ad blocking

I have been following the ad blocker discussions over the past few weeks and the on and off discussions for the last 10 years. I had to take some time to cool off before writing this post because frankly it's a subject that has made me quite mad and I don't get mad often. I have attempted to remove as much rant as possible. Let's start by saying, what's so wrong with helping an author generate revenue from the time invested to write a column which you have just read and benefited from?

Here is my take on ads using CenterNetworks as an example. And I am leaving RSS out of this part of the discussion but it's discussed further along. When you come to CenterNetworks and view content I wrote, you view the ads that I have selected to show. I spend hours a month hand picking every ad (except for AdSense, they don't allow it) so that you get an optimum experience. I don't show shoot the money, free ipods, porn, lottery, gambling or extreme animations. I also don't run popunders, popovers or layer ads. I respect you and therefore only want to show you what I believe is the best possible ads that you actually might be interestedin.

My expectation is that when you read the content I provide, you at least see the advertising/sponsors. This is how I generate revenue so I can eat and feed my family. I spend hours (as do most professional bloggers) thinking of content, writing stories I hope you enjoy, meeting local companies. For example, when I met Mochila this week, it took me 2 hours of travel and 90 minutes of discussion to generate that article. And I generate a mere few cents in pageviews and maybe 1-2 of you will click an ad and make a few more cents. I estimate working on CN content a minimum of 45 hours a week. Should I not have the opportunity to get paid for my work? Charging for content won't work because if I charge, you will go elsewhere. And please don't get me wrong, I totally love CN and enjoy every minute of it.

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