So, what will be the outcome of it?
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 12:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charmianSo, aside from the widespread reading comprehension fail on the latest LJ news post, are a lot of people opting into LJ's Adsense offer? On the face of it, three minutes of googling would seem to convince anyone with half a brain that unless you have a very large readership, it's not going to make much sense for you to join because it'll take eons for you to make the $100 dollars needed to get your first check (unless, I suppose, you are v. v. sneaky and cancel your AdSense account, in which case you will get a check as long as the balance is over $10)
However, I think there is a middle ground between people with absolutely huge readerships and people like me who are read by virtually no one, and it seems that some paid users are thinking of opting in, especially those who are professional writers or have aspirations of becoming a professional writer. Probably, also, if you are currently a Plus user and have the requisite traffic, it would be dumb of you not to do it, because if you make at least a $100, you'll have paid for your LJ for five years, and will have more features than a Plus user, since you'll have switched to paid.
The question is, just how much traffic is needed? One of the people who said they were considering it has a journal with a thousand friends-of. Assuming that they're also search engine accessible, do they stand a chance of making enough to get a check? I predict though, that most are not going to get much $, so they'll get tired of it and cancel. (However, if LJ suddenly allows communities to do this, that opens up a whole new can of worms)
Socially, this is also interesting because now LJ has cleverly transferred the onus of choosing to put on ads to the users, which IMHO it would have been cleverer to have done in the first place. If people are forced to have ads, they'll be annoyed, but if it's presented as an opportunity for them to make cash, never mind how unlikely it is, some may actually choose to pony up for a paid account when they wouldn't have otherwise. People who don't like ads can then curse the journal owner rather than LJ, as well. Perhaps the next step for LJ should be selling "don't see ads ever" as an a la carte option.
However, I think there is a middle ground between people with absolutely huge readerships and people like me who are read by virtually no one, and it seems that some paid users are thinking of opting in, especially those who are professional writers or have aspirations of becoming a professional writer. Probably, also, if you are currently a Plus user and have the requisite traffic, it would be dumb of you not to do it, because if you make at least a $100, you'll have paid for your LJ for five years, and will have more features than a Plus user, since you'll have switched to paid.
The question is, just how much traffic is needed? One of the people who said they were considering it has a journal with a thousand friends-of. Assuming that they're also search engine accessible, do they stand a chance of making enough to get a check? I predict though, that most are not going to get much $, so they'll get tired of it and cancel. (However, if LJ suddenly allows communities to do this, that opens up a whole new can of worms)
Socially, this is also interesting because now LJ has cleverly transferred the onus of choosing to put on ads to the users, which IMHO it would have been cleverer to have done in the first place. If people are forced to have ads, they'll be annoyed, but if it's presented as an opportunity for them to make cash, never mind how unlikely it is, some may actually choose to pony up for a paid account when they wouldn't have otherwise. People who don't like ads can then curse the journal owner rather than LJ, as well. Perhaps the next step for LJ should be selling "don't see ads ever" as an a la carte option.
