Ad-Congested Blog Posts: Thumbs down!

If you use blogs as a go-to source for information, chances are you’re gonna see advertisements scattered through the content. Advertising’s usually a good thing. It helps the blogger earn an income for their effort and also increases awareness and makes an opportunity for their readers to shop for items they may find of interest, and beyond that, share the link with their friends and family who may be looking for just the thing advertised. 

It’s a win-win in every direction.

So, when might the ads turn a good experience with a reader into a bad one?​

Being a blogger, I also visit lots of blogs almost daily to learn and research, both personally and professionally. Probably my most-used place to hunt up data is via Pinterest. Pinterest is basically a search engine. After all these years, it’s still a fav used by millions, 24/7. There, you can easily find loads of blog posts with information about nearly any topic.

It’s so easy to use. You just find a Pin, click it and you’ll be whisked away to the blog it’s connected with, housing the information reflected in the Pin. 

The trouble starts when you arrive at the blog and realize it’s not only housing the information you seek, but also a staggering amount of advertisements. Some are so ad-congested you can’t read more than a few lines before the content is broken up by ad after ad. Worse, there are ads that pop-up, as you pass through the content. Some won’t allow you to continue until you find the option to close it, which is often cleverly (and annoyingly) camouflaged. Is this to slow your process? I think so. I’m guessing it’s an ad-designers attempt to slow your exit, hoping to change your mind on investigating the ad further.

It comes across like a used-car salesman barring the exits to the car lot, in hopes you’ll buy something before escaping.​

And so, this whole Ad-O-Rama technique of saturating blog posts with ads has begun to ruin my blog-reading more and more often. 

I’m gonna share what I’m doing about it, and perhaps it’ll give you some ideas to get ad-saturation on the decrease rather than seeing it continue to spread like a plague.

My first line of defense, depending on how I got to the blog, is to just leave without finishing the read.

Next, when using Pinterest, there’s more opportunity to make the blogger aware of the problem. Pinterest provides you with an opportunity to not only dislike the Pin but also lets you say why. Cool, huh?

The below images are screenshots from my phone. I’m not seeing these options when using a laptop with Pinterest, but it always shows when using my mobile devices.​

These shots are only examples of where to find the like or dislike options, as well as the submenu on why you may not like a post associated with a Pin.

Lately, when I come across a post that’s crammed with ads, I have indeed been using the dislike option coupled with the “Low quality, or too many ads” option.

It’s not just me, some of my friends and colleagues are doing the same in hopes to get this ugly habit stopped. It’s a negative that can affect a huge part of the blogging community, as well as Pinterest.​

I’m sensitive to the need for income. I have the same need, but integrity must be factored in, and ad-cramming definitely qualifies as an integrity breach. 

So, if you’re a reader, I hope you’ll stand up to this sort of disrespect from ad-zealous bloggers. If you’re a blogger, I hope you’ll always be considerate of the readers who take the time to come to your site in hopes to read your content in a quality atmosphere rather than an ad-congested one.

Integrity will keep your clients coming back and putting out a good word for you, among friends and family. It’s just good business.​

As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me in Your presence forever.
Psalm 41:12

Thank you for your visit and I pray your weekend is brimming with blessings!

Shalom​