Advertising

Just recently, someone contacted me offering to arrange for advertising on my blog. Apparently, there would be links around the side or at the bottom, with links to educational organisations or something like that. And presumably I would earn some money from it.

I rejected the offer, as I am not keen to commercialise this blog. I dislike advertising, and I also feel it might compromise what I want to write.

On the other hand, I recognise that advertising is necessary in some cases. So perhaps I am being old-fashioned in refusing to accept it. Maybe some people might even find educational advertisements interesting or helpful!

It is interesting that Google accepts advertising (and makes lots and lots of money out of it), while Wikipedia refuses to accept advertising and relies on donations instead. So which model is preferable? Personally, I don't get annoyed by the 'sponsored links' in Google and also in gmail, as I mentally block them out so I don't even notice them. In contrast, the appeals for donations in Wikipedia do annoy me.

So maybe I should not worry about advertising. Maybe it would even brighten up the image of the blog!

However, this blog is a hobby for me, not a business, so I do not need to generate money from it. And I will continue to reject advertising.