Given the traffic that has put WUWT in the top WordPress blogs on a semi-regular basis (see below) I have been given a unique opportunity by the kind people that run the WordPress.com free hosting service. This wasn’t just a standard offer, this came in a personal email from the VP of Automattic, Inc., the parent company of WordPress. This is a beta trial for them too.
They have invited me to participate in the Google adsense program, which they offer only to blogs on their VIP hosting service, some of which you see in the top 10 list above. So, effective immediately, you’ll see some of these ads. For example after you click the “read more” below.
These are purely on a trial basis (my decision) and if they get in the way, I may turn them off. For those of you that support the work here at WUWT, you can now support me by visiting the advertisers on this blog.
I can’t control the content of the ads, (though I can block them from sites I don’t want) so you may find yourself presented with contextual ads from Al Gore, political groups, or even Greenpeace at times. Worthy of note, they pay for clicks made.
There’s a division of ad revenue. The ads at the top under the post title are the ones that benefit WUWT, and the ones at the bottom go to WordPress.com
I hope it is not too obtrusive, I welcome feedback on this experiment.
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I’m not exactly keen on ads, so I keep my filters battened down. In other words I see nothing of the ads, so can’t participate. It therefore bother me not a zot, except perhaps not being able to make Al Gore pay you money.
Go for it, Anthony!
Many thanks for the omelette last Sunday, sir.
You are a master.
Put me down as a daily visitor with no objections to your making a buck if you can.
So long as it does not influence content, I have no problems with ads and making a buck to pay the bills.
It’s ok for me… Go on, Anthony!
Just simple ads are OK but I hate those animated ads that simply distract one from the main course.
That type of ad just turns me right off that advertiser.
And Please, is there anyway to include a preview function for prior viewing of postings before they are posted on WUWT.
I don’t have a problem with the ads.
I do have a problem with Google and their profiling of individuals.
I’ll continue to make donations via the tip box as and when funds permit.
I think Par5’s suggestion of membership for posters has some merit. It would keep the casual trolling to a minimum, and might supply Anthony with more revenue for his important work here and with the surfacestations project. I would be happy to pay an annual membership of say $15 and feel I had a stake in improving the quality of the data all sides of the debate rely on.
As long as you can keep that ice graph going up no problem (just joking)…
Andrew,
Did you ask for a link to WUWT on the advertisers’ sites?
If I know how Adsense works, I’ll expect there to be a lot of Pro-AGW ads.
All OK with me, especially if it keeps WUWT moving forward.
I did notice one Google ad …..
Find Out What Nostradamus Says About The Years 2009 – 2012.
The AGW alarmists that visit here will enjoy links like this !
I’m sure Nostradamus’s future predictions on sea level rise and temperature would be more accurate than the IPCC 🙂
ok Charles the moderator
I will only click now and then.
I hope I link affiliated with Al Gore come’s up, I will spend all day clicking on it!
REPLY: No need, they have detectors for such things. – Anthony
I think any ad image under the title can be very distracting. A better location would be the right column above or below the weblog award logo if that’s possible.
Have you ever seen a beautiful woman, and afterwards noticed her ugly tatoo? Same thing here. Btw, If I click on an ad, does Google or Automattic, Inc copy my IP address? I am with TALLBLOKE on this one- I do not like Google profiling individuals.
I am all for it since it relieves me from my guilt not having donated via the tip box.
Anthony, could you keep us informed of the revenues that it will generate? Just out of curiosity.
Ads – no problem. It’s rubbing shoulders with the likes of FAIL and Lolcats that gets me.
Epic!
😀
“This wasn’t just a standard offer, this came in a personal email from the VP of Automattic, Inc.”
If you wish to turn this into a money-making business, you have certainly earned the right to do so and I will cheer for your success. Just don’t fool yourself that compromises won’t be required. Many a man has thought his integrity had no price, until a mind-boggling price was offered. But you ain’t ready for the “big game” if a personal E-mail from some corporate VP impresses you (most substantial corporations have lots of them and they work for Senior VPs who work for Executive VPs who work for….).
Reply: I’ll keep him honest. I’m the little angel on the right shoulder. Evan sits on the other one. ~ charles the moderator.
It WUWT needs the revenue then they are a necessary evil…
But I am always happier when i don’t see this triage and the “Ads by Google” logo… and I sleep easier when i know they are not tracking my every move or profiling a special interest group… ask yourself: Why now?
Ok, Adblock Plus deactivated for your site only 😉
I see no ads.
Apparently profiling is utilized with this adsense nonsense. Not cool. The information on the site is good. But I can’t support websites that are whores to corporate profiling campaigns for a little cash.
No problem with the adds and I enjoy the irony of the global warming adds. I wonder how long it will be before they pull the warming adds from your blog.
As a blogger who uses adsense on my own site, ace-exchange.com, which isnt exclusive to wordpress, it seems to me like wordpress wants you to do this revenue splitting adsense deal so that they can pay for the massive bandwidth cost your huge readership puts on them (assuming wordpress handles some of your content). Otherwise, if I were you I’d just go to google and sign up for adsense separately and put the code into your own template like I do.
I make about $100 bucks a month on my blog, which pays for a pretty nice dedicated server, and I only get about 6,000 hits a day. You should be able to make a goodly amount more than that with your titanic traffic.