It’s a bad, bad thing

There’s a new trend in websites that I don’t like one bit. It is the site that’s nothing but Google ads. It looks like a site, it acts like a site, but it’s just ads. A web designer picks some niche topic and does some research on keywords and lines up some ads. There’s a carefully selected domain name, site name, page titles, a menu with well chosen keywords, but nothing on the pages except Google ads. The Google ads may lead you to actual information about the topic you are looking for, so you eventually get where you want to go. But in the meantime, a web designer and Google both made money by tricking you into clicking through what is basically a scam, or spam, or ripoff site to find the true content you seek.

These site designers have done their homework. They are getting good rankings at Google. And they are making money. Some are making enough to live on it as their only source of income. We’re talking thousands of clicks here to generate an income that will support you. But they are providing nothing of value.

I have nothing against Google ads in and of themselves. I have them on this site. But they are not the content of the site. I make an effort to provide something of value here, and the ads are merely incidental to that content. If they generate a few bucks to help with overhead I am satisfied. I’m not cheating you by including them.

Sites that are nothing but ads should get thrown into Google’s spam category. This may not happen, because Google makes money from Google ads, too. Nevertheless, I think Google should stop giving these obviously exploitative sites high rankings. Technically, it’s legal. Morally, it stinks.

2 thoughts on “It’s a bad, bad thing”

  1. I hate those sites too. They make me feel almost sick to my stomach. I don’t know why I have such a bad reaction to them… maybe because I so appreciate people spending their own time and money just to share ideas not to make a buck.

  2. I agree. They aren’t making anything, they aren’t selling anything, they aren’t providing any service, they aren’t providing any information — they are just exploiting the system.

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