The title probably sounds more negative than I actually am toward the Feed43 goals which are basically to allow and empower users to make RSS feeds out of sites that don’t have RSS feeds.

This isn’t a review of Feed43, so let me start there. It’s something different. If you are looking for a review of the site as I would normally provide, then you’ll be disappointed with what follows. If you have looked at the site and want to review it or link to a review of it, then use the comments/trackbacks to tell us about it there. Rather, if you are curious about how I feel as a publisher about sites like this, then keep reading.

The publisher contrarian viewpoint, which I do understand, is that hey, if we don’t want RSS feeds than too bad. Many publishers believe that tools like Feed43 will negatively impact the ad income. It sure seems that way if you look at it from a distance, but is that really true?

As some readers know, I’m a big fan of empowering users. It’s on my list (unpublished as of this writing) of features of how to make a website one of the six sites people visit every day. I want people to read and experience the content of this site every day as was intended and hopefully even look forward to new content tomorrow. If readers are only interested in RSS feeds with specific keywords, then they can already get RSS feeds from the search here to do that, so I want to make it as easy as possible for readers to get the content that is most important and interesting to them. I knew going into this blog nearly 3 years ago now, that because there would be different topics that the whole stream of consciousness might not appeal to everybody.

A couple of my webmaster friends have wondered why I would ever want to do this? Citing the common believe that it’s not as profitable. Firstly, not all my goals for this site are about profitability. Secondly, it might not be in one way, but I think it actually adds in another way (keep reading). Readers who are savvy enough to use ad blocking tools available with say Greasemonkey aren’t going to click on some related Google contextual ad or banner at the top of the page anyway. These readers are probably so savvy, in fact, that they have their own blog or read a hundred other sites where the same or similar ads have already appeared.

Ahhh, there’s the value in the relationship. If one can get that reader to comment, write about the site and maybe even link us once in awhile, they will help bring other readers, some of which I’m sure will not be using ad blockers.

Honestly, nobody reading with blogs should want me to read their sites for being an ad revenue candidate, they should want me for the reason in the paragraph I just wrote above and because I genuinely like their content. I do buy from ads from sites I like, but I don’t believe I’ve ever intentionally clicked (see related post on accidense) on a third party’s Google Adsense ad.

I do click on interesting banners and buttons and ad text links and have done some business from those. I don’t mind ads that are tastefully done and/or integrated with the content and disclosed as such. I also don’t mind subscriber content and pay for subscriptions to several things online right now. I do mind ads that intrude upon the reading experience and when I don’t clearly know if the writing is honest or genuine. I do not like being sold, but I do like buying. I believe most people feel similarly towards buying vs. being sold. Ads in my face or distracting my eyeballs are selling me. Ads blended in like the contextual ads are trying to do or a non-gaudy banner or button are just fine and frankly, welcomed. I want to see people with good quality content make money.

I do not use ad filtering programs, although I do have popups blocked. Part of what I’m curious about when visiting a site is the type of ads they are running, ad placement, what affiliate programs they are signed up for and how they are disclosing these relationships. Of course the most important thing I’m looking at is the content itself, but beyond the content I do look at the revenue options. Why? Because I want to see if this site has a chance of being around in five years. Some really great content doesn’t survive because they don’t have any business plans. That’s the major thing that has irked me about Web 2.0 stuff.

If I’m interested in what someone is doing and blend it into what we’re doing, that’s a different kind of value I send, and in most cases I’m sure much greater value. The fact that this blog exists creates value for the type of person who would use an ad blocker. This blog is PR6 and gets lots of high quality traffic. Those who take time to leave comment here and/or trackback in will get some good quality flow back from this blog and will make money, just as I am doing here.

It’s important for publishers to realize that there are other revenue possibilities besides advertisements. Get creative, think way out of the box. Websites themselves are business networking opportunities. You don’t have to squeeze every penny out of every site visitor, just as every customer walking into the brick and mortar store doesn’t have to buy something.

Hopefully this makes sense why a service like Feed43 though doesn’t really apply to this site, or any blog with full text feeds and integrated ad content. It’s more likely going to have the perception of impact on web sites that don’t have feeds or include any affiliate link content inside their posts.

And before purists get on my case about how advertising and editorial should never be mixed: get real, it’s been happening for ages in various media.

Regular subscribers aren’t big ad clickers anyway
Similiar to my own situation, I don’t think most regular, dedicated readers click many ads anyway. These people, some of which have their own blogs, are more the crowd who might write about the content on your blog and link in if they see something they like or interesting. That is promotion beyond clicking ads and no site can grow without adding this traffic. Feed43 doesn’t hurt sites from this perspective and might actually help them because these readers can now add the content the way they please. Readers should be in control, they should be empowered. And just because they can’t see the ads on the website doesn’t mean they would have clicked on them and bought from them anyway. Why bother?

Mixing ads with content
I’m clearly a proponent of mixing ads with content for the reasons cited above. I do think the writer and publisher have a responsibility to mark them as (affiliate, referral, advertising, etc) in some way so readers can clearly identify where there might be a financial interest. I don’t have a problem linking up an affiliate program or referral in most posts myself and I don’t have a problem reading somebody else doing the same thing as long as they disclose the circumstances surrounding their reviews/recommendations and clarify to me the nature of this business relationship.

If they think that’s none of my business, then I’ll read one of the other many millions of blogs out there who respect me more as a reader and is willing to share this information or leave ads and affiliate info completely off the site and make money in another, more creative way. If I can’t trust what you write or say, then why should I buy any product/service you pitch?

If it is a review, then is it coming from personal experience or disclosed as an “advertorial” and/or the intentions being made clear? Doing something to make money is an intention, BTW. If someone tells me how great something is and yet they have never even used the product/service, I’ll lose all respect for them immediately.

What’s wrong with being honest and saying: “this looks cool but I haven’t tried it yet, is it cool?” That works for me. I do that once in awhile and there is nothing wrong with coming across something that looks cool and making it an affiliate link as long as this is disclosed and the interest is genuine. I also think there is a big difference between spending time looking for affiliate content to write about vs. writing about something and then adding a relevant affiliate link afterwards. Agree/disagree?

I’m honest with readers and hope they will be honest with me in return. That means that they realize that I’m doing this writing with an expectation of some type of return. I do enjoy the writing, but it’s a business and I expect to make enough money to justify my time spent. In exchange for that, I hope that readers who use ad blockers might start their own blog and link in once in awhile or find some other way to donate to our cause so that I can continue to offer this writing/service in a similar manner.

Premium subscriptions
I have no intention of changing the content available or charging for it, although I have considered offering some sort of premium subscriber version someday. Perhaps letting these readers get a special version with content that doesn’t get published or is published sooner like Slashdot does. I’ve pondered several times here and offline that showing readers who are interested in the content that isn’t being published might be worthwhile. I discard very little content.

I think there is some definite value in being able to read something sooner or rare and unpublished and for those willing to kick in a few bones this might be something worth doing. Also, and perhaps more importantly this would give me another way to reward regular readers/subscribers by giving out free subscriptions to bonus content. Sort of like extra fillers for DVD.

We wouldn’t be the first to do something like this, so I have no problem sharing this here that this is something under consideration at least.

Using Feed43 to redistribute, no, no, no
With all that said, I don’t think Feed43 should be used to make RSS feeds and then redistribute to others. It is against the Feed43 TOS to do that and it could cause problems for publishers like me because it’s only another step to strip out any affiliate ads in the body of the posts, thus making the content completely ad free. They also create more time for me to play cop instead of finding interesting things to write about and share.

Screw that, I don’t want more cop time, I want less. This is the damage caused by splogs who feed parasitically on the content. These type of lowlife scum sucking thieves need to have every affiliate penny they’ve ever made vanish.

As mentioned in the beginning, I haven’t mentioned whether the site/service Feed43 is any good or not — it might totally suck, I don’t really know — just wanted to weigh in on the controversial to publishers part of things. I am registered and checking the site out and if there is any more to say on the site, I’ll put that in an update, the comments below or an additional entry.

Bottom line: I support services which operate like Feed43 (and respect robots.txt and the concerns of publishers) and which empower readers. I trust readers will do the right thing and not take any content — beyond Fair Use of course — from here and redistribute elsewhere, just as I hope readers trust me not to violate them with ads and bogus content pumping affiliate and referral stuff that I’ve never tried, used or interested in or care about.

If most people practice technology responsibility (and that includes not “sampling” music and movies over P2P, BTW) then quality ‘free’ content can continue to be available, prosper and even be profitable. It would be easy for me to blame the RIAA, MPAA (and I have) as well as services like Feed43 but the true problems and solutions often stare us back in the mirror.

Did this post make you go hmm?

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