Update to our January post: Super blogger Robert Scoble, who has argued that having advertisements on blogs destroys trust, added advertisements to his blog today along with a redesign. At least it’s clear now who scratches Scoble’s back – Seagate.
One thing I do like – the FriendFeed widget that shows his activity stream and comments from readers.
Ouch!
Now he can eat his words all the way to the bank…
Well played.
Wikipedia is next…
BTW – much better site design for his new blog. That old site looked like something my Grandma would build… Geeks aren’t always designers. And that’s doubly so for “older” (post 20’s) geeks. Maybe he finally hired a real designer?
Nothin wrong with making money.
Who sees online ads anyway?
-Erik
So what we can learn from this is, “Never Trust a Blogger”.
It wouldn’t be so bad if he had not gone on record regarding ads in the past. Ads are everywhere, just get an ad blocker if it’s too much.
“Nothin wrong with making money.”
I don’t think that was Arrington’s point.
Do people still read that guy? At a $100 CPM, maybe he’ll make a $100.
http://friendfeed.com/embed
why are people acting like robert scoble somehow had this made for him…. this has been around people.
@11. I don’t read Scoble any more. Do you?
at leas their site doesn’t look like ads threw up all over it like techcrunch. you guys just stick shit anywhere.
at leas their site doesn’t look like ads threw up all over it like techcrunch. you guys just stick em anywhere.
Hello, Federated Media – I am looking for that site that had the Cheesecake Factory Coupons on it – right, I want to will trade 10K imps on Scoble for 5K imps on TC – yes – oh, I see – yes – ok, then I will call Google directly – no, no, thank you – bye
I think TechCrunch’s ads are fine.
With ads you have to put them between important text….. otherwise no one will see them!
Man, what an improvement. Nice looking blog … Scoble should be proud. And the ONE advertiser on his site is no big woop. Hats off to him and best wishes. Mother of pearl, we all say things and change our minds later.
#18: thanks for the support. I think having ads does pollute some thinking. I still do. Anyone who takes money from someone else and says they aren’t affected by that relationship is probably lying. But, on the other hand, taking that money lets me go around the world and find interesting new companies and people to video.
I like the redesign. Happy to see that Scoble is finally monetizing his blog : )
a
I believe that at his age we would be wise enough to know that what
goes around comes around.
But there is a purpose and it needs a motive.
This is coming from a guy who gauged his readers asking $2500 a ticket to view new company demos at TC40. Some didn’t even have a place to sit.
Two thumbs up for the widget – full hand down for the redesign
it’s his right to make some cash… surely there’s nothing wrong with a guy making money right?
One ad isn’t bad, and I think Scoble should get paid for his hard work. It is a lot better than the 10+ ads on the right hand side of this page. It is almost like the right side of this page is sadly blinking for attention. Please look at me, please.
word on the street is, he has a thing for under aged girls. you didn’t hear it from me
Mike – how do you hang out with fellow bloggers after making postings like this?
Jesus: I also like kissing guys. There’s photos of that out there too.
Jack: we’re driving to the movie theater together tonight. Maybe Jesus will start saying I like Mike.
I never click on the ads.
Mike, did you read Scoble’s article before linking to it and saying “Robert Scoble, who has argued that having advertisements on blogs destroys trust”?
Scoble wasn’t arguing that… At its worst, his entry reads:
It’s a little screwy that he’s using doubleclick – no doubt – but his argument wasn’t of the form that he’d avoid using ads because of trust. His argument was that being in it only for the money is a mistake.
Sol Young
http://solyoung.com
http://twitter.com/sol
The concept of “selling out” is only meaningful for teenagers angry that their favorite bands are getting popular. The rest of the adult population should get over it, it’s called taking care of your shit at that age.
#28
It’s not personal, it’s business. Go to the mattresses. Maunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday … leave the gun, take the Mike and Ikes tonight.
Is it even possible for someone to sell-out on purpose? The historical sense of sellout that I’m familiar with says that selling out is done contrary to the sellout’s existing goals. “Sellout’s” antonym would be “par for the course,” which makes much more sense here. That he’s a late bloomer to the blog ads makes no difference.
The cycle from preacher to convert to alleged hypocrite to acceptance has accelerated like everything else. Bottom line: if you can monetize, then as long as you disclose your conflicts, good for you!
LEAVE SCOBLE ALONE! (quick, someone make a video)
http://www.penny-arcade.com/ has the best advertising model I’ve seen on a regularly updated website (it is blog-ish). They only advertise games that they personally think are worthwhile, and there have been some high-profile instances where they flatly turned down money from large game companies because they found the games mediocre and couldn’t in good conscience recommend them to their fans.
I guess the point is that as a blogger, ads are not a bad thing if you are clear up front that the products or services being advertised are truly recommended by you. This model is great for advertisers as well, since the bond of trust formed (and the personal recommendation from someone who, being regularly watched, is in a sense a celebrity) should theoretically lead to higher click-through.
Sell out? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
If you think taking ads is a bad thing, why are you reading TechCrunch?
Ads? Are you all surfing with Internet Explorer 5 or something?
People who get pissed about others selling out are the one that don’t have to worry about money. I mean I know Scoble puts in more hours than most people do at their jobs – what is he supposed to do? accept donations?
I worry more about people who think Twitter is a replacement for blogging. It’s obvious Robert burned out of blogging a while back – the blog is a shadow of its former self. But who can make sense or did deep in Twitter?
1) “Being in it for the money” and “Making money while you’re doing it” are really two different things. The first one gives up when not making money, the second doesn’t.
2) Scoble has had a relationship with Seagate for a while. I think all his videos are “brought to you by Seagate”.
3) And people can change their minds about things.
He just really likes that picture of himself…that’s all I’m sayin’.
I wonder what/who he was pointing to?
one of the funniest tweets I’ve seen in a while http://twitter....tuses/800803580
I find it strange that he uses DoubleClick to manage the ONE static ad on the site! haha
Maybe it’s just how I read what Michael says, but I read that in an incredibly tongue-in-cheek manner. (As in, he’s joking, folks)
Or, maybe everyone completely gets the joke and is continuing the joke by adding to it and playing along! I’ve been had!
@Scoble
you should have tooken that photo w/o a shirt
the incorporation of the segate logo into the masthead is a classy touch.
I would suspect that Scoble isn’t actually earning direct revenue from this and it is more likely part of an overall advertising package that was offered to Seagate as part of their sponsorship deal with Fast Company TV.