No doubt, our faithful readers have noticed that three days ago, ads started appearing on Fellowship of the Minds (FOTM). They are called WordAds. Allow me to explain.
FOTM‘s server, WordPress (WP), offers something called WordAds to blogs that have achieved a certain minimum of traffic. What that number is, we don’t know. If a WordPress blog agrees, WP would insert ads into the blog, a portion of the revenue from those ads would go to the blog.
The ads I’ve agreed to are two for each post: a static ad and a video ad placed at the bottom of the post.
So far, the ads I’ve seen aren’t offensive. They are ads for national brands, e.g., LifeLock, Macy’s, Ford, a movie or documentary. The coolest one I’ve seen is a video ad for Northrop Grumman, the U.S. aerospace & defense technology company. Watching that ad is a treat! A reader can X out the video ad (just click X in the upper right corner of the video), but not the static ad. You can also simply turn down volume of your computer, tablet, or smart phone, thereby muting the video.
I’m not a fan of ads, but I honestly don’t find the ads on FOTM offensive, nor are they as obtrusive and cluttered as what I see on other blogs and websites. Out of respect to them, I’m not naming names, but you all know which ones. They are legion. LOL
To be honest with you, I’m fascinated by the fact that both WordPress and the businesses that place their ads are willing to take on FOTM, a conservative “right-wing” Christian blog.
After thinking long and hard about this, here are my reasons for hosting WordAds:
- Revenue ($): I have no idea how much ad revenue FOTM will get; I’ll have an idea after the first 45 days. I don’t expect a lot, but even $10 a month is still more than zero. For myself, I hope to recoup the expenses that I incur every year for FOTM:
- $99 a year to WordPress for our own domain name, fellowshipoftheminds.com, extra storage space, etc.
- About $100 a year for membership in People Search engines and genealogy sites, which help me in my investigative research into, for example, Sandy Hook and the crew members of Space Shuttle Challenger.
- About $100 a year in donation to sites that I/we frequently use for information, e.g., Wikipedia, Judicial Watch, Campus Reform.
- Some extra dollars in financial compensation for FOTM‘s writers, who have been giving you their time, energy, and talent for years for zero pay.
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There is nothing wrong with hosting ads on FOTM, as long as the ads are not offensive or contrary to our values. It is called capitalism. I promise you that:
- Two ads per post will be the maximum.
- We won’t “sell our souls” by changing our values and what we write to please advertisers. If an advertiser or WordPress objects to our content, FOTM will quit WordAds.
For years, our loyal readers have been getting FOTM for free. This hasn’t changed; nor are you being asked to donate, as some blogs do. The only difference is that now there’ll be 1 or 2 ads at the end of a post. The static ad is small; you can X out the video ad or just turn down the volume.
So, how about it? Is this new arrangement okay with y’all?
On behalf of the FOTM writing team, thank you for reading our posts and for your intelligent, provocative, and often funny comments.
~Eowyn
