Lloyd on google ads in Phil's blog:

So it's a terrible conundrum, my friend. You are in need of funds for your life as a college undergrad, and yet... if what you've done becomes the start of a trend in weblogging space, then it'll ruin weblogging for me (and perhaps others) in a fundamental way. All of us are assaulted on every side by ads and commercials already, that I think it's important to keep some space sacrosanct. For me, that would be weblogs.

Or maybe I'm being awfully curmudgeonly in this regard. Why shouldn't commercialism penetrate every inch of virtual real estate on the internet and on the web? I feel like I'm sticking my neck out on a silly ideal and at the same time trying to walk through quicksand here.

I don't have as strong of a negative feeling against ads in blogs as Lloyd does. The fact that Lloyd reacted strongly against the ads does make me wonder whether I've acquiesced when I should not have to the commercialization of our lives. I'm not inclined to stick ads on my own blogs or websites (though if I ever use the Amazon associates functionality to let people buy books on my blog -- something I've thought about doing -- then my site will also be explicitly commercial). Then again, I wasn't planning to make money blogging. Now, that doesn't mean that blogging might not have longer range economic benefits for me -- by enhancing my reputation, by getting my name out there, by getting me my next job. Those prospects have certainly crossed my mind. Hence, because we're thoroughly economic beings, I suppose I just think of myself as a sophisticated navigator of the medium -- and just overlook ads (or click on them, knowing full well that by doing so, I'm participating in some economic exchange. I also don't feel the obligation to click on links just to help out students (but then again, they're not my students....).

All this sounds fine and well until the thought crossed my mind: how would I feel if I started to wear logos and banners paid for on my sports jacket the next time I give a talk at a national forum? It's certainly done right now, and I would be a bit taken aback if speakers somehow started doing that. One might ask, "well, why not? Professional athletes wear logos all the time...." So what's the difference between my being upset at an academic speaker saying "hey, I'm sponsored by XYZ Computing" and Phil's google ads? (I'm sure there is a difference but I can't tease it out yet....)