I was of two minds whether I should put ads on my blog. Personally, I've got nothing against web advertisements, provided they are not overbearing or irrelevant to the site topic. However, I do know of some people who feel they are totally evil in every possible way. I didn't want to put those people off reading my blog. However, this site is my personal blog, and if it's about me then it should echo my own personality and opinion.

I think the ads I display are ok. I'm not even using an ad network at the moment. Technically they're not ads, at least not in the typical sense, they are affiliate links hand picked by myself. Here's my personal guidelines when it comes to web advertising on this site:

• They must be relevant to topics I write about on my blog
• They must not be obtrusive and distract from the main content. (Although that blinking 1&1 ad is a little annoying, I must admit)
• They must be for products and services I actually use or have used.
• They are not just ads, but recommendations. If I don't wholeheartedly believe in the product, I wouldn't show them on my site.

The last one is the clincher. I'm going to be recommending these things anyways, I might as well add a few characters to the link. There's been a few times where someone recommended a product to myself, hosting or whatnot, and I've asked them if they had an affiliate link of their own that I could use. Why not? Friends help friends.

Here's a brief run down on the affiliate links I currently use on this site.

Rockable Press

The Envato Network of websites are top notch and so are their ebooks. I showcase "How To Be A Rockstar Freelancer" in a prominent area because I really enjoyed reading it and found it immensely helpful to me and my career.

Media Temple

I've used Media Temple to host this blog and many others for quite some time now. I've been quite satisfied with their service so far. Although I am finding that their grid service has slowed down considerably in the last few months. I may change plans or look elsewhere, but I'm happy with them for now.

Freshbooks

I love Freshbooks! I use Freshbooks for my invoicing needs and couldn't be any happier... well, if it was free and open source I'd be happier, but alas.

Dropbox

Oh my goodness Dropbox! I mean seriously, not many things are as awesome as Dropbox. For what it's worth, I get no money for recommending Dropbox. They'll just give me a little more storage space, up to a point, then I'd still recommend it.

1&1

Nothing too wow about 1&1. They're just who I use to manage my domain names. I've got tons of them.

That's it for now. Who knows what the future may hold though. I may use less ads or none at all. I like what The Deck do in their network. Only one ad per page. But they're an exclusive clique, I'm not nearly cool enough for them. And you never know, I might go totally John Chow on you.

So am I evil? I don't think so. I'm nice. :)