The Queen's Official Entrecard Ad Policy

THE "NEW"

LOVE IT...or...HATE IT??

I love to blog hop. I think that is why I enjoy Entrecard so much - it exposes me to a lot of blogs I probably would never find on my own. I really like the feeling of community - and I've grown very fond of several blogs, respecting the bloggers who write them.

I've noticed, while doing my blog hopping lately, that many people I respect as bloggers have posted their stance on the new Entrecard policy regarding paid ads. (I know I'm speaking some foreign language to people not involved in Entrecard...so those people are excused from reading my rambling for the day. Thank you for stopping by and enjoy your day off! lol)

After carefully weighing the changes Entrecard has made - without getting much input from the members, who (incidentally) make the whole program possible - I have made a decision regarding the new paid ads...and I'm posting it here. Not so much for your viewing pleasure - but more as an explanation to my 3 readers - and get it off my chest. (Trust me - there isn't a lot of room for extraneous stuff on my chest. haha)

Lately, I haven't done as much dropping as I normally do. It's been my sad attempt at boycotting the changes I don't care for. I was still reading the same blogs I always do - but I wasn't dropping on them.

I decided that wasn't going to get me very far...the Gods at Entrecard could care less what this Queen does, thinks, or says. They made that real clear when they instituted the paid ads format. All week I watched the cost of advertising on my blog plummet...while watching the number of paid ads (from people/companies not involved with Entrecard) sky rocket. I was extremely irritated at the shift - so I decided to start dropping again to see if that might bring up the cost to advertise on my site. To be clear, I'm not interested in inflating the cost to advertise here for those who utilize Entrecard - I was just curious what would happen. So on Friday, I began dropping again.

The first blog I happened upon was Bad Gals Radio. The post for the day was about officially boycotting Entrecard by not dropping that day. I liked the concept but felt like I had already done my own little boycott - which hadn't made a bit of difference - and besides, I was on a mission to see what would happen to my advertising rate. I tucked the boycott in the back of my mind, bummed I didn't know about it sooner, and continued on.

I hit a few more sites, carefully paying attention to the ads running on each widget. I refused to click on the ones I knew were paid ads - instead, only clicking on the widgets I was familiar with and knew were part of the Entrecard community. Then I came to a blog I always enjoy - Crotchety Old Man Yells At Cars. One seriously funny blog and on the forefront of a lot of topics, Crotchety was talking about this boycott, too. Hmmm Time to sit up and take notice. Even over at Dogmaw Glass - another blog I just adore - the word was out regarding how paid ads would be handled. I stopped dropping, resigned to not drop again until I decided how I wanted to handle this paid ad fiasco. I would unofficially follow the boycott.

So...after reading lots of different ways people are handling this very intrusive policy, I've made up my mind - and I'm going to post it clearly. Right after I show you the new little picture I came up with for Entrecard...

Feel free to copy, if you'd like.

From here on out, the Queen will follow the brilliant policy Jo over at Life's Perfect Pictures, came up with. After doing some research (which you can read more about by clicking on Jo's blog title), here is what she came up with...and from now on, this is what the Queen will follow:

If you want me to accept your paid ad you MUST FIRST sign up for a normal advert that you buy from me using EC credits! Once this is done I will approve your paid EC ad, however, if you cancel your advert with me before it runs I will also cancel your paid ad. I think this is a fair deal! Just so you know, this is a family blog so I will not accept just anything to run on my blog! This will continue, so if you want me to run your paid ad you will pay me ECs to run on my widget the old way too!

That Jo is one smart chick. Since she was able to put into words what I had been trying so hard to express, if you have any questions, let me know. I'll ask Jo then reply with an intelligent answer regarding what I think. ha

Oh - and feel free to use the Entrecard icon I made up. If enough of us use it, maybe it will send a strong message. If no one else uses it, maybe I'll be notified by Entrecard that I'm being "released" from the program.