Sponsored Links

Sponsored links - a blessing and a curse both at once. They are great in helping pay the bills, but they just don't belong in some places.

When I was a member of EntreCard (yes, I actually was a member), they rolled out sponsored links. They way EntreCard introduced sponsored links even turned me off. My disdain for EntreCard's approach to sponsored links really drove how I implemented them in the AFTR widget.

Most importantly, for me, was the ability to turn off the sponsored links instantly. Two ways are provided:

1. Through style sheets
   .AFTR2spon { display: none; }
   
2. Adding a NoAds clause to the script line.

Here are two widgets, one with the sponsored links and one without. First, the 125 widget with sponsored links:



Now for the 125 wide widget without the sponsored links:



Now for the actual HTML. For the regular widget, with the sponsored links:

<script src="http://tsswd.net/aftr2.xjs?ID+1" type="text/javascript"></script>

And without the sponsored links:

<script src="http://tsswd.net/aftr2.xjs?ID+1+NoAds" type="text/javascript"></script>

ID is the member's site ID. The NoAds clause on the script line takes effect immediately. While I understand the need to pay the bills, I understand the importance of a blog owner not wanting sponsored links and I make sure AFTR honors that.