We're often asked why APW features Google ads (down a ways in the right hand sidebar.) Do we think we're going to get rich? Become the King of All Media? Launch an advertising juggernaut?

For the record, and in order: no, I still hold out hope, and of course not.

It all started when I read my Bestest Pal's blog (sadly, she's given up blogging; apparently she thinks her husband, two adorable kids, and actual real life are more worthy of her time than the lot of us out here are. Harrumph.) I noticed that when I clicked on a specific post, the Google ads eerily matched the post's content. So I'd click on her "The heirloom tomatoes are here" post, and sure enough, the ads were about tomato products. Uncanny! A little scary! And oddly compelling!

So it became sort of a game, and I had to have ads on my blog so I could see what Google came up with to go with my posts. And sure enough, concert ticket ads on the music posts, "Meet Democratic Singles" ads on the political stuff. And the ads on God's posts are a hoot and a holler.

Also, my profession is advertising and marketing, and I feel an obligation to the biz to have ads here. And too, the more I see what Google serves up in the Adsense space on the blog, the more I learn about how online advertising works. And the more I feel like, in some small way, I'm a part of the exciting, fast paced world of Internet Marketing!

But mostly, I want to meet Democratic singles.