Today I received an email kind of convincing me that my blog gets seen. It offered me $35 to put up an add for a phone service on one of my old blog posts.

What differentiated this offer from all other spam I get was that it was actually written well enough, and tailored enough, that I believe this guy would even go through with it. Only ...

I am not interested.

I run this blog because I like running it. I do system admin myself too. The domain name is mine since my family wants it, and my parents chip in. The net connection also is something that the family chips in on, and is handled without significant cost.

All in all, I do not NEED ads to keep this place up and running.

Furthermore, I do not WANT ads here. I want this place to be my venue of expression. Not some advertiser or other. I want complete control of my content, and no bullshit with banners or whatever.

If you want me to recommend something of yours, make sure I get to try it. I write about things I end up liking occasionally, and the best way to get me to write about your things is to produce things I like and make sure I'm exposed to them.

But I will not publish your ads.