Sunday, December 19, 2010

Quick Question

Last month, I pointed out the ads on the side of the page over there. There's the Dogstar Games ad and the Noble Knight Games ad, both for retailers who support Drake's Flames with review product. And then underneath those, there's my experiment ad, the Project Wonderful box where people put in bids and it goes to the highest bidder (you can see that right now, I make less than a nickel a day).

But I was looking at the bids that advertisers have put on that ad box, and some are pretty cool. Like there's Distant Soil, a trippy sci-fi webcomic about a psychic girl whose powers, it turns out, are because she's part alien, and then there are also hot girl aliens who are into some really twisted S&M. One of the ads is for a place that makes steampunk accessories, like hats with gyroscopes and goggles with extra lenses. My favorite is probably the Roast My Weenie guy, who makes metal doohickeys that look like a man with a huge johnson, and you stick a hot dog on his man-rod so that it doesn't burn while you cook it on the grill.

The thing is, I only have the one ad box, so you'll only ever see the top bidder. That means you don't get to see the guy who Photoshops dog heads onto sparrows, or the non sequitur brilliance of Buttersafe, or the time-sink online tactical games that say you can play for free and then beg you for money every five minutes.

So here's the quick question that turned out to not be so quick - how do you feel about another ad box? I hate going to a blog and seeing a page full of so many ads that I can't figure out what the site is about, but I also don't mind a couple cool ad boxes, especially if they're actually good for something. I'll still be monitoring and personally approving every ad that pops up there, so it's not like I'm going to be allowing flashing orange annoyance ads or work-from-home scams. Another ad box isn't going to make me more than a penny or two a day, so I don't give a flying rat's ass about the cash. I just think there might be some cool stuff out there.

Let me know what you think. I'm willing to completely bend to peer pressure.

12 comments:

Crank Crank Revolution said...

I have no problem with it.

Anonymous said...

If more ads mean you keep writing awesome reviews, then put ads all the way down the side bar (just don't stick them in the actual posts, please)

Anonymous said...

sounds like a good idea, go for it!

Anonymous said...

the potential pros seem to outweigh the cons

Matt Drake said...

For the record, the only thing that would keep me from writing reviews would be A) if I run out of games (in which case I would just dispense with the illusion that I'm writing about games, and fall back on crude humor), or B) if my fingers fall off. Because that second one would make it hard to type.

Thanks for the feedback. I've added another ad box. It should populate in a day or so. But I can't figure out how to get rid of that rather irritating message underneath the ad, so you're stuck with it for now.

Fez said...

Not a problem. Two ad boxes are fine. Now when you want to add 20, then I might complain.

Nicholas Vitek said...

I don't mind seeing an extra ad box. Then again, the ad box currently is showing my ad for 1955. As long as you don't start heading down the path of 15 ad boxes, I think you can have another. This is especially true since you vet your ads before allowing them on your site.

Nich

ninthdoc said...

The positioning of the ads does not detract from the content of your blog. Add away. :)

Anonymous said...

I say add away also, 3-5 is no worries on my end, they are on the side and when I am reading I have no clue they are there

Hendal

Sharon said...

Matt,

Whatever it takes to make you even a slight bit of coin for being so damned entertaining and helpful is fine by me. 1-3 additional ads would not be offensive to me, and as you said, sometimes you get some interesting cottage industry ads that you might not have known about otherwise.

Warren said...

I agree with Anonymous. Uh ... the first Anonymous: Keep posting your hilarious posts, and keep making your few extra cents/day to help send your kids to school.

Warren

Unknown said...

Just put more adds, I love Darkbrain, and I found out about it through you. Not only do you write hilarious (and very informative) reviews, but you have also provided me with little fun snippets through your adds.
So, have fun, and have some nice holidays!