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View Full Version : Advertising vs no advertising in woodworking magazines?



dennis thompson
12-29-2009, 7:19 AM
I subscribe to several woodworking magazines. Some seem to point out, as an advantage ,that they have no advertising. Frankly I have no trouble with advertising in my woodworking magazines & in fact enjoy looking at the the ads. I even have the ads turned on here at SMC. If I'm not interested in an ad I just don't look at it.(What I do find annoying are the ads on the internet which are flashing). What do you think?
Dennis

mike holden
12-29-2009, 8:12 AM
I find advertising useful - how else would I know about where to buy things?
I dont think that whether a magazine has ads or not is a great selling point to me.
However, a publication that is a pure reviewing type, such as reviews of vacation places, not having advertising is a possible plus - the review wont be skewed by advertising dollars. (well "wont" is perhaps too strong a word, but you get my meaning)
Mike

Mitchell Andrus
12-29-2009, 8:42 AM
I advertise in FWW (Stickley-style inlays and veneers - I know someone will ask) and I get a reasonable response. Personally, I'm one who browses the ads as I read through the articles. New products being brought to market tend to show up sooner or later and spark my creative juices even if I don't need that exact product or service.
.

Chris S Anderson
12-29-2009, 9:39 AM
I like magazine ads. Some of the photography of the hand tools are insipiring. I almost bought a Lie Nielsen calendar, but thought better of it - I can easily see the pretty tools in magazine ads.

Jim Rimmer
12-29-2009, 10:02 PM
I like the ads. It heps me find new sources, keeps me up on new products, and is sometimes as interesting (or more) than the articles.

Dave Lehnert
12-29-2009, 10:09 PM
Speaking of ads. How do I turn them on here at SMC? I see no ads at all.
I like to support the people who pay to advertise here.

Mitchell Andrus
12-30-2009, 8:43 AM
Speaking of ads. How do I turn them on here at SMC? I see no ads at all.
I like to support the people who pay to advertise here.

Sign out and enter as a guest. You don't see the ads because you are a contributor.
.

scott spencer
12-30-2009, 8:50 AM
I have no problem with ads, and rather enjoy some of the pics. Ads are a major source of income for a publication though. Without them, the subscribers pay the full shot.

Ads or not, I still take all reviews fairly lightly. It still boils down to another person's opinion, which may or may not agree with mine, depending on what's important to them or what influenced their view. There's also product variability, and method flaws that trickle into a review, so the review may not end up being overly representative of the results we might get. Having no ads also doesn't necessarily stop "incentives" or outright bribes from being involved. Then there's always the question of how or where the item being reviewed was sourced from...."juiced products" for review that are different from what's available to you and I on the shelves do happen. I suppose my skepticism is based on human flaws and human nature....honest mistakes happen, plus we see news headlines fueled by greed on a daily basis.

Myk Rian
12-30-2009, 9:28 AM
I'm thinking of dumping Wood magazine. Way too many ads.
Shop Notes and Popular Woodworking suit me just fine.

Matt Meiser
12-30-2009, 9:37 AM
Speaking of ads. How do I turn them on here at SMC? I see no ads at all.
I like to support the people who pay to advertise here.

User CP -> Edit Options -> Click Yes in the Advertisements section near the top of the page -> Click Save Changes on the bottom of the page.

That turns on the banner ads at the top, but not the Google ads that display inline.

Gene Howe
12-30-2009, 10:04 AM
Someone once said that he learned more from the ads than from the content of (insert a slick and polished WW mag name here).:D

I think ads are informative. I enjoy looking at them.

glenn bradley
12-30-2009, 10:22 AM
I enjoy reading about new and upcoming products. I do tend to stay away from high priced mags that are 25% advertising. As stated, ads or not I take the reviews with a grain of salt. I had thought some mags might skew their review results due to their advertisers but perhaps not. Mags that don't advertise have some odd results at times too.

I tend to pick on FWW because their "winners" at times, review poorly in the article and they tend to contradict themselves between reviews. I am sure this happens elsewhere and am just as sure the reviews are given in good faith at the moment.

I will go along with the general dislike of pop-ups and of course . . . junk mail.

Lori Kleinberg
12-30-2009, 10:49 AM
I enjoy the ads in my woodworking magazines as long as it is not the majority of the content:rolleyes:. As others have said there are all sorts of tips, ideas, etc to be found in them.
I don't like them on SMC. If there is something good I will hear about it through other posts.
Note to paid advertisers: Thank you for supporting SMC with your ads. Even though contributors can turn off the ads you are still getting your money's worth because of the overwhelming number of members :eek:that do not have that option :D.

Pat Germain
12-30-2009, 12:32 PM
I like ads so long as they're relevant. Bring on the ads for new tools or woodworking products. I don't want to see anything about resorts/timeshares, "investment opportunities", "Make money working at home" offers, etc. Keep the ads on topic and I think most readers will be pleased.

scott spencer
12-30-2009, 3:08 PM
I like ads so long as they're relevant. Bring on the ads for new tools or woodworking products. I don't want to see anything about resorts/timeshares, "investment opportunities", "Make money working at home" offers, etc. Keep the ads on topic and I think most readers will be pleased.

Good point! I'm definitely more likely to enjoy a wwing ad than "other"...

Jon Grider
12-31-2009, 9:51 AM
I used to subscribe to FWW. FWW kept increasing their price and decreasing the content of quality articles, or so it seemed to me. I got tired of paying 7 bucks for a publication that seemed to be mostly ads.