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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Its a good idea if you need the cash generated, however keep in mind that by clicking the link to Gores site, you give his site a hit… enough hits and they might start to think he is popular rather than just bilking his site for cash:P
Why did you wait so long?
This is really a good option, particularly because you maintain control.
Congratulations a very successful site.
It would be OK if the ad was halfway down the page and not right after the title.
It’s visually detracts and undermines any write up when a alarmist advertising is right after it, plus Algore has shares and influence in/on Google.
If Google is supposed to be advertising to our board population, shouldn’t they be sites that we might be interested in?
Not AGW religious advertising. It’s like having an abortion clinic advert on a pro life site.
Oh, and I’m pro choice just in case you might misconstrue my example. 😉
Good idea, but like Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch, which has google ads for Muslim dating services, the ads themselves are unlikely to be tailored to the particular audience that reads WUWT – they just pick up on a few keywords which we have in common with ‘the enemy’. Not a very effective advertising strategy, but then again they may improve the algorithm in the future.
I always make a habit of clicking through on sites I like. Wow! It’s great to make money out of Al Gore, dont you think!
It’s a tasty bit of irony that Algore will be voluntarily contributing support to a site that will eventually lead to the demise of his plan to compel us all to involuntarily contribute to our own.
I think it would be nice if we all made a concerted effort to click on every top-of-article add for the next few days-to-a-week. (I just open them in a new tab, and then just close them off). If after a week of this Andrew makes some money, then good on him, and we can go back to ignoring the adds !
I doubt this will make him any real money, but I`d be interested to know what power have here ? We might be suprised (but I doubt it !)
Reply: I will repeat my earlier comment:
~ charles the moderator
Go Anthony, go.
And everyone else: please click on the ads to help pay for all this.
Anthony,
You do such a great job, you deserve compensation.
I’ll just click the ones at the top, then.. 🙂
Sorry to be, shall we say, sceptical, but I think these ads are pretty awful. If you must have them, could you at least stop the ones pushing the CO2 delusion?
Chris
I think it’s great. I found wecansolveit.org pretty amusing and it is sweetly ironic that they are paying to support this site.
For the people that are so worried about being profiled, unless you are a serial killer, the only thing that profiling does is get you more interesting and appropriate ads. This site supports freedom and truth. I would advertise here If I could target people with woodstoves on the East Coast, because I am producing a new product and think that efficiency geeks and nature lovers like us would be interested in it. But I don’t want to bother people with no interest.
I actually found this site by following links from the weather underground blogs. I only go there for weather now though, because the ads have gotten so aggressive. One just started that intermittently blocks part of what you are reading to try and get you to click through. And it is not interesting to me at all- for some HVAC equipment that I am well aware of.
I have no problem with the ads if it helps you pay the bills and keep this GREAT website up !!
I just looked at the screenshot at the top. WUWT is less popular than “Celebrity Baby Blog!” I guess there’s still work to do. Either that or it supports the polls that show people aren’t concerned about AGW.
> Posters, please do not encourage indiscriminately “clicking”.
I suspect that once the novelty wears off, most clicks will be driven by curiosity.
Clicking on ads is a lot cheaper than sending you a US Grant every now and then, and it takes fewer clicks of the mouse even.
Steamboat Jack
Anthony, you do realise that there are thousands of warming-worriers who will just wait for you to have an oil-based ad there. Then they can say that you’re in the pay of big oil! : )
The ads between the post title and body are very intrusive and distract from the professional appearance of the site. The ads between “Possibly Related Posts” and the comments aren’t so bad. I hope they help keep the site going and I really do hope you make some money off of them. I just don’t like them so much…
What I am worried about, Mr Watts, is that once you get a taste of that sweet, sweet, Mammon, you will realize that AGW is where the real money is, and merge with that media giant RealClimate!
I’m cool with it. I especially like this part: “Worthy of note, they pay for clicks made.” So I will only click on the warmist’s links. 🙂 If I see a link to a site I’d like to visit, but not burden with the cost of a click through, I can do that on my own.
They are fine with me … if they work for you Anthony, use them to generate revenue. I bet the crowd here is smart enough to work with them.
One point, have you considered threaded comments, that may make discussion easier. I believe wordpress has a plugin for just that sort of thing.
REPLY: We tried threaded comments for about a week, and went back to linear. They just didn’t work well here. – Anthony
I clicked on one and got here:
http://en.cop15.dk/blogs/climate+thinkers+blog?gclid=CIjPoNOhqpoCFQOeFQod2g331g
It’s a very slick promotion for AGW and the Copenhagen conference, with lengthy discourses in soft grey type from chaps in coats and ties. I had to resist the temptation to waste time reading them, and then commenting (which would probably be moderated into the trash).
If I had a blog site, I would be very wary of Google ads. True enough, they simply feed off keywords, but by doing so they open one up to the appearance of supporting the places and products advertised. I think the Copenhagen conference will be an abomination, and I wouldn’t want an ad for it on my site. By giving them clicks and eyeballs, you’re supporting them.
Then too, the heads of Google are firmly in the Algore-Obama camps. You may be supporting this site, and WordPress, but you’re also supporting Google.
Not that I have any problem with ads in general (except distracting blinkies and movies), and if you can make a little money from your excellent work here, you should, absolutely. There are, I believe, other sources of blog ads (one called ‘BlogAds’, I think), and I’ll bet some of those could be tailored better to the philosophy of WUWT.
Layout suggestion: Get the ads OUT of the middle content column, and put them over on the right or left; if you can’t use the grey spaces, then under the Meta list. I think they pollute the content some.
My 2 cents, FWIW.
/Mr Lynn
Anthony I agree with the majority. Do what you are comfortable with. The ads are far less intrusive than Jennifer Marohasy’s. You and team do such a stunning job of keeping quality and consistency and integrity here, I’m humbled and gobsmacked.
And with you in the battle.
I agree. Follow the money. There are a couple of sites I don’t go to anymore because large full screen ads pop up with frustrating regularity, but those are exceptions. Hope you do well with this.
I’m looking forward to the advertisements that are certain to generate irony as well as income.
The Ads are no problem . I have Noscript and Adblock.