Advertisers, where do you draw the line? | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

I started this discussion on another thread, but I think it deserves it's own thread.

Does anyone have "standards" by which they choose or better still refuse advertising income? I try not to take money from the Financial Service bottom feeder folks (i.e. Pay Day loans and Cash advance folks), however, I end up with some advertising on my site from TextLinkAds from these folks. I also continually get inquiries about advertising directly on the site from these folks, am I being to Pious about the whole thing?

I am not going to let them on my site directly, but am curious to hear other folks opinions, or their own experiences.

C8j

Jason and I talked about this before, lol.  I personally make up my mind on a case by case basis, but no group as a whole is turned down – not even Payday loans. 

I clearly mark them as ads and will give my honest opinion about payday loans when asked (I think they suck and will even tell payday loan people that), but I don't feel dirty putting them on my site.  I think most marked ads are ignored anyway, and even if they aren't, my readers (at least the commenters I am lucky enough to have) are smart people who wouldn't click on a payday loan site anyway. 

At the end of the day, if someone ever told me that the ads on my site personally convinced them to take out a 500% payday loan, I'd probably jokingly ask them if they'd like to buy some beach front property in Arizona as well.  Or maybe some cheese that the Moon is made of.  :-)

KNS Financial said:

I agree with both Jason and Crystal here. If whatever the advertiser wants me to do makes me feel "dirty" or like a hypocrite, then I won't do it. However, if I wrote an ad about the problems with PayDay loans, and an advertiser wanted to pay me $100 to link to their site when I write payday loans, I'd do it. However, if they request that I only say positive things, or list them under "resources" or something like that, then I wouldn't do it.

---

Oh so true – I will never write or publish a positive review for payday loans either.  :-)

Your site is yours.  If you feel for a second that you might not want to advertise a company then don't.  If some thing seems shady then follow your instincts.

I have a line but I haven't found it yet.  I don't have a problem with payday loans because I've used them myself and it worked out well for me.  As long as an ad isn't misleading I'll probably take it.

I go by the same method that others have mentioned. If it makes me feel dirty or goes against something i believe in, i don't do it.  Payday loans for example, i don't accept ads for them – although I'll admit they squeak through on the adsense ads sometimes.  *sigh.

Yep, it makes since to me not to let Payday and Title loan lenders advertise on a Personal Finance site.  I think that PF bloggers become f'ing hypocrites once they stoop to this level.  The moment that we let these advertisers purposely and consciously on our sites, we spit in the face of all that are meant to build up one's wealth in personal finance.  These places are the crack cocaine of the PF world! Are they a means to an end for some people? Yes. But our role should be to talk people away from these things not make them easily accessible. Utterly ridiculous! Go to Hell Payday lenders!

Post edited 12:06 pm – November 26, 2010 by Romeo

---

Yeah, but that's not the point — well, not my point anyway. :)  I wish to expand my blog beyond the natural PF readers.  If some innocent person were to stumble across my page, I'd rather they not leave it to go to a pay day loan site. I'd rather them capture a link that explains how pay day loans are to be used only as a last, desperate, agonizing resort due to thier reprehensible fees.  It all about practicing social responsibility, whether we are a big business like GE or a small "business" like most of us.  I do believe that the Yakezie motto is "selflessly helping others." :P

Romeo said:

Yeah, but that's not the point — well, not my point anyway. :)  I wish to expand my blog beyond the natural PF readers.  If some innocent person were to stumble across my page, I'd rather they not leave it to go to a pay day loan site. I'd rather them capture a link that explains how pay day loans are to be used only as a last, desperate, agonizing resort due to thier reprehensible fees.  It all about practicing social responsibility, whether we are a big business like GE or a small "business" like most of us.  I do believe that the Yakezie motto is "selflessly helping others." :P

---

"Innocent" people still have brains.  I think you are severely underestimating readers.  I also think that 99% of the people who visit my site are completely blind to almost all ads by now, so it truly doesn't matter much.  Feel free to stick to your principles of course, but I do hope you don't start judging fellow Yakezie members.  It's hard to help others if they just called you names.

Sorry, I didn't call anyone's site out by name, and don't intend to do so.  I simply gave my opinion in a forum that asks where do we draw the line on advertisings. I understand that everyone wants to make a buck from their labor, and I also understand that cognitive dissonance sets in when we are offered this buck, but only if we promote a product that we ourselves wouldn't even use. But the question remains, where do we draw the line?

 

I think where we are hitting a wall in that I interpret "Where Do You Draw The Line" as a personal question – not one to be decided for the group as a whole.  I also don't see link ads on a sidebar as promotion (especially when they are marked with the actual word "AD" right on top).  I am not putting my principles aside for a quick buck – I simply value personal responsibility and doubt that any advertising choices I make (other than outright posts condoning crappy services) have any effect at all on anybody other than me.