Monday
Aug262013
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Ads
Aug 26, 2013 Blogs OK, I did it. Put ads on the site. No, I don't like it either, but the effort I put into it needs to pay, so this is the way it will have to be. (If anyone wants to offer me large sums of money to take the ads off again, I'm all ears!)
For me, it looks OK in Firefox and IE10. If anyone has problems let me know in the comments here, telling me which browser and version you are using.
Reader Comments (78)
Any chance you could move them to the side a bit, they are very in your face for me.
Go for it Bish - I'm sure you won't regret it.
I can't actually see any ads though - I'm on Firefox - anybody else not seeing them?
Your readers recognise the value of your Blog, and that in the absence of Registered Charity status, costs need to be met.
Good luck.
Part of life. We have to accept the rough with the smooth. I hope it works out for you... and the rest of us.
Ads
You have to hate them alot not to like them a little. Bit like some people.
I don't see ads because my proxy firewall filters every ad agency on the planet that I'm aware of. I also don't see anything related to google. So I'll hit the tip jar instead.
I guess Big Oil isn't coming up with the goods, then :D
Regular visitors using AdBlock Plus et.al. might consider disabling it for this site. Seems like a small price to pay for the value received.
Go for it. Place the ads so revenue is maximised. You are wrth it and due it.
I had you on Compatibility view in IE10 and at the change things went queer so I took it off; fine now.
IE 8.0 (Windows 7, if that matters).
No ads visible, besides the ones for your publications which have been there for quite a while. Also, the top-right sidebar begins in mid-twit, with the header and beginning of the first Tweet truncated. [Currently: top of right sidebar is the middle of the line: "but exceptional".] Perhaps the ads were above those?
Also, the font isn't great on the top navigation bar ("Blog", "Cartoons by Josh", &c). Letters are slightly broken when viewed at 100% magnification. Perhaps a larger size, or a different font?
Update -- looks fine in Firefox 23.0.1. Ads visible, "Twitter" headline too.
OK - got 'em now after disabling Adblock,
We actually use Pruhealth too - they're the only company I found that accept all pre-existing medical issues after a 2 year moratorium ( end of commercial ;-)
It must be my age; the contextual advertising is giving me ads for Shed World.
Needs some space between the top navigation bar and the top banner ad.
They are truly objectionable on Chrome on an Android tablet.
I will probably end up turning on ad blocking for this site...
Hope you have more luck with ad words than I did. It worked fine for a while, and made some money, then they decided that one or other of their rules had been violated. Unfortunately, they won't tell you what, and won't tell you how to fix the problem, so you guess at really edge interpretations of the rules that maybe a pedant could consider infringement, reply asking if this is the case, and if you do x, y and z, will this fix the problem? They reply telling you tat they can't tell you what the problem is, or how to fix it, but your account is now suspended forever, and there is no appeal process.
I Googler around, and found tat mine was a far from unique case.
"large sums of money"
Is that the imaginary "large sums of money" the "oil companies" paid to deniers, or are you talking real money?
:)
For me, Google Chrome has the ads actually obscuring the bottom of the text on the menu bar.
I was offered some "free" solar panels, which made me chuckle. The address I am visiting already has some installed so perhaps that's the reason why.
Most of them are not too intrusive, but, briefly, one was of the repeated-flashes type. I understand that certain frequencies are actually illegal and can have serious consequences for epileptics. If I see it again I'll try and take the name.
Full width Walmart ad OK.
A Canadian hardware wholesaler ad is blocking half the "Internet Explorer can not properly display...."? globe with a red X symbol message. Does that mean the earth is doomed?
IE Version 10.0.9200.16660.........is it the "666" in the version # perhaps???
I am a subscriber, but I can live with the ads.
Can't you get Shell or Exxon to sponsor the blog? what a shame of big oil money.
In Safari the top banner covers half the navigation bar, it would be good to lower it a bit.
You may consider making it ads-free for subscribers, even raising the subscription a bit.
IE9
Cant see any ads. New banner tab bar at top. Tweets at top right, truncated at top.
I can understand that you need to make a few quid for all of the effort you put into the site, and in many ways, I support your decision. However, I feel saddened that a banner ad on my phone earlier advertises solar energy!
Solar energy is one of the rip-offs that you and like minded blogs have slated for years, and I am sorry but I will be reluctant to click on a daily basis as I have for some years now if there is a chance that I will be visually assaulted by tripe.
What next, a banner advertising 'The Hockey Stick and The Climate Wars'?
Same as Michael Hart 7:45pm using Chrome. I don't mind the ads but when they are actually obscuring the site's menu bar it is over-intrusive.
Opera version 12.16 - the only ad I can see is the one at the bottom of the first article. I think I've got some sort of ad blocking active.
Bish,
no worries!
You deserve a lot more (like oodles of Big Oil cash - in your dreams). Anything to keep up the good work!
Regards,
Ed.
Using Chrome the ad obscures the title bar by a few pixels. The ad needs to be moved down a bit. margin-top in the common.css style sheet for #azk28594 should be set to -30px or so rather than the -50 it current is if that helps.
You might see about getting an ad from Ad-block Plus. :) Had you not mentioned them, I would never have known about them. Still, Big Oil money would be appropriate, since the Left already knows we are in their pocket, and nothing will change that belief.
Oh, and no problems with the ads from me. I'm always surprised when major blogs don't use advertising to keep them going. It's OK for personal/hobby ones but when they become major well known sites then its only right to take advantage of the income from ads to keep them as major well known sites because it takes a HUGE amount of effort to keep them going. Many will just ignore the adverts and ignore any complains about the content of the adverts as that is always based on the reader not the site.
OMG! I just saw this thing that said "Pure 3.0 Total Security"! I want that! It has to be way better than all those other types of security that are less than 3.0. I will buy that product. Who wouldn't be seduced by a small square on a blog post?
P.S. Am I the only one who actively avoids products that he's seen advertised?
Your Grace,
Keep the advertising and take the money.
I'm using Firefox 23.0.1 together with Ad-Blocker.
You get the money and I don't get the adverts.
Result!
AdBlock here but no ads, I do think solar panels would be a bit OTT if I could see them ^.^
Suggestions from my own experience in adding ad words to a website:
You already have a functional banner - header. Adding the ad banner there confuses things. I ended up moving mine to a slot at the end of the article. It made no perceptible difference to the click rate. Its also too close to the second ad, viewers get two ads on the screen at the same time - annoying.
The second ad needs to float to the left or right of the screen. As it is it seems to be right aligned, but that is right of the article column. There is still your own column on the right. The effect looks messy. Move it left, or do what I did, and use a smaller ad in the right-hand column.
The current look is as if the ads were just slapped on. Try to integrate them better. Also, church the option to avoid flashing/animated ads.
Using Chromium on Ubuntu. Can't see any ads at all! However I agree with what seems to be the majority here - go for the ads, this is an excellent site and you have to eat just like the rest of us. Thanks for all you do.
Whoops, sorry! Can now see an advert for Photobooks - £10 off. Just the job. I shall go and make up my own Wind Turbine Photo Annual.
These ads are all for green investment funds & "single ladies in your area"
- what's that you say about Google targeting the ads from tracking your past viewing habits ?
let me hand this laptop back to @Foxgoose now.
Serious maybe top banner ads would look unprofessional to visitors from outside. Side banner ads would be better
AdBlock working perfectly in Firefox and Chrome, and IOS Safari seems to kill them too. Can I point people at the tip jar and the subscription button?
I am not getting any adverts here in Gozo. I would not mind if I did. Hopefully I will still not get any until Big Oil comes through with their cheques for you.
BTW any particular link I should click on if I ever see one? I guess I could generate a shekel or two for the site...
They [ads] are a nuisance but then again I don't really see them.
Your blog Andrew, it will not detract for me, WUWT did it yonks ago and it made no difference whatsoever.
Just keep up the good comment, articles and input.
:-)!
Aaarh, feels like the end of an Era, but is necessary.
Hope that this provides the required revenue, change which always happens, youngsters take note, is not restricted to climate and should be welcomed for the benefits that opportunities present.
Looks good in Firefox, even refreshing in a 'going mainstream' sort of way. There may be an expectation to up the anti now in the way that Anthony did but I wouldn't want to pre-empt any plans!
No ads and about 1 second after each page loads a bunch of what looks like twitter feed entries appears above the Tip Jar on the RHS sidebar and scrolls up off the top of the page. The top tweet(?) of the 3 which are visible is cut off at the very top of the page so that I can only see the bottom half of one line of text. Which is odd. 'Compatibility view' doesn't make any difference.
I'm running IE 9 in Vista Home Premium (SP2): IE9 version is 9.0.8112.16421 with all updates.
Happy with ads, whatever needs to be done should be done. Fighting multiple 800 lb gorillas is a thankless task.
Saw the ads earlier. Good idea. I clicked on a couple today and will try to click on a couple each day when I read.
Just to point out to others the bish will get a few pence every time you click on one. Nothing if you don't. So why not give some of the advertisers money (especially if its solar panels etc) to the bish for his good work. Costs you a few seconds and wastes some of their money. Wins all round!
After a bit of reflection and reading the comments, I think that in Google Chrome at least, the banner ad at the top distracts too much from your front page.
I have no problem with reasonable advertising, and you deserve every penny you can get, but as PJP says above, the advert looks slapped-on and unprofessional as it stands.
Fine for me.
Took a few minutes to realise where the nav buttons had gone - I glanced over them as part of the top ad - but will be OK as I get used to the new layout.
No problem. I would only ask that you put them at the end of the post and before the comments. Some people break their posts with ads and that is simply too much.
Using Iron. What I notice is that the comments don't fit exactly on screen as they used to (had adjusted with mouse wheel), so get a similar size (altho smaller), I lose a couple of letters on the longest lines as well as the name of the commenter unless I put left margin on first letter on each page. A little disappointed as now harder to read without contacts in.
Ads don't bother me except one about half hr ago scared me, warned me about my computer and wanted me to click.
The ads are OK if they make this great little site sustainable.
And I get a new one at the top whenever I refresh the view - they're renewable too!
using Chrome Win7, the top ad looks fine. The ad below the first article isn't centred. I assume you are using frames and the ad is aligned to the RHS of the frame. You need to offset it by 3 or 4 cm. At one time I could have told you the HTML to it, but no longer.
The ads look perfectly fine and tasteful to me. I fully appreciate your position and cannot blame you in any way. If this helps to keep the site running, I am 100% behind it.
I got adverts for Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Yale 360, Forward to the Neolithic and Guardian Environment. I am beginning to waiver. The models are more robust than I thought. John Kerry says the arctic will be ice free by next year. A billionaire would never lie....
All fair enough, Bish. The ads work fine in Chrome and Safari on OSX.
What ads? Aside from the regular ones for books, I can't see any.