavers pointed out that blogging about business, or even blogging on a personal level, is in effect an advertisement for yourself, and Sherrett said that again it comes down to being genuine.
Other issues included aesthetics, since a site cluttered with ads isn't visually appealing. On the other hand, sometimes ads lead to something that's actually useful and don't detract from the online experience, according to Derek K. Miller.
It was also suggested that the word "blog" might not be adequate to describe sites that carry advertising, though others contended that using a name like "blogmecial"or "blogvertising" would unfairly label sites and ghettoize them.
Warren Frey
Warren Frey is a writer, editor, blogger and podcaster based out of Vancouver, BC. After working for six years in the Canadian broadcasting industry, he switched to print and has since covered varied assignments from plumbing conferences to star-studded film galas. But he’s never lost his love for the internet and interactive media, from his teens...[more]
