You may have noticed a few more ads, in the form of sponsored posts, have been appearing on BargainBabe.com. I know reader Brandon saw it because he left this comment.
Yep, I am officially done with your blog.
I guess I should call him an ex-reader.
I don’t see anything wrong with ads – as long as they are marked as paid content. I know many bloggers don’t mark paid content or paid product reviews, but I do. This kind of transparency is important to me as a journalist and blogger. The Ethics policy on my About page says
I do not accept money from any business or manufacturer to blog about their product on BargainBabe.com. If I write about a restaurant, retailer, Web site or product it is because I believe there is a good deal to be had. I sell sponsored posts and advertising on the site and participate in referral programs, however, because I gotta pay my bills. Paid content is always identified.
I haven’t done much with referral programs, but that is about to change. I’ve recently joined two referral programs. Basically, the way it works is that they send me special deals. I post the best ones and if you click through and buy something, you are supporting the blog. (I get a teeny tiny percentage of the sale, like a finder’s fee.)
Publishing ads and participating in referral programs enables me to continue sharing good deals with you, so I hope you’ll take a look at them and click on them if they appeal to you!
September 4th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
You are a great resource of information and you are right you have to pay the bills. So please do whatever you have to do to keep us saving money. Thanks
September 5th, 2009 at 2:12 am
I agree with Ja’Net: What you provide comes free to us, and we have the choice to read or not read the revenue generating posts.
I know other bargain sites I receive emails from or whose sites I visit have ways to make their business AND THIS IS YOUR BUSINESS pay.
I know that when I click through with ‘bargainbuddy’ that if I buy something it credits her somehow. I also know that sometimes I buy books on Amazon that I reach the site through an organization I support…and they get a small fee for my purchase.
Most email services carry ads…I don’t see the big deal. We’re grown ups–we can make conscious decisions about what we do and what we buy. Some of your tips I can use, some I can’t, but I know that for every one I can’t use, there’s dozens out there who just read the same tip and said, ‘That’s Great!’.
Advertisers are finding it difficult to scope out the market to determine what is really going to work in this post-daily newspaper world.
Julia, I would like (saying I want sounds too needy) you to be there tomorrow and the next week and the next month because you’re going to tell me something I didn’t know or wouldn’t know how to find out about…
and I’d also like to say I’m proud that you’ve become so respected that companies want to advertise on your site…
September 5th, 2009 at 3:05 am
I agree 150%. Do what you have to do to be able to continue to be a help to all of us. Your the best!
September 5th, 2009 at 3:38 am
What the heck does “officially” mean – an umpire or referee told him he could post that? Or perhaps a senator?
If he means he doesn’t like ads and won’t go where they exist, then he doesn’t watch television, listen to the radio, drive where he can see billboards, shop at supermarkets (look at those floors! There IS tile down there, right?), read newspapers or magazines, or even – go on the internet! Geez, what does he do with all that time anyway? Really, I can’t take him seriously. Don’t even pay attention – you’re doing what you do to run a business, help us and you’re getting ads as well. That seems pretty successful to me.
September 5th, 2009 at 7:18 am
Loved Janet’s response. Bargain babe you are a Rockstar! I love your witty, honest, smart site and manner of conducting business (dealing with negative reader responses) etc. We, your readers adore you.
Love,
you NY sis
September 5th, 2009 at 8:15 am
That poster needs to get over it. Every organization needs to pay their bills and ads are a great way to do it. Everything that you provide to us is fantastic! I say good riddance.
September 5th, 2009 at 9:28 am
There is a whole lot of people who grew up with the internet, who believe everything should be free. They believe in the tooth fairy and free lunches. When you tell them the cost of a software product, they say”Oh…I’ll go on the the internet and get it free”, they can’t wrap their brain around the fact that everything has to be paid for, today, tomorrow, in the future. When I meet people like this, I smile and keep moving on, and leave them to their dream. We all need to earn a income to make the world go forward, Thank you Bargain Babe for your part in helping us move forward. Get more sponsors!
September 5th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Another vote for your wonderfulness! Everybody’s gotta eat and pay their rent. Your job is telling us great little inexpensive finds. And we don’t pay you, so you gotta make $$ somehow- that guy was an idiot! Don’t give him 2 seconds of your thought and time.
September 5th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Duneman said it perfectly.
Julia, look at how many people love you and your blog!
I love the way you respond to people’s rude comments. haha
xoxox,
Meital
September 7th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I agree with all of the above – I want to thank you for the free information you give us. You should be able to pay your bills by whatever means you need. If this means small ads okay – but please don’t go away!
I appreciate the fact that the ads are not “in your face” and that we do not have to “X” the box closed in order to continue reading an item – those are really bothersome. As I type I see a rather discreet ad and I do not find that offensive at all.
September 7th, 2009 at 9:42 am
You are “cool” to post negative e-mails. We can’s please all the people all the time.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:39 am
I decided to come back to see if you had responded to my comment in the post, but I was surprised to see I warranted a whole post.
I feel a little context of my prior interactions with Bargain Babe are lost in my simple quote though (of course, she might not even remember the prior ones herself). The reason I said ‘officially’ done is because I had mentioned in a few past postings that I was uncomfortable with sponsored content and the constant promotion of California/LA specific content since I was not from the area, and indicated I was thinking of not reading this blog anymore. The latest sponsored post put me over the edge and so I ‘officially’ was done which basically just meant I was removing my RSS subscription.
I understand that BB has to pay her bills and I appreciate that fact, but I do not “owe” her anything as a reader. Therefore, if a practice she does makes me uncomfortable, I have a right to leave. I am sure that at least one other person probably has left for the same reason. The difference is that I said something about it in hopes that it would rectify the situation, but for BB it is really a cost-benefit analysis. If she loses 1% (fake stat number for example purposes) of her readers over a decision that pays more than those 1% of readers would pay, then she has made a wise business decision. In this case, keeping running sponsored posts as long, as the majority has no problem with them, is probably a good idea.
I would like to “ad” (lol) that I do appreciate that she marks sponsored posts as such from an ‘intellectual honesty’ standpoint. That said, it makes it less effective because I do not even know if she wrote the content or was just fed it by some marketing guru. Maybe I am alone in this though, but when I see “Sponsored” next to the article, I am automatically cautious (I might even say hostile) of the claims made within it because I figure the writer has a strong motivation to lie.
To Duneman. I do my best to avoid all forms of advertisement. It is pretty hard in some cases. The Internet is pretty easy with Firefox and AdBlock. I DVR most TV and fastforward the commercials, and I typically change the radio station when commercials come on it as well. Additionally, I get rid of junk mail (regular or e-) with only a cursory glance unless I have specifically asked for the information to be sent. Billboards, supermarkets, and periodicals are harder to ignore. I just do my best to not worry about them. In all cases though, I am automatically critical of the claims being made and usually lean towards deciding if I want a product on my own rather than just by virtue of the advertisements.
I must admit that I am a pretty horrible person when it comes to ‘helping someone out’ with making money. If I am on a website and they promote a product that I want to buy, I nearly always consciously strip the referral portion from the URL so they won’t get paid for my purchase. This is mostly because I do not approve of referral programs.
October 9th, 2009 at 11:43 am
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