I have an embarrassing confession to make. WordPress.com has been serving up video advertisements on my website and I didn’t realize it until just now.
You see, the ads do not display when I am logged in to the weblog on my computer. The other day, I happened to log in from an unfamiliar computer and the video ads were there plain as day. The ads on odd topics were inserted smack in the middle of articles. My apologies.
I took the necessary steps to remove the offending ads. All I had to do was to pay a $30 fee to the WordPress host. Which brings up another somewhat touchy topic: affiliate links.
As Loyalty Traveler recently described, it seems the entire internet is one gigantic pyramid marketing scheme. The internet shopping portals, the points earning sites, the online travel agencies, the airlines, the banks, the message forums, and the bloggers — they are all trying to squeeze a few cents out of your purchases.
With so many big players out there, it is ridiculous to think that Fishing4Deals.com could attract advertisers. Nevertheless, after blogging for several months, I wanted to explore whether it would at least be possible to recoup my expenses. I applied, and was accepted, as an publisher by Commission Junction, an internet marketing consolidator.
If you click on my links, I may get a small commission, and I very much appreciate your support. The site I link to may also get a commission, and the site they link to may get a few percent, and so on. Everyone is trying to take a bite out of the same slice of pie.
I have added some ads from relevant companies and services to the sidebar, and have inserted some affiliate links into the content of some posts. For example, I have added links to Priceline.com in my posts discussing Priceline bidding strategies. There is a link to FatWallet, a popular web shopping portal, to Fandango, a source for movie reviews and tickets, and to CityPass, which bundles discount tickets to attractions. These are all companies that I believe offer good deals, which after all, is the point of Fishing4Deals!
Perhaps more controversial, I have included links and an ad for CreditCards.com, one of the Commission Junction advertisers. For people with good credit and who pay their bills on time, credit card signup bonuses are a great way to stretch your travel dollar. I chose CreditCards.com because its “Offers Matched For You” feature sometimes turns up better credit card offers than are publicly available. For instance, I wrote about one such enhanced offer for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card.
CreditCards.com allows consumers to compare dozens of credit card offers by category, such as low interest credit cards, airline credit cards, cash back credit cards, small business credit cards, etc. They list credit card offers from the major banks, including American Express, Barclays, Chase, Citi, Discover, and others. CreditCards.com is owned by Bankrate.com.
I started Fishing4Deals because other blogs were not meeting my needs, and I figured there were others out there in the same boat. I wanted to know the pros and cons of various travel deals, the downsides and risks, as well as the advantages. I wanted to provide original content on topics that were not being covered elsewhere: the travel credit card deals you haven’t heard of; redemption tips and tricks; Priceline sweet spots and bidding strategies; industry analyses; domestic travel deals; and unique or quirky attractions.
I wanted to write a blog that a family with an interest in budget travel might benefit from; authentic advice for people who want to travel where they want, and when they want, on a budget. I wanted to share information about free and fun things to do. I am learning as I go.
First class travel is not my thing. I’m not interested in the micro details of in-flight meals or hotel rooms that others seek out. Luxury travel reports may inspire people to apply for credit cards, but it is not realistic for the average family with limited time, money, and flexibility.
I travel to see family and friends, for adventure and inspiration, to have new experiences, and to learn about the world. To me:
It’s not the journey, it’s the destination.
I have taken a pledge to Blog with Integrity:
By displaying the Blog with Integrity badge or signing the pledge, I assert that the trust of my readers and the blogging community is important to me.
I treat others respectfully, attacking ideas and not people. I also welcome respectful disagreement with my own ideas.
I believe in intellectual property rights, providing links, citing sources, and crediting inspiration where appropriate.
I disclose my material relationships, policies and business practices. My readers will know the difference between editorial, advertorial, and advertising, should I choose to have it. If I do sponsored or paid posts, they are clearly marked.
When collaborating with marketers and PR professionals, I handle myself professionally and abide by basic journalistic standards.
I always present my honest opinions to the best of my ability.
I own my words. Even if I occasionally have to eat them.
I would love to hear from my readers on all this. Is this blog meeting your needs? What do you want to read about? What are your views on advertising?
As you know from the comments I have posted, I do like your blog specifically because you do not focus on first class everything. I totally agree that points may be most valuable to get you to a place you want to go, even if it means – horrors! – going in coach. We’ll be doing just that on a trip to Israel and Istanbul where we’ll travel coach (and an awful itinerary!) but it will get us there. We’ll stay in the studio flat we’ve stayed in before for $65/night in Jerusalem but will enjoy 2 free nights in a Club Carlson hotel in TLV. No it is not the Maldives, but I am delighted to have a view room in TLV in a good enough hotel, with enough points left in Club Carlson for 2 more free nights in San Francisco. I frankly do not care that the SF hotel is will give us a basic, non-view room – 2 free nights in a great city are enough for me. In Istanbul we decided on an airbnb place – it’s a great value – an entire apartment in the area we wanted, and a 24/7 concierge, with is rare with airbnb listings. Much better deal than a chain hotel, to my mind, for this part of the trip. Of course we will get points for the payment, though!
I say keep exploring how “regular” people travel. And I will happily give you the clicks if and when I need something that can give you a commission. Thanks for spelling it out so well.
Best,
TWA44
TWA44, Wow this sounds like a fantastic trip! I have never tried Airbnb or VRBO so I am most intrigued. I love the idea of renting a flat so you don’t have to eat all your meals out. And 4 nights of free hotels via Club Carlson is terrific, not to mention your plane tickets!! Sometimes even an awful itinerary has the advantage of giving you a chance to stretch your legs.
Turkey is on my bucket list. I’ve been to Israel three times — twice as a teenager, and once as an adult. On my third trip I had good luck staying in a Kibbutz Hotel outside Jerusalem. Actually, it was far outside Jerusalem, so not so great for sightseeing, but with a large swimming pool for relaxing. I also got a room in a monastery in the city, which was more convenient, but had an early curfew like a hostel.
Thank you Fishing4Deals. I really enjoy reading your site. What I find less appealing about all the other flashy blog sites is that they seem to be far from an ordinary person’s situation. I do not claim to not have a good job, but unfortunately I do not have the luxury to travel all the time on someone else’s budget racking up millions of points. Rather, I have to make do with my situation and opt in for discounts and occassionally spoil myself with a first class ticket. Believe me I love first class and all the in-flight meals, but if I only flew first class I could only afford 1 trip.
Your posts are very simple. I recently started my own blog primarily to share my passion for travel and deals with friends and the random straggler that happens to stumble upon my site. I am a novice with both blogging and in this hobby. I realize my weakness in writing and hope that it improves with time. One day I would like to match your succinct writing style. I have been in the affiliate business for years. However, it certainly gives me new perspective when you’re on the opposite end trying to learn from these websites. Reading a lot of other blogs left me the feeling that I was being taken advantage of, as if i was being sold snakesoil. I think making money online is fine as long as they stick to a reasonable code of personal ethics. I do appreciate your stance on blogging integrity and disclosure. You make a very visible effort to make your posts valuable to your readers, and I think posting your ads/affiliate links is 100% reasonable as you are deserving of monetary reward. Also, perusing your site at several different locations never showed any invasive video ads that bothered me.
By the way, how do you like wordpress? I am currently using blogspot but I’m wondering if there is a better blogging software I should be using before I build out my site further.
On a side note, I am intrigued by your experience with Priceline. I have had little to no experience with the website and frankly I always thought priceline spent all their money on ads and just overcharged their customers.
TWA44 thank you for mentioning airbnb. I have always been a bit hesitant to try it out since I have always used chain hotels, but I think it is a great idea and can end up being more affordable. I was also looking at another site homeaway.com – do you have an experience with that?
See my comment below – we’ve used a few of these sites but frankly I do not remember which besides VRBO and craigslist. But we have rented flats in Paris, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Miami, Sunriver, OR and now Istanbul. It has always worked out very well.
Voyaging Doc, Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I really like WordPress. It is pretty easy to get started on. I still haven’t figured out how to use plug-ins for things like the Facebook and Twitter buttons so those aspects are awkward on my site. I know the banner is way too big so I have to find a way to shrink it.
I have not used Homeaway.com. I heard there was another site called Couchsurfing.com. My neighbors have had very good luck with VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner). They typically travel with another couple to Italy and rent a small 2-bedroom villa. They have stayed in some beautiful places in Tuscan towns. They say it is far less expensive than staying in a hotel, especially when splitting the cost, and they get to meet more locals.
We’ve considered airbnb a few times but this is the first time we actually booked something with them. But we have often stayed in flats, which we find on craigslist and other sites like VRBO. At first I was reluctant to do it in Turkey, because we’ve never been there and speak no Turkish. But the flat we ultimately found is one of about 16 apartments that this host rents. He also has a regular hotel, across the street from the flats, so someone is always around and available to help with questions, concerns, etc. The reviews were uniformly positive. And the price – $836 for 8 nights for a flat with two bedrooms that can accommodate three people – was significantly better than any hotel we saw. The hotels we were considering seemed to have mostly small rooms, which works for a short stay but not for 8 nights. I can report back in September.
Couchsurfing is different – with that you stay on someone’s couch, extra bed or maybe floor, for free. My 20something son has had great luck with couchsurfing, but frankly, I am too old for that!
BTW, I too never noticed any invasive videos on your site. The one thing that bugs me is that when I comment, there is a lag in when the letters I key in show up on the screen. I am guessing it must be how my browser (Firefox) interacts with WordPress. Or who knows what, but it doesn’t happen when I comment on other blogs.
Thanks for letting me know that there is something buggy going on with the comments.
There is something very romantic about renting a flat, don’t you think? You can pretend that you live in Paris, or Istanbul, or Jerusalem — how exciting!
Well, it does have its pros and cons. The pro is absolutely the additional space, almost always for a lower price. The con is that, if the place you rent is actually someone’s home and not a rental they own, you are using/surrounded by someone’s personal items, which is different than a more impersonal hotel. And if the key doesn’t work, it can be a little more tricky to solve the problem!
Because my husband’s college professor schedule allows us to go places for longer times, but his college professor salary limits our travel budget, flats tend to work best for us – cheaper and more space to spread out in for the week/month (or two or three) we’ll be calling the flat home. Longest we have done it is four months; shortest is a week.
Airbnb also offers options where you can rent a room in someone’s primary residence while they are there. My daughter has done that, successfully, and it is even cheaper. But we prefer having the entire space to ourselves.