Honor Without Profit

Effective this past Saturday, I have disabled ad functions on this blog. The ads placed by Google AdSense were too clunky and cumbersome, they put off some potential readers, and they did not pay anywhere near enough to make it worth my while. Buh-bye, AdSense. I retain the $2-a-month patronage option through Patreon, and my tip jar remains open.

Ads didn't work here. Not just in the sense of failing to generate income, but in the way the ads cluttered the look of the site, made it look less attractive, even ugly. I would be perfectly willing to sell out if someone were buyin', and I'd put up with AdSense if the revenue were rolling in. It is not. I've hit Google's minimum accrued threshold for payment precisely once since I started accepting ads in late 2016, and I'm nowhere near the threshold for a second payment. And while I didn't get a lot of complaints about the ads, I agreed with them. It was an easy decision.

When you create something, even something as mundane as a daily blog, I think it's natural to want people to notice, and I think it's natural to want some kind of reward for it. Human nature. The potential treat isn't necessarily the main reason we create, but let's not kid ourselves that it's not a factor. 

That said, the blog is kind of its own reward, at least in part. It keeps me writing; after giving up freelancing in 2006, I had all but abandoned regular writing until I started this Boppin' thing in January of 2016. Writing's led to more writing, and even back to some paid gigs writing fiction and writing a book. 

The ads were a distraction. I realize that now. They won't be missed. Honor without profit. Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) bops on.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.

Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available for preorder, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!!

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.