First, let me say that I see the ads too – not only on my blog but on other blogs I read. Second, if you watch TV or drive down the road, you’re seeing ads. Do you complain about those? I do not choose individual ads or how often they’re shown. Basically, I choose a package. Some days there are more ads than other days.
At least for me, blog ad revenue is down – probably due to the economy. For those of you who don’t mind admitting that you use ad blockers, when there is not enough ad revenue to pay for the blog expenses, there will be no blog from me. I don’t need the blog for my income but with us being retired, I’m not going to spend money out of our pocket to keep the blog going. Also, fairly often, I get opportunities to write for other blogs or publications but it takes as much free time as I have to keep this one going so I turn down those offers. If I do write for others, this blog will no longer exist.
I don’t like the ads any more than anyone else does but there are expenses. When there is no revenue to cover the expense of hosting a 15 year old blog with lots of photos, there will be no blog.
I have never once asked that any reader pay for anything except when the books were purchased and they were published by a third party. Quilt patterns were mostly always free (as far as I can remember), recipes have been shared freely.
Often I will spend more time with photos, editing and sharing info about a recipe than it took me to make the recipe.
I’m getting to the point where I wonder why I continue blogging. Today has made me rethink it all again. Honestly by the time I’ve cooked, done laundry, a bit of house cleaning, work in the garden, I have a choice – write a few blog posts or sit, relax and cross stitch. Maybe it’s time to sit, relax and cross stitch!