Links are the new online tip jar
November 21, 2008 · Chris Peters
In August, Seth put out the thought that clicking an ad on a site that you enjoy is like a tip jar. This caused an uproar amongst some marketers. I have a different suggestion.
In August, Seth put out the thought that clicking an ad on a site that you enjoy is like a tip jar. If you like the site, click an ad, and the site owner will get payment from the ad provider.
I don’t have ads on my site. And many great websites don’t have ads either. Also, clicking an ad that you’re not interested in wastes the advertiser’s money. Not exactly ethical, and it creates problems in the online advertising economy.
But there is value in linking to a site that you enjoy. A straight-up text link is one of the most sought-after assets on the Web because of its SEO value. And a lot of you are probably doing it already. I can’t think of a better form of “payment,” even if it doesn’t have direct monetary value.
Do you like my site? Want to thank me for it? Then give me a link in your next blog entry or somewhere on your site. :)
P.S., Seth eventually apologized for putting this out there. I still don’t see how he felt that there was any room to “misinterpret” what he said though.
