Live, and let live.

After submitting the article that a disgruntled me wrote this afternoon, I realised that the top 8 posts of today were Advertlets-related. Okay, I was slow - both in submitting my article and in realising that others would have done so within the first hour.

Looking at the 8 posts - unfortunately after I submitted my article - made me sit back and think. What is it in us Nuffnangers that made up react so violently. Granted that site traffic was disrupted and that it caused quite a lot of inconvenience to bloggers, but did it warrant such a huge uproar and strong hatred. Remember that we ourselves made the decision to put the ads on our blogs.

Perhaps it is just another defense mechanism to 'save face', or to make yourself feel less - if I may use the word with no offense - stupid. Or maybe just an outlet to the anger from within.

[Let me clarify that I am aware that I am one of those who have also dedicated an entire blog post to this incident, and I am not trying to act noble, just putting forth a notion.]

Back to topic. I believe that many of those who submitted their articles on Nuffnang's Innit have consistently run both ads on their blogs, and probably have some money in their Advertlets account. But like I mentioned above, we made the choice to put the ads. No one forced us, and we did so because Advertlets offered a system that paid bloggers by page impressions - a seemingly easier way to earn money on a blog, as compared to having visitors click on ads to register a payout. We all wanted a share of the easy way out. And despite the many problems pointed out by other users, we still stuck to the belief that 'a few cents (or dollars for some more successful bloggers) a day will eventually add up'.

I personally believe that the anger (I'd rather use despair, but the reactions prompted me to use an alternative word) comes not from the collapse of advertlets itself, but from the sudden realisation that the option to take the 'easy way out' is no longer available to us, and some bloggers have to revert back to the days where they wait for advertisements to come through Nuffnang. (No offense to Nuffnang, I totally understand that not all advertisers are overly generous with their marketing campaigns.)

I do not wish to sound overly-cynical, but I am using this to remind myself that good deals are often bad ones in disguise. Perhaps the various, heavily repeated cliches on how easy methods often fail contain some truth. Of course, a huge dose of cynicism also ensures that hidden good deals will slip past you without you realising till it's too late.

I have made an attempt to edit my previous post to remove any strong language that I might have used. I mean, come on, it's not as if I lost the entire blog or something. All that happened was some visitors ended up knocking on the wrong door.

So, Nuffnangers, give the people at Advertlets a break, and spare them from your fury. No point pursuing the matter unless you have substantial amounts of money with them. Even if you did, what are the chances you can take action that makes financial sense?

"Live, and let live." - Anonymous

Cheers!