Advertisements

May 4, 2009 · Comments

You may be noticing more advertisements on this blog now and I thank you for putting up with them.  Ideally I’d like to choose design aesthetics over this being perceived as a money hungry whore blog, but believe it or not there are expenses to running a site like this and something needs to pay the bills.

To be transparent, I’ll never mix my blog posts with paid advertising. For example, I’m not going to recommend a product without stating first that I’ve been given incentive to do so.  I think it should go without saying that I’ll never accept a product that I don’t think is worthy of a recommendation.  That wouldn’t do anyone any good and would ruin any credibility that I may have earned from you.

I also want to thank everyone who orders their cycling goods by clicking on the ProBikeKit.com banner on the side of this page.  When you order your PBK goods by clicking on the banner, CyclingTips receives 5% of the total.   The same applies with the Wiggle advertisement that’s just put up on the right side of the page.  When you click on this ad and then follow through with an order, CyclingTips gets a 5% referral fee.   I sincerely thank everyone who supports this site by doing this.

Google Ads is another form of advertising that you’ll see on the bottom of many of the posts.  I don’t know how many of you want to meet “Singles In Cycling” or “Lose 40kg in 2 days”, but if you feel like leaving a donation then click on the ad and take a look if you’re interested. You don’t need to sign up or anything like that.

Once again, thanks for reading. I’m truly grateful for the overwhelming number of cyclists who come here every day.   The amount of people commenting is picking up and I hope that everyone gets more involved with the discussions that take place.  Many times you’ll learn more from reading the comments than you will from the posts!

Enjoy your cycling…

WW

  • DC
    WW, just read the above comments and your article. well done.
    I can now remove PBK and Wiggle from my long list of favourites!
    You should now see a marked increase in funding from these sites...
  • Thanks Mike (and everyone else). There's not even any need to refer this blog when ordering or anything like that - it's automatic. You just need to click on the Wiggle or PBK ads when you get the urge to buy some bike parts, buy your stuff (without going to other sites in-between), and voila! If you leave the PBK or Wiggle sites before going back again and purchasing credit won't be awarded.

    Thanks again for everyone's support.
  • Mike Hayward
    Hats off to you Wade for this post

    And since I spend a bit through Wiggle and PBK, I'm happy to add a few clicks and bring some cash back to you for what is a valuable resource for me.
  • A couple online betting sites offered this site a fair amount of money to start writing posts about gambling in cycling. The conditions were that I write "in my own words" and "don't make it sound like a paid ad". This is what prompted me to write this post to make it clear to everyone that this will not be done.

    Cyclists aren't stupid - they know when they're being sold something. At the same time, products and cycling go hand in hand. It's hard to talk about cycling without talking about some of my favorite products. I think that this is why a clear line needs to be drawn that everyone needs to know about and doesn't leave you second guessing.
  • Steve
    At least the ads look decent, they "fit in."
  • Mike J
    I applaud you for being up front on the advertizing thing. I'll check them out.
  • erik
    Just never let them put up one of those screen-blocking ads that follow you around. I'm glad you strive to remain disinterested.
  • Advertising on a blog is always a touchy subject especially when it's one that covers a personal interest and you don't want to potentially harm any relationships you've built with it. You want to build a successful blog but at the same time it would be nice to cover the cost of running the blog via paid advertisements or affiliate sales.

    With this post you've done you've let your regular readers know about the advertisements so they know exactly what's going on. Well done. If you don't mind, I'd like to borrow this idea for a post of my own.
  • Anonymous
    Agreed. You'll maintain your credibility and your brand by clearly separating advertising and content. Good thinking.
  • Brad
    I commend CyclingTips for being transparent about this issue as the lines are often blurred. I for one would much prefer to navigate around ads rather than second guess whether a tip is `paid for' or not.
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