Why AdSense Sucks and Why I Use It Anyway

Why AdSense sucks:

1. Pushing people away: Every time someone clicks on an Ad, it's taking them away from the site - so some could argue that it's kind of encouraging people to leave, which is not what I want...
2. Loss of control: Whilst the Ads should be targeted based on the content in the site, I don't have any actual control over them so they will always be advertising things I don't actually endorse;
3. Selling out: They take up space on the site and could be seen as "selling out" by users, suggesting my blog is more about making money than delivering high quality content, and detracting from the site's integrity;
4. Tricking users for financial gain: Some users who are not web-savvy may be "tricked" into clicking on links, thinking that they are endorsed by me when they're not - which could create a bad impression.

Why I Use It Anyway:

1. Quality Content: If the blog is good enough, people will come back. If the site doesn't have good content on it, people will leave and not come back anyway;
2. Tailored Content: If the articles are well written and clearly targeted, the Ads should be targeted too; and if they're not, people are not forced to click on them anyway...
3. Proof is in the pudding: It will be clear that I have not sold out by the quality of content published. If there are Ads and rubbish content, it's a fair point and people won't come back anyway;
4. People are not stupid: First, most web users are bright enough to know a Google Ad when they see one, and second, I would never try to integrate Google Ads to make them look like part of the site to "trick" people: this is unethical;
5. It's common: Many sites have AdSense installed now - even some large corporate sites - so it's become a familiar sight and is not off-putting for most people due to that level of familiarity;
6. Ads can help people: In some cases, the Ads may actually highlight sites that people are interested in and actually help people get to some content or find some product they were either looking for or didn't realise they needed;
7. It doesn't cost users anything: it doesn't actually cost the user anything. If it did I definitely wouldn't put them up there.

Finally, let's be honest, if people do click on them and I make a small amount of money, that's great. If they don't it's not the end of the world. My focus has got to remain on writing posts that I think people will find useful and interesting - and a few small Google Ads should not make any difference to that.