I've been bemused by the negative reaction to the new business model rolled out by Open Salon. This is all about change. People hate change. In almost every organization, people resist change. We can look at OS's cover for the last few days, to see the White House press corps outrage that some low life blogger from HuffPo get to ask Obama a question. You can look at the resistance to health care reform by doctors, insurers, members of congress, and almost everyone in the who lives in the status quo establishment.
Well OSers, the quo has lost its status. It's time for this enterprise to turn a profit. I'm sure much thought and planning went into this decision. I wasn't consulted. So what? Who cares about my opinion? I'm not a member of the leadership team, or the board of directors who run this outfit.
I'm here at their suffrance. They don't charge me a fee to be here. Someday they may, then I'll have a decision to make. Is it in my financial interest to pay to contribute here? I doubt that the day will come, but it may. It won't keep me awake at night. I'm already awake with my insomnia.
As far as ads appearing in my blog, I can live with it. There are ads on my TV. Will I get compensation? Who knows? I'm not quitting my day job.
I'm sticking around. Why? Winston Churchill once said, "Democracy is the worst form of government on the face of the earth! Except for all the others."
Some people may feel that OS is now the worst site on the face of the earth. I say to them "Except for all the others."
Wake up and recognize the OS world has changed. Embrace it, move on and keep writing. You might just profit by it.
I welcome opposing points of view in the spirit of the "Fairness Doctrine."
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"it's a wasp with a painful sting. The female hunts for a ground-dwelling cricket. She paralyses it with a sting and lays her egg on it. The still living yet immobile cricket becomes food for the wasp's young. What a clever metaphor for the process of targeting, commodifying, and marketing cool."
sing, and be devoured. don't sing, and die alone. these are terrible choices. can we discover something more?
The way I see it, our editors put up with alot from us. LOL We have had free reign to basically write what we want and when we want. Although I have another blog, I get more comments here. I like that.
I give anyone who works for OS or Salon kudos for all the work they do. It can't be easy.
I say Cheers to the OS ads and I'm clicking the .org ads until I can join adsense (I can't so far. a glitch of some sorts.)
Hey, if this site --OS -- can turn a profit? I will feel successful. Yes, i will. I joined early enough on that i'll stake my claim in the success wagon and feel good it's no going under.
or charging me a fee.
And don't forget to click the ads!
I love that line. You said it, my friend.
Maybe I will just add a topical, nonsensical sentence at the end of each post to generate ads with a disclaimer: not related to content.
bstrangely -- I don't think it's either this or that. I see lots of gray, not black and white.
bahHMM -- This is a shock to many, but how could you not see this coming.
Bill -- Thanks for commenting. I value what you bring here, my friend.
Karin -- Thanks for commenting. I can't and won't make judgments about people who are speaking their truths.
Teddy -- there's psychometric research about who is advertising here. Thanks for the comments.
Lois -- Another voice of reason, thanks.
CB -- I hope you return to read this comment. Don't be hasty.
Cindy -- Thanks friend. Your comments about change validate why I do what I do for a living,
jay -- You got to take on Frank Apisa to be the iconoclast in residence.
Thank you for a great post..
If it doesn't work, I'll kick the ads off my page. Maybe someday, I'll be able to scrape up the dough for a premium membership.
Of course, it's going to take time to relearn page navigation (unless they listen to me suggestion and move the ads to the sides, and let the text be more accessable).
In no time, the ads will be part of the landscape.
This is a good post, OE. Kudos and a rating! A couple of others have recommended a big chilling out, and we should.
As far as EP's and covers, these folks have to make income, and they have to attract people to the home page.
Excellence guarantees neither profit nor traffic, a sad truth about our culture these days. Unless some multi billionaire has the ducats to pay us for dirty haiku and youtube videos (with the exception of kind of blue, who makes actual music history compendiums and some others who are clearly first rate writers), this is what we've got.
And one more thing: since I started adding tags such as "penis enlargement" and "spamalot", my ratings have gone up quite a bit!
I thought we were friends, but now I feel used.
@ Kerry
When all is said about this, when everyone adjusts, Open Salon will continue to be the best blog site available. Today we disagreed. Tomorrow we continue on our different paths here on OS. I know business decisions are hard to make--not always popular. But we entered into a discourse that proved fruitful. My protesting is miniscule considering the sadness in today's news. I look forward to more go between by you to us the bloggers. You have my respect for the job you do and for putting up with my rants. You have my respect and support as this venture, Open Salon, continues to grow.
Chuck Stetson
now i rest.
Esse -- I think I paraphrased it from Dr. Laurence J. Peter.
Cindy Ross -- I understand the concerns you raised. I haven't done the research Will has done. It pays to be skeptical. Perhaps I'm just naive. I respect your opinion.
Chuck -- You posted multiple comments, but I respect you and your point of view on this. I liked what you said about today and tomorrow.
Kathy K -- thanks
Karin -- WE'RE GOOD!!!!!! ;)
J Lee -- I hope Kerry answers your question, as it's a fair and well framed question.
HJ -- I hear you.
Ann -- Thanks.
Zuma -- well said and well reasoned.
Susan -- No I am not a professional writer, I am an experimenter here. My POV is really different from yours. I understand what you're saying. I guess you have to make a decision that is line with your ethics and value as a professional writer. I see that.
c&v -- This is what happens when you have a legal department to contend with. I don't know how this get resolved. I understand about your feelings about the breaking of the psychological contract with OS.
OK, rant done. Sheeps, I am glad you are staying. I just disagree with you.
A part of me is sorely tempted to re-post "Don't Make Flouncing Make Your Ass Look Big," but geez, I only posted it in April.
So far, my blog's got a lot of tarot ads on it. :-) (I fired up IE just to see.) OK, I can cope with that horrific intrusion...
Exactly.
Indeed. Like most people (I suspect) I tune out ads. After I read the first couple of blogs, with the ads in place, I got over the 'shock'.
In the grand scheme of things, adding ad revenue for our hosts rates where in the list of known atrocities currently at play in the world?
Rated for common sense.
stellaa -- You said it...it is what it is.
buffy -- exactly.
owl -- you never let anyone down.
Ardee -- I understand and respect your POV.
VR -- thanks for stopping by. Was that the "Shane don't go" post? Im loved it. I don't have any ads yet. What does that mean?
Cap'n -- I salute you.
Mark -- I always try for logic and common sense. Thanks
What's different with AdSense, and why I don't mind it, is that the money isn't coming out of our pockets, but some great Google Cash Bucket in the sky. For the little bit of interruption that it is, let it rain, I say, let it rain. To help every writer here, I might even start clicking on some ads..::shudder::
Maria -- There's enough traffic to generate ad revenue. That is cool. Thanks for commenting.
Donna -- Everyone could profit by this.
Your subject head is extremely clever, by the way!
If people require that level of purity then perhaps they should go back to blogspot where they can write and publish all they want and no one will read it. I get more hits in an hour here than in a week on my blogspot posts.
I assume that soon enough they will become background noise, and will become less apparent.
But I enjoy the smugness on all sides, and especially enjoy people rating this who earlier rated a Harumph post!
It's not an either/or situation.
I'm not going to post anything personal while being uninformed about what ad might appear at the bottom of my blog.
The ad placement is ridiculous. Hooray for the ads - just move them.
COS -- I appreciate what you said.
Larry -- The model you described is the newspaper/magazine model. We all know how that is working. I think this model drives the author or writer to create reader interest for which there is compensation. Is the blogger/OS relationship symbiotic? You bet. This is not unlike the traditional model. I await your return volley, sir.
Rich -- Thanks for the compliment on the headline.
Walt -- thanks
M -- I appreciate you saying it here.
Steve -- I hear Vegas is a great place to visit.
aim -- give it 6 weeks. You won't even notice the placements.
I'll adjust I suppose
thx man
Internet commerce has reembraced the ad model, why shouldn't we embrace OS for offering its bounty to us? Without even taking a cut. People, please, stop whining and get back to writing!
And, as to the ads? I'm happy that OS has a way of staying solvent because otherwise we would be paying for our brilliance to appear on this prestigious site.
I think that illustrates the problem with our entire system... the supposed democracy we live in, capitalism, etc. Your opinion is just as valid and important as anyone on the board's. After all, you're doing the work. Running the outfit takes as much work as working (in this case, contributing to) the outfit. After all, the outfit wouldn't be here without us.
I was one of your first fans, so I remember how you hit it big--slowly. You posted late at night, and three people would stumble on to you. You started commenting on others' blogs, and you got Freaky's attention (God, where is she now?), and other people started noticing you too.
Plenty of other solely nocturnal writers never get big followings precisely because they aren't around much. It is commenting, more so than the feed, that drives traffic, to use an Amyism.
Of course, the most rated/viewed column used to be more useful than it is--and by that I mean I used to hit it every time I posted. I can only hope that at some point maybe they will restore it to how it was--but Zerry has consistently refused to even acknowledge that concern.
And you've seen my tags. If I change what I write because of the creeping commercialism, I promise you, you will find it entertaining.
. But I DO find the placement of ads in the body of the post a bit... jarring. Would these ads not serve their purpose on the side margins just as well?
However, it doesn't have me sufficiently upset to leave.
I think that it makes no good for those companies doing so bad looking ads. For example if Air France cannot make better looking ads there might be something wrong with their planes, too.
Janie -- Thanks for your kind words. Enjoy your flight. Buy inflight insurance.
Sally -- As Bugs Bunny used to say, "What's all the hubbub, bub?" Thanks for sharing your experience outside OS.
Brie -- Thanks
C Berg -- I'm with you on this.
Shel -- I thought the attraction was only physical. Thanks Horsy.
aaroncynic -- I'm not shareholder of this franchise. I'm a stakeholder, and while Kerry, Thomas and Joan are interested in my feedback on a variety of subjects, how they run their business and turn a profit is within their purview, not mine.
This is market driven and quite honestly it's great they can attract advertisers in this economy. Listen to commerical radio and you'll hear multiple minutes/hours of "continuous commercial free music. " Are the stations being generous with their audiences? Hardly, they're are not selling any commericals. You look at public radio, like WBUR in Boston, and it's "all pledge breaks all the time" as they scramble to raise funds.
Attracting advertisers is not easy in this economy, and while we migh nopt like the ads we see, these are the businesses that are advertising right now.
Still, I hate the placement spot for the mandatory ad. Off to one side or the other would be infinitely better, as Yahoo! Mail does. But smack in the middle of my post? Ugh.
I too was very concerned when I saw this line in the TOS:
"You understand and agree that Salon may, at its sole discretion and at any time, take all or part of the revenue resulting from the placement of User Advertising.
Um, that's kind of disturbing Kerry. You mean, should this venture suddenly look eminently profitable to us, the users, that you can swoop in and take all future profits from user-placed ads?
Makes me not so sure I want to bother with user ads then, thanks.
I'm not leaving because of ads, that's for sure. Someone has to pay the bills, and I've got this lovely playground with all you great people in it. Good enough for now, for me. But Kerry, you guys really need to give that line in the TOS another look. It's really and truly off-putting, if you ask me (which you didn't, I know).
Cindy, I tend to be more optimistic than you. I appreciate and respect your POV a lot.
Shiral -- The placement of ads is always a double edged sword. As I mentioned above to aim, give it a few weeks. It will feel and look "normal" after an adjustment period.
Just Cathy -- I think the ad placements are what they are. You go to any newspaper of multi media site and you don't much different. I empathize with everyone who feel "their personal blog space" has been infringed upon, but it's not our space, we're guests here.
cymreag -- I don't pay much attention either.
hannu -- OS doesn't tell me how to write my posts. I won't tell their advertisers how to write their ads.
I think that is not only my right and but my responsibility to tell to advertisers, if their ads look very bad.
I think that Air France is still a bit better company than their ads make you to think. That kind of ad really makes me to wonder what is going wrong with them. It is in my opinion doing really disservice for them.
You might know that there are other commercial companies to do (for money) surveys of how people like other companies' ads.
Again, nobody will profit from it. You just won't. It's the Internet equivalent of a very small piggy bank with a hole underneath. At least WE won't profit from it.
AdSense had an Internet Gold Rush feel to it many years ago - until people realized how futile it was - and the steep price they pay for junking up their site with ads.
OESD, I do appreciate your balanced view. I hope you're right - that its just change and there is resistance.
I wish we would have been consulted beforehand (because ultimately people are making money off of our work) and it wasn't such a surprise. And the placement of the OS ad is just too much. It's a garish placement.
SALON IS A FOR PROFIT ENTITY THAT IS LOOKING TO GENERATE REVENUE FROM OPEN SALON.
Salon Media Group, with the ticker symbol SLMN, is in the business of making money. What did you think they were going to do in order to generate revenue from Open Salon? Just pray that people would pay up?
Prayer is not a business strategy. Advertising, on the other hand, is a proven revenue generator. And, they are sharing some of the revenue they generate with those who contribute.
Congratulations, everyone. You just went from an unpaid lackey to a independent contractor for Salon. Look at it that way.
That's a little bit condescending. I believe I will be noticing, and my hope is that the ad placement is reconsidered and changed. It really DOES effect what I am willing to post.
The flash ads are giving me a headache, since writing a comment puts the ads right in the line of vision.
And this morning I commented on a blog and had my first experience with a "floater" - a Google ad that was just floating in the middle of the screen.
It's not an either/or debate, unless you want it to be. And I admire the either/orers who have packed up and left for ethical reasons.
But that's not how I am seeing things.
I think it's silly that there are "sides" - and I think the finger wagging "You senseless people who don't understand commerce" is equally annoying as "OS is ruined! Just ruined!"
The ads aren't going away, but why do I have to get used to something that is, frankly, a huge impediment to even commenting on someone's blog? MOVE THE AD.
If that doesn't happen it will be difficult for me to contribute anything, which might be a great relief to some people, but I hope a few people would like me to stick around.
I won't sign up for ADSENSE because... why bother? it makes no difference to me. I never click on ads, so I won't be helping anyone make money. Sorry.
OS can use as much space on my blog as needed for Ads - just, please, move it from this placement that is giving me a headache - and disrupts the blogging process.
Just MOVE the AD.
It's really a very simple request.
I hadn't considered that could happen.
Floyd -- interesting placement for sausage.
o' really -- good point.
Tony Wang -- thanks for the comments.
AHP -- Liked your take on the ballparks. If you watch the movie "The Natural" there some good examples of 1930s advertising on the outfield wall. thanks
Con -- thanks for the compare and contrast with other sites.
Scanner -- Like the new avatar.
aim -- I must choose my words more carefully. I apologize. Let me try to clarify my six weeks comment. Every time I've been involved with organizational change it take about six weeks for the bugs to be all worked out and for people to feel more comfortable with the changes.
I understand you don't like the ad placement, and it appears from what you're saying probably never will. Living with it is not an option. I get it. Again I apologize for not choosing my words more carfull.
I hardly even notice the ads...I don't much give a shit about 'em...and if some want to leave because of them...so be it. I think the reasoning on that is way off base...and I will miss some people very, very much...but I just do not see any reason to plug into this at all!
I have more questions but I'll save them for later.
I really appreciate your kind response to my big comment.
So even more important---on my way to get the paper this morning, walking down Grace Street, I saw a sheepdog and smiled---cause I immediatly thought of you.
Open Salon has a reputation, too. If the content declines, so will their revenues. Let's just see how it all works before we all get too nuts.
In the meantime, I'm passing the time watching the crazy shit that appears on my Google ads generated from, I guess, the crazy shit that I write about.
aim -- Appreciate your response. thanks
Chi Guy -- I always read the comments. Thanks for the Sheepdog shout out as they are great companions.
Lisa -- Please keep writing. You are not naive. thanks for commenting here.
That's why I got top dollar.
I'm with you OE. OSers, wake up and smell the coffee. TANSTAFL.
I wrote a small text on my blog telling that I'm not responsible for stupid ads other people might see there. I as well instructed there others to install an 'adblock' to block the ads.
I think that for Salon OS generates so much more traffic and that it such way enhances their business so that they will keep this site working still at least for a while. If they will stop keeping OS on line, we might find other places.
(Should we make fake ads, such as 'help for herpes', that go to a 'gotcha' site?")
My Nevada business for two air travel + two nights from $158, Hotels from $46? Expedia?
I gave at a warehouse?
whorehouse? no, hoe!
A hoe-tool-shed privy!
Oy, Las Vegas Nevada!
`
Oh, I blame silk stone!
coo co kooks @ Opens
Salon O Sheep doggie!
O dearie OEsheepdog!
O Sheep dog good Ya!
Good to You. Others!
@ 9:15PM comment?
hula-hoop, boogies?
cha cha a slow hugs?
why am I's giggling?
belly button sway?
a fantasy? ay sure!
swagger a smooch!
no wiggles Ya lips?
bang a dang banjo!
a banana? potato!
`
no comment ref:`ad.
doe no know doughs.
hay! I'll rent de Lama.
no burn any tin pots.
I burn all my tin pots.
I rent black Lama hat.
It's not stylish, ay hot!
no stare lustfully at Ya!
O I love atonement day!
`
a nouveau rich couple ...
two displayed paintings...
are upside down. banter ...
she/he wistfully stare tho ...
lustfully, food cook is good ....
O my. a joy to eat with fingers.
God love ya Expedia!! ;) Oh yeah, and love you too Sheepdog, here's a bone for ya!!!
There are ads EVERYwhere else on the internet. I have a love/hate with advertising too, but it ain't going away, people. And in this economy/publishing environment- what is better? Ads? Or no OS?
The whiners seem to think that it costs nothing to build and maintain a site. If they feel so strongly about these ads, they are welcome to build and maintain their own site and see how much money they lose if they refuse to accept revenue. In the case of OS, I'm just delighted to be in on the deal.
Is there a big black hole where quo goes? Somewhere with the dinosasurs? Change happens and you have a good attitude about it.
For me, I've long since decided this place has some of the best writers and the most powerful sense of community than at any other blog site I've considered. I'm happy here, and I'm happy to see how many people are going to stay.
I'll take the ditsy ads if it keeps Salono in business--but I will make fun of them, of course~