Tip the Writer!
I love following Seth Godin’s blog, unlike his books, you never know where his daily posts will take you. In today’s post he suggests you click on banner ads as a way of “tipping the writer” If you liked their content, click a banner ad on their site.
If every time you read a blog post or bit of online content you enjoyed you clicked on an ad to say thanks, the economics of the web would change immediately. You don’t have to buy anything (though it’s fine if you do). You just have to honor the writer by giving them a click.
While the concept is intriguing -( I would always click the ads on Doug Karr’s site for example cause he has great and useful content) is it fair to the advertiser? Is this a good use of their advertising dollars? They will get more exposure, but will it be the right kind?
The answer is yes, if they really think about where they put their banner ads. The challenge, if this trend takes hold is for advertisers to be selective, choosing well written, but more importantly RELEVANT sites.
Thanks Lorraine! Of course, if I ever mentioned this, it would be a violation of terms with the advertisers. As such, officially, I do not support this!
However, I do hope people keep talking about it!
Click, Click, Click, – Ok so you have enough tips as a result of my last visit to buy the sugar to go in your coffee, but that will be our secret!
Seth Godin is nothing if not controversial. He must have received a lot of email this morning, to warrant a second post on the topic.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/08/beating-the-sta.html
Seth Godin was blasted in multiple blogs the day this was submitted. Many people started talking about click fraud.
He did offer a clarification of his comments later in the day.
What would the internet be without a little controversy?
The controversy continues Steven Hodsen – http://www.winextra.com/2008/08/26/treating-ads-like-tip-jars-is-wrong/ clearly does not agree with Seth Godin’s suggestion.