It was just a matter of time before bloggers started getting serious about the reality of paying for the content and going beyond the idea of donations. RSS Adfeeds is one possible way - Sharewood Tidings:

RSS feeds containing ads on very specific topics, according to a specific editor/author/blogger, or matching a specific research/interest area connected to the site/publisher.

Personally, I am in the camp that thinks blending advertising (text links and banners) with normal blog entries is a good idea so long as the advertising is an informed and honest endorsement and not the case of the blogger just pitching products/services h/she has never even seen, used or tried (unless the blogger clearly states that this is so to their readers in the entry). In fact we’ve already been doing reviews and overviews at this blog for quite some time and including our affiliate links inside these blog entries. The idea of doing entire, dedicated RSS Adfeeds for niche advertising, regardless of whether the blogger (writer) has seen, used and/or tried the product/service is worth exploring at the least.

To demonstrate this idea in a real world context we are creating two new categories here at Things That … Make You Go Hmm:

Adfeed - products - this category will, unless otherwise noted, contain advertisements for software or hardware that we think might be interesting that we haven’t downloaded, tried on another computer and/or used/tested directly.
Adfeed - services - this category will, unless otherwise noted, contain advertisements for online services that we haven’t signed up for, tried out and/or used/tested directly.

Both of these categories are really just spinoffs on full page banner advertising with additional detailed and probably often third party text. We will sometimes add personal opinions to these entries so they read somewhat like blog entries and not sales text but as readers you should fully understand that they are, in fact, advertisements. Buying and/or signing up for these products and services readers are helping to support this blog financially. Just as the linkdump category here represents links that we come across and we would be interested in possibly reviewing in detail in the future (or just found interesting), these two new Adfeeds represent products and services where we are signed up as affiliates that we are offering for reader’s perusal.

These two new categories will make up a new weblog (coming soon idea shelved) entitled: Tech Adfeeds that … Make You Go Hmm, which will operate much as the Movies that … Make You Go Hmm weblog currently operates. This way readers can sign up directly for these two (and maybe someday more) RSS Adfeeds using their favorite RSS reader. So there is the plan.

While I’m at it, I will define also define the existing categories here at Things that … Make You Go Hmm (you can find the category name by looking at the item italicized within the tildes at the end of each blog entry by the time/date):

Category info last updated January 11, 2005

blogs and podcasting - relating to blogs, RSS, Atom, and podcasting
gaming - anything gaming or gambling related
How To - guides, links or specific information on how to do something either in a programming language online or offline or how to do something not related at all to computing
movies - anything related to movies including motion pictures and DVD
music - online or offline streaming or downloadable music and/or music industry related
photoshop it - graphics and/or design related
politics - covering political issues
spam - dealing specifically with the ongoing issues involving spammers and spam (no, this is not an RSS Adfeed)
Tablet PC - the unique world of the Tablet PC including tips, tricks, tools, news, software and more
television - it’s on TV or TV-related
toolbars - it’s related to browser or program toolbars which include overviews and reviews
default - everything else that isn’t (yet) categorized

Did this post make you go hmm?

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