Monday, December 7, 2015

LewRockwell.com in Financial Trouble?

Lew Rockwell has a sobering lead post today at LRC, he writes in part:
LRC is reaching too many people, and they don’t like it. They even penalize us for the sorts of articles we publish.

Another major web firm arbitrarily cut the traffic ranking of every site considered anti-government or right-wing. All this makes it much more difficult to get ads.

As a result of that displeasure and related factors, this looks to be the first losing year in LRC’s 16-year history
Lew does a great job in the post of recounting the many suspicious ways the establishment and neo-establishment make it difficult for libertarian sites to survive. But I think the problems for libertarian sites go well beyond what Lew discusses.

First, libertarian sites no longer have the catalyst of a Ron Paul presidential campaign to introduce libertarianism to the masses. This no doubt is hurting libertarian growth dramatically. When I meet up with Target Liberty and EPJ readers, I always ask how they were introduced to libertarianism. A remarkable number, certainly more than 30%, tell me that they learned of libertarianism after hearing Ron Paul in one of the presidential debates.

The number that tell me they have been introduced to libertarianism as a result of Rand Paul: ZERO.

Perhaps more damaging to libertarian sites is the bizarre anti-ad perspective of many "libertarians."

Many have gone from the questionable anti-IP posture to the "advertising is bad" view and have installed ad blockers. They somehow hold the bizarre view that they have a "right" to commentary for free and that non-obtrusive ads are somehow evil and must be blocked. They also seem to think they never click on ads (I addressed this point last year SEE:Thank You For Not Clicking on the Ads at EPJ (Hee, Hee, Hee) .)

Ad blocking is a serious problem for the entire online news and information industry and I am aware of major firms in the Silicon Valley area that have meetings and planning committees to consider alternative revenue generation methods because of the ad blocking. You may see blocking systems emerge that prevent viewing a page if the ads are blocked. I have seen bizarre arguments that "Well, you are going to lose traffic by blocking those who block ads." Duh, what the hell good are readers, if they block your unobtrusive revenue stream? If only 10% of ad blockers unblock their blocking system to view a site, that's a net gain in revenue---bottom line revenue! Buisness is about increasing bottom line revenue, not necessarily increasing sales. To think otherwise is just clueless, If Apple gave away their products, they would increase sales, but last I looked they don't come anywhere near giving away their products and they have a nice fat bottom line.

Sadly, I believe with the major outlets, you will see more pay-gates. But for libertarian sites, pay gates are going to be a tough sell, given the limited audience we have to work with. It is probably going to mean a shrinkage in the number of libertarian sites. Lew will survive, so will Target Liberty and EPJ, but we are going to have to tweak our business models, in some ways that will be obvious and in some not so obvious ways.

Where I fear ad blocking will hurt the most is with new libertarian websites. It is difficult enough to make a profit, never mind a living, out of a libertarian website. And I see enthusiastic young libertarians launch websites all the time, only to see most of the sites fall by the wayside after a  few months. Because of ad blocking, it is going to be even more difficult for new sites to survive, unless, they have a benefactor. Lew and I have a base of readers, so we can sell products and generate revenue by other means, but that is not possible for someone new. It is going to be very hard to generate serious revenue for a newbie for a very long time, given that ad income will not come anywhere close to where it was just a couple of years ago, per website visitor.

Google ads and similar type ads were a very easy non-obtrusive way for someone to try his skill at a libertarian website and start earning some income right away. The nutty view in some parts of the libertarian movement that ads are evil is going to choke off most new libertarians who attempt  to take a shot at making it in a very tough niche in the first place.

So I ask you what is evil, non-abtrusive ads that can be ignored if one chooses, though almost any reader will likely click on at least one ad per year [Again, see: :Thank You For Not Clicking on the Ads at EPJ (Hee, Hee, Hee)], or "libertarian" ad blockers who are a serious impediment to libertarians wanting to launch a new site, the overwhelimg number of whom don't have a generous benefactor?

 -RW

24 comments:

  1. I consider anyone -- not just libertarians -- who blocks ads on free media to be a type of thief. Not only do the ads generate revenue for the site owner, they can also be a benefit to the reader who is introduced to a product or service he might want. By blocking ads, site visitors are not only stealing from the site owners, but ultimately from themselves.

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    1. Wow... did we sign a contract that requires us to see those ads if we visit a site? How far do you take this... must we keep the TV on during commercials, are we required to actively watch those commercials, read every word in a magazine ad, etc?

      I don't see any stealing. Yes, it is problematic for websites, I have run a few blogs that have received very little attention and virtually no ad revenue, which is frustrating, but I am not being stolen from if someone uses an ad-blocker.

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  2. I think you're also seeing a backlash against all the click-bait sites. If you click on one, often it takes 30 seconds to a minute just to load from all the ads. Then, when it does load, you're availed the lame content that doesn't justify the headline.

    The side-effect is people blocking all ads (just for the record, I haven't blocked ads, but it is tempting).

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  3. Tragic. And we were just a few websites away from taking over.

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  4. First of all, I agree that, unfortunately, the lack of a driver like the RP campaigns is killing interest in libertarianism. And people still chide me that we "lost" those elections. :)
    As for ad blockers, I stand convicted. I generally block because the ads are intrusive, gross, insulting and generally obnoxious on many sites. However, you've made your case, tweaked my conscience, and as soon as I hit "Publish", I'll turn off blocker for EPJ and TL.


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    1. And this is why I would have liked to see the good Judge Napolitano carry the banner in 2016. We might be tempted to say there will never be another Ron Paul, and there won't, but there can be another libertarian carrying the message in front of millions like Ron did.

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    2. The Judge needs to be drafted now, to begin running against the newly selected president of 2016.

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  5. Another thought on ad blockers: Maybe you could alias some juicy content as "ads" and point out that the viewer is missing some good sh$^#$t by blocking.
    BTW, I'm now unblocked. I don't notice any "one weird trick" ads. So far, so good. :)

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  6. There are ads that are grossly intrusive and trespass well beyond a visual encounter. The most notorious ad was "My Contour" from Cox. It played audibly on the EPJ site whenever I would jump on the site. I cleared cookies. I cleared history. I wrote many emails of complaint to Cox. I even complained to RW. I finally had enough and added an ad blocker.

    I think it's great to have ads on your website. I'm all for making as much money as you can. I also think that freedom and liberty means that people can decide for themselves how best to regulate such trespass.

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    1. In your email to me, you did not state that the ad played audibly. Although I now see that in the email you forwarded that you sent to Cox you did mention to them it was an audible ad.

      I barely have time to read emails sent to me. never mind forwarded emails. If you would have mentioned the ad in your email note to me and supplied the link that the ad directs you to, I would have blocked it.

      I block any audible ads that I am aware of that come up on my sites.

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  7. Funny enough, I don't block ads and the one that popped up when I opened this page was for the "major web firm (that) arbitrarily cut the traffic ranking of every site considered anti-government or right-wing" mentioned by Lew Rockwell. It's also funny to see ads for Dick Cheyney's book, for AIPAC's "Support Israel" campaign, and even Lindsey Graham's presidential campaign. Whatever. I just don't pay any attention to them.

    Chris Cantwell has explained many of the facets of the economics of libertarian website operation on his site. Advertising, donations, controversy marketing, etc. He's been disinvited and fired from numerous outlets simply because of what he says. Often, at the behest of advertisers. So, it may be that the problem with attracting and retaining advertising really isn't ad-blocking tech. It gets back to the topic that I discussed here recently in my comment on the "On billionaire libertarians" post. Strong, condemnatory, let's say radical, political opinions concerning the current economic and political systems in the country make owners/operators of commercial concerns (particularly large, crony connected ones) fear that such content will offend their "partners" in gov't and/or "turn off" potential customers, especially those people that benefit from the condemned aspects of the current economic and political systems. Of which, in today's almost completely fascistic society, there are many.

    BTW, I find it particularly interesting that, around the same time LRC.com announces financial troubles, Jeff Deist's latest article from the Mises Institute is titled "Rothbard on Libertarian Populism" and extols the virtues of participation in the electoral and governance aspects of politics by appealing directly to the people as well as the outsized success Ron Paul's political campaigns had in bringing people to the libertarian message. Perhaps this will signal to the an-cap "politics is violence" type libertarians that participation in politics may not only be ok, but may be required in order to keep libertarianism alive and, hopefully, growing.

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    1. The decline in click through rates seems to correlate more with the increase in ad blocking popularity rather than any change in the type of commentary.

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    2. Maybe so. I have a hard time believing that libertarian site operators are getting paid in full with Google adsense click thoughs, though. The bigger point is, can you imagine having a hard hitting libertarian website that had several Fortune 500 companies paying for everyday, billboard type advertising? I can't. It's a vicious circle.

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  8. How important is ad revenue to LRC? There's hardly any ads on the site. An Amazon affiliate link, the impact I would imagine is primarily via purchases, not clicks or views, "Burt's Gold Page", which opens a page of precious metals price charts (and a single Amazon link), and a link to Gary North's site on occasion. The articles will have links to specific books for sale on Amazon, but how do search results impact that? I'm not versed in the intricacies of website ad revenue generation, but I never thought of LRC as being ad-supported in the first place, so I don't see how Lew can claim revenue is down. Is it a case of less traffic to the site due to less prominence in search results, and therefore fewer sales via the Amazon affiliate program?

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  9. Speaking from my own personal experience, the frequency with which I visit LRC has declined significantly and the reason for that is that I feel they don't have much new insights to offer any more. The most interesting pieces there anyway link to Taki Magazine and other sites that are more "alternative right" than libertarian, so I suppose people start visiting those sites more regularly than LRC.

    I think it mostly boils down to whether you want a real wall or a "welfare wall" as Robert Wenzel calls it, I think it's the defining issue of our time and one over which libertarians (current and former) are exceedingly split.

    Having said that, I will go and donate some to LRC to help keep them afloat.

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  10. We need to put up more candidates like Ron Paul...

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  11. Good for you. I agree there's a lot of preaching to the choir, but as the movement needs to move forward through education, I'm more than glad to donate what I can.
    LRC is a pillar in the libertarian community. I'm honored (as I sense you are) to cough up the bucks.

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  12. I am an unashamed user of adblockers. If I feel someone's site is worth supporting, I will support them in another way. For example I am a EPJ Alert subscriber and have been for year, not only because I value the content in it, but because I want to support RW. I also use Tom Woods' amazon links and some other special offers he has from time to time. I have money budgeted to donate to people that provide valuable content.

    I won't apologize for using my adblocker. There are other ways to contribute to those providing free content that aren't annoying and a waste of time.

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  13. This whole "ad blockers are evil" thing is really getting old. I don't watch tv for commercials and I don't read net articles for adds. I'm not "stealing" from you, that is nonsense. You still benefit from my traffic added to your stats whether I use an ad blocker or not. The one and only thing ad blocker does for me is make my internet experience more enjoyable. I have not and will not ever click on add - I do not know who is behind that add or what kind of malware I could get from it. Clicking on random adds is a great way to get a virus.

    What really happens when I read libertarian sites is I take that information with me and spread it to any one who will listen at every opportunity. I debunk myths, I use this info to be a voice of peace and reason. So shun me, shame me, block my comments...if it makes you feel better. This is my pc and I pay for my net access and I want it enjoyable.

    Now I am off to make a donation to LRC.

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    1. Like it or not, most websites are supported by ad revenue. Sites whose content you value need ad revenue to make their business models work. When you block ads you are depriving them of revenue, and you are consuming their content. That may not be theft, but it is at best an unethical practice, and a practice that threatens the viability of websites whose content you value.

      Use an adblocker if you must to protect yourself from malware, but perhaps you could make it a practice to whitelist sites whose information you spread to anyone who will listen...

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  14. There are other ways for libertarian websites to succeed beyond excitement from a presidential campaign.

    Libertarian commentators have done an excellent job of addressing certain issues which have long been of concern to libertarians (e.g. war, economic liberty, taxation, guns).

    They have not done a good job on addressing some of the highly contentious emerging issues that are of great interest to many people, for example GMO's and vaccines. And this is very unfortunate, because sound libertarian analysis of these issues would be very valuable to the political debate and to society in general.

    If we want a growing and thriving movement, we need to have some scholars take these emerging issues seriously and to write articles on them which are illuminating.

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  15. I am clicking on a WoW ad, just for fun.

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  16. I use adblock, so I suppose I'm a thief, despite the fact that I always enter amazon via LRC's link, and that I send paypal donations when I can manage it.

    Some of y'all get pretty self righteous about the way others surf the net. Site owners can put up a donate button or run ads, but short of operating pay sites, they will always have the freeloader aspect to deal with.

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    1. Except that the young kids, new bloggers will never be able to get off the ground becasue ad revenue would be very important for them. Congratulations for suffocating the movement.

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