Ben is broke so we are considering advertising on the blog. AdSense say they tailor the ads to the content. Before we give it a try, Ben asked me to invite your comments; for or against?
Ed.
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Ben
Lecturing
About Me
- prisonerben
- United Kingdom
- Previously known as "one of Britain's best known prisoners...he constantly questions authority and exposes the futility of the system" The Times, Ben was finally released from prison after 32 years in August 2012. Pleading guilty to the murder of a friend when he was 14 years old, he renounced violence and fought for the recognition of the inherent dignity of all human beings. As a result of speaking truth to power, he served far longer than the recommended 10 years, leading Education Secretary Michael Gove to argue that he had "been punished excessively for a crime committed as a child". One of the more intellectual of prisoner-campaigners, Ben chose to educate himself from schoolboy level to having both undergraduate and post graduate degrees. He is currently one of very few prisoners in Britain ever to attempt a Doctorate. Ben's speciality is non-violent action and the Human Needs Theory. Now on Life Licence, He is forging a career as a CJ policy consultant, writer and - as ever - campaigner.
I'd be happy to be reminded from time to time about the possibility to donate - which this post has just done.
ReplyDeleteNeeds must - go for it
ReplyDeleteWhy not? It will be interesting to see which ads they think are appropriate.
ReplyDeleteGo for it, as far as I'm concerned. Two things though: a) you'll need an awful lot of traffic for it to make much difference and b) many people, including myself, use something like google reader and so don't see/load the adverts.
ReplyDeletedo it
ReplyDeleteNo concerns, although the hits/impressions might be a bit low for revenue raising.
ReplyDeleteWhatever it takes - go for it, and enjoy your freedom to choose.
ReplyDeleteKate
Ben's blog has integrity. That's why it's taken seriously.
ReplyDeleteHe's a campaigner, Ben, at least in his writing, and the integrity of his blog means that his voice is taken seriously.
Introduce advertising the blog becomes something that generates money. Whether or not that affects how Ben writes, it will certainly affect readers' impressions of what the blog's purpose is, and is likely subtly to reduce the authority of his writing.
And it's naïve to believe that it's possible to remain immune to the financial incentives once you've taken a step like that. You notice that writing about particular topics generates more advertising revenue. You notice that writing in a certain way generates less adversing revenue. Consciously or unconsciously, it affects what you write and how you write it.
If you want a comparison, look at doctors who insist that they are immune to freebies by the pharmaceutical industry, and who genuinely believe that they are independent enough not to be influenced by that sort of marketing. And then look at the now substantial body of evidence that, whatever they say, it does significantly influence their prescribing - and influence it for the worse.
My vote's against, and it's a position I take out of respect for what Ben writes. Let's think of other ways he could make a bit of money. Once he's allowed to, I doubt it will be long before he's generating a decent income from writing about penal policy and other important social issues.
The combination of comments by poster at 4:07 and the poster at 7:56 should be taken seriously. With approximately only 17,000 hits a month(that's the total, unique hits will be less) the revenue generated by 'click through' will be minimal. Is it worth it for the perceived loss of independence and integrity as argued by poster 7:56?
ReplyDeleteI'd want a quick opinion (esp. given the 7? weeks to the parole board) about the legality of making money from the blog while a serving prisoner..
ReplyDeleteDon't massively mind personally, as I use an adblocker at all times.
Sam
(sorry still cant get the authorisation to work)..
AdSense is not worth it only paying per click. I made no money from using it.
ReplyDeleteThen I was approached by an agency acting for ambulance chasing lawyers, and earned between £2,000 - £6,000 per year.
On balance, despite the possible perceived loss of independence, I would go for placing adverts.
ReplyDeleteMy view is that when Ben is free of Prison Regs on release, anything he does (legally) which earns him more than JSA (with all its impositions & restrictions) is worth doing. It frees him from the slave labour schemes beloved of our glorious leaders, and lets him concentrate on finding a job (or combination of part-time jobs) that best suits him.
As I understand it, he has the great good fortune of a home & support waiting for him on release ; his only state benefit would be JSA, so that is a relatively low bar to aim at. Anything above that has to be regarded as a bonus.
Best wishes & good luck!
Not a probkem, Ben. Go for it.
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to know what the ads would be if they were tailored to the content!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat about first trying with flattr for some weeks and see if that's working?
ReplyDeleteWhatever it takes, to help your situation, a Yes!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the feedback - interesting points raised there. I'll pass them to Ben. Ed.
ReplyDeleteYou need to look at a) your demographics, b) your size, and c) what you're prepared to do to get people to click the ads.
ReplyDeleteLots of UK hits is better than general internet traffic. But I suspect blogs are harder to monetise because when you're reading a blog you're involved in the content and less likely to click ads than if you're looking for something and see a related ad.
17k is not shabby, but it won't pay the rent. And ads can lower your traffic.
No-one clicks ads unless they see them. Blogroll column is weak. Just after the content, sometimes in the leaderboard position is stronger. And making ads look part of your content is even stronger. But at some point this becomes a bit shady...
Also consider that advertisers collect information on the sites you visit, like this one, and can only do that where they are advertising.
I have now read all of your comments on this and decided that advertising in the Adsense sense is not for me! Thanks for your views. Ben.
ReplyDelete