Technorati is using a big Google AdSense advertisement at the top with a white background on their nice green body. My first reaction was, “oh no it looks terrible!” But it`s a good thing that they use a script that rotates different ads.
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Is Technorati doing it all for the money? We know that the more visible advertisements are, the more visitors will look at them, and the more they will probably click. And in the end, Technorati will increase their profit.
Technorati is such a great service, and I would hate for them not to earn enough money, but I really hope that they can stop using ads like this. To me, the Technorati site is rather awesome looking, but once they use the big Google AdSense advertisement at the top, the site becomes just plain ugly. I am sorry, but that`s just my opinion.
Will having big ugly banners have any negative effect on popularity in general? Well, it might have, but probably not. If people like their service, and we do, we won`t stop using it because of mistakes like this. (maybe not a mistake, because they are probably earning a lot of money from this advertisement alone).
Sometimes I wish that we didn`t consider money to be anywhere near our thoughts. I just want great service and a great looking website without any interference.
I am not sure what I would do if somebody wanted to advertise on my blog with a really ugly banner, would I accept it or not? Hopefully I would say no, and tell them to come back with a new beautiful banner. But you never know what will happen before it happens, and especially if there is a lot of money involved 
August 31, 2007 at 8:36 pm
This is my first comment on your blog. By your name I have a sense you are a norwegian? Hope that’s true, because I am too
I can tell you that I have just recently indulged in the blogbusiness, as I am starting up two blogs in these days. Advertising is a complex matter as you need to find the balance between promoting the stuff to earn money from comissions, as well as not scaring off your visitors. I have visited alot of websites that are all about ads, and it’s not very tempting to visit the same website again. Bloggers and website owners need to keep in mind that their regular visitors are really their costumers. And who does’nt want good relations with their costumers?
The idea of interviewing is excellent because you really get to convince people why the product is good. Trust is imperative in business.
August 31, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Thank you for visiting and leaving the comment.
You are absolutely right, I am Norwegian
Good luck with your blogs!