Tumbling ads.

The c.e.o. of Tumblr, David Karp, has been concentrating on growing its user base, and is doing quite well at it.  There were 58 million unique visitors in March, compared to 26 million a year ago.

         But he doesn't want to sell ads on users' blogs. Even though Tumblr as over 53 million blogs on the site, Karp said the company was "pretty opposed to advertising". He said that "it really turns our stomachs".

         Good for him. He may be right that bloggers won't like ads on their works, but maybe he should give them an income-sharing option the way Google does. Google gets a lot of takers, and nobody's the worse for it.

         So far I haven't accepted the notion of ads for this site. I use this space to critique ads, and don't  want to feel inhibited. Maybe that's a mistake.

         Ads are everywhere these days. Because newspapers seem to be slowly fading and social media are taking up so much of our time and attention, advertisers are looking for places to promote their goods. Ads are atop taxis, and inside. You can't even go to a hotel bathroom without seeing ads.

         Tumbler will probably give in over time. They'll do well. The question for advertisers is whether Tumbler is a good place to advertise. Will they get a good return on dollar spent? Will they get quality responses?

         Tumbler says it will try to sell a small number of ads on its directory and dashboard pages.  Instead of getting nauseous over advertising, Tumbler will have to get serious before advertisers will take them for a tumble.

         I hope they do. I like Tumblr, especially with all the "e's" I don't have to type.