skunker

No, could your write a blog with a few affiliate links to explain it?

Renes Points

Please.

I make no bones about the fact that my blog is a business and I use links.

However, I would guess you also are one who uses AD blocker here on FT and thus are a leach not someone who supports FT (like the other user who was attacking OMAAT).

If you are going to cast stones you better be white as snow that is you use FT with AD blocker turned off. Yes? No?

Astrophsx

Sad that you've had to lower yourself to name calling.

You can actually support a website like Flyertalk without having to view banner ads and to click ads. It's called providing content. For example, I know several FT members that write trip reports that take hours... Does FT pay these members for the content they provide? No... Does FT profit off of these reports? Yes, by placing ads around the content.

So in my opinion even if I run ad block I provide content that other people consume and I do not get paid for it. If I find and detail a deal and get 300k+ views on my thread I get no compensation, but many other people are not running ad block and it generates income for the website. There are many other websites that use this model... TripAdvisor, Facebook, Instagram, etc... they all depend on users to provide content and do not give compensation. Not only that... but YOUR peers actually would not be able to maintain the current standard for posting several times each day to their blog if it weren't for people like me providing this content that is "borrowed" from Flyertalk. All I get is a hat tip... do you you, Ben, Gary, or Brian Kelly donate a cut of their profits to Flyertalk or members they have taken content from?

So maybe you should take a look in the mirror before calling someone on here a leech. BoardingArea wouldn't be where it is today if it weren't for members on Flyertalk providing content and further the discussion on a wide variety of topics. Please tell me how you give back to the community that you take so much from? Oh right... Spamming us with links and not taking the higher road when people try to be negative. Not really a great way to run a business.

Renes Points

Again oh please. Everything on the planet did not start on FT.

Perhaps before attacking me you will look at the number of threads I have stared on FT. I bet most of the leaches who use AD blocker here only comment and add very little to IB's bottom line.

oliver2002

Ad revenue for all sites is plunging, especially the sites that have very little traffic. Advertisers are getting smarter in analyzing who is visiting such websites and simple page impressions from non-target demographics pay nothing. The ad blocking is a rather minor issue.

With CC links diminishing (or becoming more demanding) and ad revenues plunging, bloggers will have to get more innovative. Award booking may be a prospering field again since availability is becoming tight.

Raffles

Oddly, Adsense is holding up very well.

Whilst I am not allowed to quote numbers, my main 728x90 RPM is up a whopping 90% H1 2016 vs H1 2015. This is - for 2016 - on just under 3m impressions so it is not just chance.

Not sure why. It may be increased use of retargetting ads, it may be that my higher readership this year means that Google somehow sends me more premium advertisers, Google may be doing a better job of guessing what my readers want or it may be from specific advertisers paying to specifically appear on my site (I know you can check this in Adsense but I never bother).

YoungSoloTraveler

Wow, talk about horrible logic. The main value of flyertalk is its users contributing useful content. It costs next to nothing to run vbulletin board software and set up cloud hosting. Probably four figures a month at most.

Actually, if they started pimping credit card links I'd be more then happy to help out. Thanks for the suggestion Rene!

AAExPlat

Maybe not, but there is no denying that bloggers lean heavily on FT contributors to write their own content....

oliver2002

Raffles, if your ad revenue is up it means advertisers are getting what they expect(ed) from the page impressions. If they are not, then it goes the other way. I'm sure blog entries that wouldn't pass 8th grade test have a right to exist, but really don't make money on the ad front.

84fiero

You missed stvr's point entirely. They weren't criticizing the mere fact that OMAAT uses affiliate links, but the fact that OMAAT (unlike Doctor of Credit) deleted references to a cheaper method (lower annual fee in branch) of applying for the Prestige card that some folks* could use, thereby dishonestly not presenting the best offer in hopes of furthering his own affiliate link. In contrast, other bloggers have included information about the lower AF in-branch.

*Most of us don't have Citi brick & mortar branches anywhere nearby but in some areas it would be a viable option.

Adam1222

Are you seriously suggesting that the only reason blogs include affiliate links --- and design blog content to deceptively promote the products they are selling -- is because people are using .......ers? Because that argument has no basis in fact. Affiliate links for credit cards are entirely more lucrative, regardless of .......ers.

There's nothing wrong thinking that the commercialization of miles and points bloggers has led to a vast decrease in quality (though an increase in quantity of posts). It doesn't cost a lot to run a blog, so there isn't a freerider problem here.

kokonutz

You are....confused.

Big difference between using ad blocker and deliberately leaving key information out of a credit card commercial.

Btw, I am looking at an ad for MP cc. Do YOU use advertiser blocker on FT?

nineworldseries

..aaaand another blog to check off of my BA reading list. There are precious few left.

skunker

I have over 4,400 posts (of varying usefulness) on FT. That's how I support the community. If FT had a problem with people using ad blockers they could block those that use them. I have seen sites that do that. However, I would guess that FT has no plans to shoot themselves in the foot like that.

kokonutz

FYI, in case anyone cares to chime in pro or con:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...ces-forum.html