Paying for YouWorkForThem’s Book Archive
January 11th, 2010
You Work For Them just announced their new Book Archive, a compendium of all the books they used to sell. Beyond it being a great resource for future indulgences, I am doubly interested by YWFT’s intentions to profit off the site. Each section page has a grid-breaking ad for their stock site, while each item page features not only an Amazon Associate referral link to buy the book, but an AdSense ad at the bottom.
The reason this is of interest to me is that there are direct parallels with my own Book Cover Archive, wherein we feature advertising from Fusion Ads on every page, and each cover has an optional link to Amazon which includes our referral code, (note that we’ve made about $100 off Amazon since the site’s launch a year ago, haha. I’d tell you how much we make off Fusion but I think that would piss them off.)
The big question for me is audience perception. The Book Cover Archive, and to a lesser degree YWFT’s Book Archive, is meant as a charitable resource. It is a collection of other people’s work meant to assist and inform other designers, so I’ve always felt odd about trying to profit off it. Yes I spend a fair amount of time “curating” the site (mostly saying “no”), and yes a good deal of time went into building it in the first place, but it is ultimately a showcase of the work of my betters, through which I am now making a small stipend.
Does the advertising taint the experience?
Is the advertising understandable?
This question has direct connotations for my new, unannounced service, as well. (Between the Cover Archive, Svpply, and this new one, I seem to enjoy working with other people’s stuff.)
So when confronted with the other Archive this morning, it was refreshing to note that while I was a bit put off by the ads, I didn’t blame them. It seemed like a logical decision to me. It is a valuable resource and only in the digital Land of the Free would we expect that to be completely non-funded. Even libraries are supported through our tax dollars.
If the three or four of you who actually read my blog catch this post, what are your thoughts on this? How do you feel about people making money off the display of other people’s work online? We all know hosting and bandwidth are a non-cost (up to a certain point), so does it rub you the wrong way?
January 11, 2010, 8:25 am
I’ve struggled with this issue myself, and in the end, I decided that I prefer my design content ad free. It’s a bit of a conundrum as it takes a long time to put together projects like Thinking for a Living, Svpply, Book Cover Archive or YWFT’s Book Archive. Still, I think in the end, I prefer a separation of church and state so to speak. In our personal projects it feels like the one place you can keep things clean. With that said, t’s my intention to keep the content pure and figure out new ways to make money of this type of project. Easier said than done.
I will say that it’s less of an issue to me when it’s promoting projects by the same person (i.e. the YWFT example — or if the Book Cover Archive pimped Svpply).
January 11, 2010, 8:31 am
Duane, you said “it’s my intention to keep the content pure and figure out new ways to make money of this type of project.” If you intend to make money off it then in what sense is it kept “pure”? Or rather, what’s worse about a placed ad than whatever alternative means you have in mind?
Also, for what it’s worth, Svpply definitely does not fall into this category. It is 100% capitalistic hedonism. Haha. I would already have ads placed all over it if it wouldn’t completely ruin the user’s experience and brand impression.
January 11, 2010, 10:59 am
I’ve been wondering about ads on The Casual Optimist for a while.
I’ve not done it because for two reasons:
1) if the ads aren’t a good fit (and there seems to be no way to guarantee they would be) then they’d be obtrusive to my readers and ME!
and
2) my traffic probably doesn’t make it worthwhile!
If my traffic shot through the roof (ha!) and someone could do a decent job of curating the ads (hello Coudal Partners/The Deck) then I would think about it more seriously. I mean I love publishing a blog, but it would be nice to able to nice to get some financial support for it…
Anyway, I don’t really notice the ads on the BCA. They’re not intrusive (I find the ones on Facebook more irritating) but I think I just blank them out because they’re not that interesting/relevant to me (sorry Fusion) which takes us back to the whole good fit/appropriateness thing…
I do use affiliate links for books mentioned on the site because I want to link to additional information and encourage people to buy/read books. The affiliate side of it is unobtrusive (at least in my opinion and no one has complained). But I don’t use Amazon for a variety of very complicated reasons, and I would love to see the BCA start offering IndieBound links (in addition to Amazon) to give people an alternative.
Anyway, I don’t know what these means for svpply or Secret Unannounced Project X other than I think ads are OK if you’re up front about it (ie no product endorsements masquerading as reviews, or horrid pop-ups, blind links etc) and the ads are actually a good fit with the site’s content…
Not sure that helps does it?
January 11, 2010, 11:35 am
PS: Talking Points Memo is a pretty egregious example of ads that don’t match content:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
But it’s not like they’re the only guilty party.
Just don’t do that OK?
January 11, 2010, 12:15 pm
Don’t overthink it. If the ads are in the way, they aren’t right for the site. If they are styled and relevant no reasonable visitor should have complaint.
Personally, I want you to support your work somehow because I want you to continue producing it. In that sense, as a visitor I prefer ads on your sites.
January 11, 2010, 5:10 pm
I quit my job to blog full time, so advertising was a must for me. Since I can concentrate 300% more on my blog that means that the content and ideas are a lot better. Advertising is a necessary evil and anyone who tries to tell you differently hasn’t tried to live off of a blog.
January 15, 2010, 3:58 pm
I think it all depends on where the value of the website lies. If it other’s people content, I don’t think it’s right to make money of it. But in your case it’s not the content that holds the value, but your curatorship and the platform you have built.
I’m not sure about the legal side of things (are book covers in the public domain?), but aside from that I’d say you have every right to make a profit of the website.
If banners are the right choice for this is another question altogether. If you DO choose to place banners on the site these should be curated as well to fit with the rest of the website.
If you still feel bad making a profit from the site I suggest donating a part of your revenue to CRI like you do with visitor’s donations. This way every time you earn something from BCA you know CRI will have earned something as well.
February 11, 2010, 3:45 am
I think the Book Cover Archive is an awesome piece of design & a great resource. I have no problem at all with the necessity of the economy underpinning such sites. I would want you to make a bit of money & at the end of the day the book covers are designed to stimulate you to notice them & purchase them. I have never felt the advertising on the site to be detrimental or distracting. I look forward to seeing what you unannounced project is!