Goodbye Google Ads

Robot Room first appeared in July 2000. Google AdSense revenue paid for robot expenses and supplemented my income when I had a young family. For that, I am grateful.

But, Google AdSense ad revenue declined year after year for the most recent ten years. During that time, Robot Room continued to get over a million visitors a year. So, what happened to the value of online advertising?

If someone offered you $10,000 to post a billboard on your front lawn, you might be willing. If they came back the next years and subsequently offered $8,000, $5,000, etc, you might keep the advertisement because it was already in place. But, at a certain point, it would no longer be worth it to keep something unsightly for such a small amount. That’s the position I reached. I’d rather receive nothing for my articles than endure ugly for so little.

I decided to drop Google ads from my site.

I also had Google Search on the header of each page, but I received an email from Google saying they were search penalizing http sites with forms. What forms? I don’t have any forms. Oh, Google Search is a form. Removed.

I also took the opportunity to delete Google visitor tracking from the site. Since I’m doing this solely for fun now, there is no reason to give Google the data.

Patreon

Without the ad revenue, what’s the driving force to publish new work? That’s where Patreon comes in. All new articles will be accessible through the Patreon only. In fact, there are 30 new Robot Room articles there already.

An advantage of Patreon is a comments section, so you can ask questions or make suggestions. There’s also auto-notification when a new article is posted.

So, dear readers, enjoy your adsense-free, tracking-free Robot Room. And keep making cool stuff!

- David