Why So Many Can Avoid Paid Advertising

This post is not meant to tell you to "drop" paid advertising, but offers some insight into what is really happening in the system and why the holes exist.

With paid advertising, there were many disputes. These were largely caused by people who are taking part in the system to get traffic and interact with other members, and did not want to make money by selling their credits. There are quite a few of these people, and there was enough of a reaction for the owner to give an answer to their pleas - to allow the "old" system to remain.

Paid advertising won't benefit everyone. This was made clear nearly from the start. Prices will be so low to start, that most will agree not to "sell out" at bottom-low prices. There are so many credits in the system, that the value is so low for each. If you figure in the most expensive blog, at more than 3,000 credits, would you even consider paying upwards of $20 (at current prices) for a daily advertisement on that blog? Most wouldn't.

The value of advertising on the blogs with paid advertisements has gone down significantly. Each day, I see fewer and fewer other blogs and site owners that are trying to place advertisements on blogs. There is simply no value in doing this, when you are getting less than half of the exposure that you once were. Rates (credits) have remained the same and haven't really decreased, so you have to "work" and save up credits longer in hopes of getting a few credits/visitors out of the ad placement.

Many of the advertisements aren't really relevant to the niches on Entrecard. Although there are blog owners placing ads for products on Entrecard, many of them don't really interest the visitors to blogs in the network. This is a reason that many have found to reject all paid ads, therefore eliminating the opportunity of their visitors seeing these ads. Some have even appeared to be controversial.

In the long-term, advertisers will continue devaluing blogs. After the cash-out feature, the blogs that have any remaining credits will likely get cash for them, then sincerely consider leaving. It takes too much work, as many would say, to be involved in the community. Unless the ad rates are increased even further, it will be difficult for new features to be added to Entrecard and continue the payout system that is set to go into place.

The community becomes stronger. I've seen a number of groups form, with people that "want the old system back," creating lists of blogs that don't accept any form of paid advertising. While we all need to make money (it costs money and time to maintain many blogs/websites), some feel that blogs should represent community and interaction more than anything. As a result, some blogs have joined together to promote the message that advertising on Entrecard blogs is "flawed."

The problems can't be fixed with extra funding. Some members have realized this, and have decided that accepting advertisements won't really do the site any good, falling in line with the other examples above.

In conclusion, the only people that really lose are the advertisers, who might not want to advertise on a network that doesn't have the level of high quality spots. Even though some people may be refusing the ads, 80% or so are approving a significant portion of them, which still accounts for a significant portion of the "5 million monthly" clickthroughs that go through the system.

If you have any other further responses to the advertisement system, please leave them in the comments area.