Using Adsense but don't want people to think I am just "using" Adsense

I am working on a project I am very passionate about. It is a support community. I am toying with using the Adsense but I don't want people to think I am just doing the site for that reason. However I do realize it would possibly cover my expenses and time spent. What do you suggest?

 

Try to minimize number of ad units and I think specially that you might to use only smaller ad units.

 

To be honest, if you explain to your members that you need the help with expenses etc I don't see why they would object (esp as they are not the ones paying for the hosting etc, right?). I wouldn't make the ads glary and too obvious but I honestly think people need to accept that for a free service the web site owner needs to recoup costs.

I have seen sites where some users, who have acess to all kinds of support and information, then whine about ads (even if tastefully incorporated). I don't have much time for people who acept all the freebies and then object to site owners recouping costs.

If you want you could place an anouncement about why you have the ads there, but that might break google's TOS as it could be interpreted that you're asking people to click to support your sites.

 

Fantastic way to approach webmastering, bjraines. Here are some suggestions I've found that works:

Less is definitely more. And don't worry if a couple of users bitch and moan about ads. After running a half dozen forums, it never fails that half dozen or so will bitch and moan about something -- everything. This is actually a good thing; it means they are devoted enough to the forum that they feel as if they have a stake in it, and they will never leave.

P.S. You should never, ever, ever mention your ads anywhere on your site, in your forum postings, etc. If a member asks about them in open forum, you should delete their thread immediately and PM them never to ask again -- without telling them any specifics about the ads. Unless you are running a site about webmastering and advertising (i.e. like DP), there is no reason for you to mention your Adsense ads other than to provide an incentive for visitors to click, which is how Google sees it.

 

I had a site that was somewhat similar to yours and I felt much like you do now. I added Adsense to a few pages in a very subtle way, not wanting to offend my visitors. However, I realized I was probably missing a big revenue opportunity (I was right) and added more pages, then finally nearly every page on the site, including some in a subscription area of the site. Only one person has ever mentioned it, much less complained.

I think most web users now are comfortable with Google ads and are not offended or put off by them. The ads are everywhere.

 

I wouldn't worry about it to much. As long as you don't throw them everywhere on every page and it's not showing to any subscription based users if you have any.

 

I guess I compromised. I have both articles & forums. I didn't want to inflict ads on my regulars (eh Sara?)...but did feel it was time to bring some revenue to the site, purely with the intention of covering hosting fees (but they cover more than that...which is great). Anyway, I have a lot of articles on my site & the ads in the header, to the left & at the bottom of them. I don't feel they are intrusive, they are blended nicely but not in your face IFKWIM. The ads on the forums are displayed to guests, but once you join you can select an ad free skin. So, my regulars who really only read the forums don't see the ads, but people reading the articles do.

I'd be lying if I said I don't enjoy the revenue the ads bring, but I do also think that they compliment the articles. On my page about cat enclosures (I run a cat site...obviously) there are ads for cat enclosures. These ads are beneficial to my visitors.

One site which really irks me is about.com. The pages are absolutely full of ads & it's not a pleasant experience visiting the site. In fact if I accidentally end up there I immediately leave as it's just too much. I think if the ads are blended nicely & not too much in your face then it's no big deal.

So far I've had one person complain about the ads, and my regulars immediately jumped on her for complaining. The way I look at it is that I put a lot of work into the site, many hours a day...and therefore a small monetary reward for that hard work is justified.

 

do you think people would take kindly to me making is ad revenue sharing?

 

I'm really not a big fan of ad revenue sharing (which is why I haven't joined DP's), because there just isn't any real ground rules set up for it. Yes, Google has okayed all the rev sharing that's been offered them, but you know, I'm still uneasy about so many publishers trying to make money off one site...

 

I'm really not a big fan of ad revenue sharing (which is why I haven't joined DP's), because there just isn't any real ground rules set up for it. Yes, Google has okayed all the rev sharing that's been offered them, but you know, I'm still uneasy about so many publishers trying to make money off one site...

Noted . good point

 

Good and informative post .. thanks Jack!

 

jackburton2006,

yeah i am uneasy about it also. especially if google changed their mind about it. i am not sure which way to go with it. doesn't seem to be awfully popular outside of some forums.

 

The thing that I'm most concern about is that so many newcomers are entering the Adsense world with million dollars floating in their eyes. They have this, "Gimme gimme" mentality, and if you let one of them into your rev sharing, you never know what they'll do, and it might get you and everyone else in the sharing banned as well. Shawn has probably put in redundancies against this, but he's like a master programmer or whatnot, so he's probably assured that nothing can go wrong. For the rest of us mere mortals, well, I guess it depends on your confidence in your programming abilities...