Or as my cat would say, “Monies, I can has it?”
Yes, it is true, I’m going to start experimenting with Google Ad Sense on this blog.
The main reason is that I want to better understand how much money blogs can make. Journalism needs to be able to make money on the Web.
Let me be clear: I don’t think this blog will generate a lot of revenue. If it can off-set my hosting and domain costs, I’d be very pleased. I think it can do that, but can it make a meaningful amount of money?
I’m more concerned, however, with seeing how monetizable RSS feeds are. Many news organizations have resisted doing full feeds because they fear they can’t make money that way. But those sites also don’t stick any ads in their feeds.
Personally, I get thousands of views a month from RSS. I imagine a popular Web site could get millions. Why not try to monetize that? Instead, traditional media outlets have chosen to offer partial feeds, which are worthless.
Can an RSS feed make money? I’d personally much rather have a full RSS feed with ads in it than a partial feed
But can full RSS feeds generate decent revenue? That’s the question.
As a side note: If this site makes $500 during the remainder of 2008, I’ll donate $100 to the local humane society.
Also, if you see some weird things happening today and the next few days, it’s because I’m tinkering with the site.