Advertising & Blogs

While many well-written blogs still have no ads on their sites, some bloggers have been able to generate income from their writing. Dooce is a blog written by Heather B. Armstrong, a web developer-turned-stay-at-home-mom in Utah. The blog features text ads by Google and a single graphic ad that rotates between different advertisers like Verizon, Wal-Mart and the state of Maryland.

Closer inspection reveals that the graphic ads were placed by an organization called Federated Media. I think this is the company that Dr. Borrell talked about in class. Click through to FM's site and you can browse through a whole stable of blogs (including Digg and Boing Boing) on all kinds of topics, along with brief pitches about their online popularity.

Really good writing and humor seem to be two of the keys to attracting readers - and then advertisers - to a personal blog, but even with these assets it's not easy. Bloggie winner Tokyo Girl Down Under and No Impact Man (who has book and movie deals) sport no ads on their popular sites.

Blogs that are cooperatively written by a group tend to have a lot more ads, which I think is directly tied to their ability to generate a lot of quality content around a particular interest or lifestyle. Treehugger is an informational blog about environmental sustainability that was started by an individual, but has added contributors (and advertising) as it has grown in popularity. Or has it grown in popularity as it has added contributors (and advertising)?