Taking a break from most fibromyalgia symptoms, contemplating this topic: ad campaigns that help my blog make a (tiny) bit of money. The quick overview: I need the money. I just got a $90 bill for an x-ray that the doctor didn’t even look at, and of course that’s in addition to copays and insurance premiums. However, when the ads are for things I object to, am I compromising my standards?
This is what I’ve come up with so far. The ads are always labeled as such, and I’ve posted before (and am doing so now) that I have little to no control over the ads. The only control I have is in allowing or not allowing them, which means I truly only control whether or not my blog brings in any money or goes broke. Readers have given me lots of feedback that they enjoy my blog, and many of us have been able to connect and offer advice and online friendship in the face of a really crappy chronic illness. The blog itself costs money to maintain, and I like to at least make my cost to run it.
On an ad-positive note, sometimes the services advertised really are beneficial to some people, and at the very least informative. I recently saw an ad for a new type of spinal surgery, and while I’m strictly forbidden to click, I Googled the service so I could read more about it. The advancements beyond spinal fusion sounded promising, and I wouldn’t have been as informed if I hadn’t seen an ad.
In a perfect world, this site would be ad-free, and the x-ray wouldn’t cost $90 and the doctor definitely wouldn’t bill for it if he didn’t even look at it. That said, I’m still uncomfortable with some of the ad content. It’s not explicit or political (I do have the power to block that stuff), but when it’s for products that I have no experience with, it can seem a little shady. I like to believe that everybody takes responsibility for themselves and doesn’t believe everything they read/click/etc. But I feel a responsibility to readers, and I want to know what y’all think. In the meantime, the ads will continue because the fibromyalgia-related medical bills continue. Thanks for your input!