Money Money Money

Jason Calacanis' post suggesting that Wikipedia could deliver $100 million a year to charity by accepting unobtrusive advertisements and donating the income has been generating a lot of heat but little light in the blogosphere.

I've nothing to add to the controversy, but it has inspired me to ponder a parallel micro-initiative. I run Google ads and Amazon associate links here on A Welsh Born Icon.

I seem to recall that I decided to take the plunge with Google ads when I saw how they were working on both Chris and Kali's blogs because I enjoyed both the relevant ads and the apparent non-sequiturs. Chris's context sensitive ads, as I write for example, proffer:

English Medieval History Learn About 11th Century England at the Home of the Domesday Book
The Battle of Midway 1976 epic of conflict and life during battle.

I am bemused as to the relevance but still entertained.

I don't know about Chris or Kali, but I have made a grand total of $5.28 out of my Google ads; not even enough for it to make it worth their while actually paying it out to me.

As I wrote on Saturday, I've actually been paid £10.42 by Amazon for business I have sent their way. I wish I could get Amazon's self optimising ads to work because I think that the biggest customer for books, DVDs, and CDs relevant to my screeds would be me.

In summary, it seems to me that the affiliate schemes run by Google and Amazon can enhance both my own blog and those of my peers but, let's be frank, it ain't gonna be enough to help us pay off the mortgage.

If I had a simple option when signing up for Google or Amazon to donate my earnings to charity I would take it like a shot.

My contribution wouldn't even get into three figures, but what if we all did it? It could raise millions.