Feb 12, 2013 / General Advice & Pro Tips

Should You Go No-Ads?

This week on The Daily Post, we’re all about advertising. We know lots of bloggers are interested in monetizing, so we’ll explore how to know if monetizing is right for you and feature a Q&A with staffer Jon Burke, the WordPress.com AdMaster.

First off, though, let’s talk for a minute about going no-ads.

27582118WordPress.com sometimes displays ads on your blogs — it’s part of the Terms of Service you agreed to when you signed up. We try not to run them often, we limit where they appear, and we’ll never run anything explicit*, but we do run them sometimes. They help us pay the bills, ensuring that access to the awesomeness of WordPress.com remains free.

You’ll never see ads when you’re logged in to WordPress.com, and neither will any other logged-in members. That means the only readers who will see ads are non-WordPressers who happen to visit your blog while an ad is up.

If you’d like, you can purchase the No-Ads upgrade for $30/year to eliminate ads entirely (it also comes with the Pro Bundle, and is eliminated if you join the WordAds program). Is it worth it for you? Here are a few things to think about:

  • Your message. Does your blog have a particular point of view that could be undermined by the wrong ads? If you’re a staunchly vegan food blogger, you might not want an ad for artisanal bacon showing up on your site. Then again, if you’re writing a parenting blog or slice-of-life blog, an ad for spa services could be neither here nor there. You can’t opt out of particular categories of ads, so think about whether and how ads will play off your blog’s purpose.
  • Your design. If you’ve invested energy getting your blog’s layout just so — especially if you’ve also invested money in design upgrades to get even finer control — you might not want ads that you don’t control wrecking the joint. While our ads aren’t huge banners and they won’t change your layout at all, they do insert an element that you can’t customize. You might not mind this, especially given the relatively small number of readers who actually see the ads . . . but you might.
  • Your principles. Lots of us are used to the ads-for-service barter game we play on the internet — Facebook, free email accounts, free apps. We often put up with some (hopefully unobtrusive) advertising to take advantage of a useful free service. Some of us don’t mind the trade off, while others would rather just pay for the services and not deal with unwanted advertising.

None of this is meant to be an ad for no-ads. We know upgrades are an investment, so this is just meant to help you think through whether going no-ads is worth it — which it might not be.

Have you upgraded to no-ads — or did you think about it, but decide not to? What factored into your decision?

*If you do see an add you think is inappropriate or obscene, it’s probably malware. You can always contact Support, and we’ll let you know (1) if it’s a WordPress.com ad and (2) what you can do to get rid of it if it’s not. If it is a WordPress.com ad and it’s inappropriate, we’ll have a chat with our advertising partners.

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  1. After getting feedback from several visitors of my blog that ads showed up in my blog which they found a little distracting, I decided to upgrade – not only to no-ads but I chose the “bundle” with more space and fonts.

    I myself don’t like to see ads on other people’s blogs either, but I’m sure others don’t mind, because there are other free blogging platforms which advertise much more “aggressively” than WordPress 🙂

    However, I can fully understand that the great WP features have to be financed somehow. And I’d like to point out that I’m totally satisfied with it and I love blogging here 🙂

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  2. I’d considered going no ad and still may. I’d wondered if there was a way to control the ads that appear, like how to have companies pay to ad? Sadly, I don’t know much about it but will be looking into this very thing. However, WP has been awesome and I haven’t been bothered at all with ads on other blogs or I haven’t heard anyone complain about the ads on my own blog. I DO understand you have to pay, somehow and ads are the way to do it. That being said… FB is getting kind of ridiculous with very obnoxious ads that actually interfere with the games AND even just commenting.

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  3. For me, I tend to ignore ads, with the exception of an ad that has a large image of a face. I’ve recently noticed that I find faces “staring” at me distracting and I lean towards not paying attention to the ad, itself, and loathing the invasion of my personal “focusing” space. Of course, pairs of eyes are another matter entirely and quite soothing – lol ;).

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      1. I did jokingly hint at that in my comment. In all seriousness, I wondered that myself. Yet, the team was in agreement about using the eye, as it directly relates to the company’s mission. For me, the issue arises when it’s an image of an entire face, as it tends to take up a good portion of the page. Other than that particular instance, ads are a go for me. Thank you for your reply, Sandra!

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  5. My opinion is it’s good idea for people who can’t get jobs for good reasons. AD on their blogs help them earn money when needed. Also can earn as spare money. So, I don’t see why not. I think WordPress.com should change its system allow people add ADSense to their blogs to earn money when needed. Just a thought. 🙂

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    2. I think even more than that–I had to QUIT a job just so I could devote more time to building this. I think I could get just as many income streams flowing beyond what an hourly wage was earning me. This is even beyond my blog. Then again, that’s just me. I believe it does help for people who need alternative ways of making money.

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  6. I never saw the ads until I happened to stand before an audience and was showing some posts from my blog “live” – without being logged-in. I found it quite embarrassing, as the ad was very annoying. I will try the upgrade.

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  7. Finding adds on my blog while looking over a friend’s shoulder jolted a delight. “WordPress likes my blog!”…enough to advertise on it. : )

    Haven’t researched the facts at all.

    I don’t want to know the truth-unless it agrees with the vain and foolish imagination of my heart.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Is there a certain number of followers or average daily page views that a blog must reach before WordPress advertises on it? Or have I just never seen ads on my blog (or heard non-WP users mention them) because they’re so infrequent and unobtrusive?

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  10. I never noticed the ads because I’m almost always logged in, but they don’t seem too obtrusive otherwise.

    I would like the discussion over monetizing my blog – I don’t feel the need to make a living from my blog, but it would be nice to be able to cover costs of operating it – domain name, theme and space upgrades, etc. I’d be much more willing to purchase upgrades if I knew how to monetize.

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  11. My blog is not for advertisers, if I allow advertising I will be selling my soul. Why should I poor my heart out about poverty just to be have an advert selling a loan slapped next to it. I know that WordPress has to make money, I know that some people would like more money, so it would be up to the individual. I think if you sit and write seriously amount about your life, activities or family and then its trivialised by an advert for plastic surgery. Keep the adverts to the index page, but please don’t drag down beautiful writing I love to read with an advert flashing in the corner of my eye.

    As for monetizing a blog again what price can you put on your life’s journey? Sorry.

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    1. I don`t really see it as monetizing my soul. The way I view it, I am making art. Artists sell their pottery and paintings so they can make the money to keep buying materials, and my time is also an expensive material! I think it is not degrading beautiful writing as much as supporting the ability to create beautiful writing, without the stress and fear that lack of income can cause. Sure, it is only a supplemental amount, but every bit counts! (Especially when you have to pay for tuition.)

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  12. This really is some good information. Ads and monetizing don’t seem to be a bad idea at all.
    Well, for now, I can say that wordpress has been wonderful and deserves to have a means to pay for the services that have been consistently rendered free.
    I really don’t mind ads and I have never even seen one on my blog. Probably because I’m always logged on as a wordpress user.
    Keep up the good work.
    I would like to know more about monetizing and adds.

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  13. I have multiple blogs under one user name. If I paid the $30/year for no ads, would that apply to all of them? Or, is it $30 each one? Thanks, Delana

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      1. Thanks, Michelle, good to know. I suppose the WordAds option that we’ll be learning about in the coming days will also be per blog, then.

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  14. I went no ads pretty quickly after signing up. The $30/year fee is so incredibly reasonable, and this way my blog looks more polished and users aren’t distracted by ads that are completely irrelevant to the topic of my blog.

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  15. You say that I shouldn’t be seeing ads when I’m signed in, but recently I’ve been getting a pop-up banner (generally under the first image I post)…… any idea what’s happening? I assumed WP had started adding the ads.

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    2. We don’t do pop-up ads or text ads (when words in your post are highlighted) – if you see those, check for spyware/malware, particularly in any browser extensions or plugins you’ve installed.

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      1. Thanks…. the scan for spyware seems to have done the trick, though I didn’t connect the dots until I read your post. I ran the scan because things were getting a bit sluggish.

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  16. I am preparing to offer a sponsorship program for people to get their widget featured on my site for a subscription. If I go pro, I am assuming that I can saunter about ad-free. Is that the case? Because, while I am not necessarily moving to WordPress.org anytime soon, I still want to monetize my website for what it is and distinguish from being more than a blog, although that’s what WordPress.com is all about….To ad or not to ad?

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      2. Nope – if your blog is a WordPress.com blog, even if you have your own domain name, then WordPress.com is your host. To self host, you would purchase your own hosting and install the free software from WordPress.org.

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  18. I might opt to go “no ads” If I knew what the ads were for and if I knew how often they are appearing. But since just like adults and fairies, I can’t see them, so it’s difficult to make that decision. Is there a way we bloggers can have access to this information?

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  19. Wow,I was not aware of ads on our blogs, either. But just now I was visiting someone’s blog and there was an ad! Didn’t you say, that logged in users would never see an ad?

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  20. I`ve actually been thinking more along the lines or more ads than less! I need to pay for tuition somehow, and perhaps the best way to do that is to get some money from all the hours I work on my posts. I`d have to put in some upfront fees, though, and I don`t really have the capital for that yet. Maybe when I sell a thing or two on my etsy account (RedLynxStudios)

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  22. Monetization is something which is a goal in my blogging road map. At the moment i don’t think i am ready due to low view count and click through rate, once i have built an audience then it might be worth the work to keep on top of advertising as well. I have no problem with wordpress adding adds as i have seen them and they don’t seem to impede my posts.

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  23. I have long since changed to a self hosted site, but I had no idea there were ads on WordPress. I guess it pays to read the fine print. I think it should be visible if you are logged in, otherwise the user would actually have to go to another compter to view their site, if I am reading that correctly. Oh well, if the price for FREE then it is still not a bad deal. 🙂

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  26. I’ve seriously been considering an upgrade to the $99 Pro Bundle.

    MY CONCERN
    I’m worried that a new domain name will cause me to lose my 2000+ subscribers/followers. Is there something built in to the upgrade that makes the change seamless to subscribers/followers?

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  27. I’ve been considering the upgrade as well, but like the others, I have no idea what ads run on my blog, for how long, or what they look like. This is kind of important. If I see an ad there once, does that mean it’s the same one there all the time, or do they change? If I remain just a small blog do I not have to worry about it? Is there some sort of magic number and then you get advertising? Lots of questions here. Obviously, you’ve struck a chord.

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