Bethany over at B&b ex libris had an interesting post yesterday. She asked readers whether ads on blogs turned them off and make them not read the blog anymore. For myself, I don't like a blog (or any webpage, for that matter) with lots of ads. It clutters everything up and is very distracting.
But the real reason that this post stuck out for me was the issue of the blogger making money off the ads. In particular, I'm thinking of the click-throughs for books where the blogger gets a percentage if the reader buys the book after clicking through. I don't have a problem with this -- in fact, I do it myself. If you click the title of any book on my blog, it will most likely take you to that book on Amazon. And if you buy the book, I get a percentage. In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't made money off this so far and I'm cool with that. But it got me thinking. I don't need the money and I've always felt a little weird about it. So I've decided that from now on, if anyone buys a book through one of my click-throughs, I'm going to donate the money to a book-related charity (please note that this is not in any way a judgment on anyone else, it's just something I need to do for me).
I've been researching charities lately anyway, so that hubby and I can increase our giving, and the one I've come up with for this is Room to Read. It's mission is stated as follows:
"We partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children's literature, constructing schools, providing education to girls and establishing computer labs. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time."
Since 2000, Room to Read has constructed 442 schools, established 5,630 libraries, published 226 local language children's titles representing over 2 million books, donated over 2.2 million English language children's books, funded 6,922 long-term girls' scholarships, and established 155 computer and language labs. Charity Navigator gives this charity 4-stars, it's highest ranking. Click here to go to Charity Navigator's full report.
But the real reason that this post stuck out for me was the issue of the blogger making money off the ads. In particular, I'm thinking of the click-throughs for books where the blogger gets a percentage if the reader buys the book after clicking through. I don't have a problem with this -- in fact, I do it myself. If you click the title of any book on my blog, it will most likely take you to that book on Amazon. And if you buy the book, I get a percentage. In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't made money off this so far and I'm cool with that. But it got me thinking. I don't need the money and I've always felt a little weird about it. So I've decided that from now on, if anyone buys a book through one of my click-throughs, I'm going to donate the money to a book-related charity (please note that this is not in any way a judgment on anyone else, it's just something I need to do for me).
I've been researching charities lately anyway, so that hubby and I can increase our giving, and the one I've come up with for this is Room to Read. It's mission is stated as follows:"We partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children's literature, constructing schools, providing education to girls and establishing computer labs. We seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, we strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time."
Since 2000, Room to Read has constructed 442 schools, established 5,630 libraries, published 226 local language children's titles representing over 2 million books, donated over 2.2 million English language children's books, funded 6,922 long-term girls' scholarships, and established 155 computer and language labs. Charity Navigator gives this charity 4-stars, it's highest ranking. Click here to go to Charity Navigator's full report.
1 comments:
The ones that I can't stand are when the blogger writes a post but includes things about particular products (ie what is being advertised!). Can not stand that kind of advertising at all!
Post a Comment