The Simple Dollar » Why I’ve Decided To Abandon (Virtually All) Ads On The Simple Dollar

Trent, over at The Simple Dollar has taken an extremely bold step for a blogger; He’s discontinued  AdSense on his web site. For a blogger, that’s akin to taking a chainsaw to an extremity. And for Trent and TSD, probably moreso than most run-of-the-mill blogs.

AdSense – is an ad serving program run by Google. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image and, more recently, video advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis.

From Wikipedia – AdSense

With a subscriber base of over 21,000 he’s got quite a bit of remaining revenue and clickthroughs to support his writing, but still it’s been estimated in various discussion forums I troll around in that he’s losing on the range of $3000/month in ad revenue.

That’s no small number, considering that the median U.S. income is $48,201.00 that’s about 3/4 the income of your normal Joe Average. If I say nothing more, I’ve gotta admit, he’s got a big ‘ole pair made of pure brass, if nothing else.

Must be Nice

Speaking as a relatively new and somewhat obscure blogger in the Personal Finance world (and with just a hint of jealousy) what Trent’s doing has really kicked off a whole flurry of sparks at all levels; his readers, his blogging peers (as few as there are) and the rest of us PF wannabees and hopefuls. Opinions range from "Are you Crazy?!??" to "You’re Crazy, but I respect that kind of Crazy."

Trent has the opportunity to back up his morals with action. Unfortunately, a lot of the second and third-stringers don’t have that same opportunity. Blogs aren’t the moneymakers that everyone hopes and on an hourly basis, you can make more money throwing pizzas than writing blogs. But once in awhile something magical happens and you get a blog like TSD that appeals to the masses.

Now by no means am I attributing it to luck. Trent writes like his life depends on it, and the stuff he writes strikes a chord in people; common feelings, common events, whatever, people respond and have a (temporary) feeling of connecting with the wider world. That’s really the payoff of blogging, and Trent’s already got that in spades.

Here, but no Farther

Trent’s stand is that the ads from AdSense are marketing products that go against the very spirit of his web site; payday loans, credit card offers, and other financially risky or questionable products. So he’s drawn a ‘line in the sand’ and made his stand.

Advertising is a tricky beast, and as small as my little blog is, I’ve already had to turn down a payday loan advertisement offer. It hurt, since I’m not making $6-7k/month like TSD and since my little , but I felt it was the right thing to do. My own micro ‘line in the sand’ didn’t get crossed.

But if the blog were my only source of income, as Trent’s is now that he’s gone ‘pro’, I might think twice about such a significant decrease. See, it’s not just about me, I have family to support too. When times get tough, your morals get a little slippery if you see your child going hungry. Priorities change as options decrease. I’m pretty sure that there’s not a woman out there that thought "Gee, I want to be a prostitute when I grow up!" Life doesn’t always turn out how you want it to.

Anyway, I support Trent (Hey Trent! I support you!) on taking a stand, but I think everyone will understand if things go back to the status quo. Remember, AdSense advertises things that are HELPFUL to the frugal-minded too.

Photo by Simone Hudson