Advertising in Blogs

Just out of curiosity, I wonder what others think about having ads posted in blogs. Some have them, many don't, including this one. Personally, I'm against it--not that I mind people making money through the effort they put into blogging, but because I find the placement of these ads often detracts and distracts from the content of the blog itself. I often find myself having to scroll down or hunt for the real content in the face of ads all over the place. If the ads could just be more discreet, but by its very raison d’être an ad cannot be discreet.

In addition I see blogs as having a certain aesthetic which sets them apart from a lot of other things on the net. One component of this aestheic is the non-commercial element. We know when we read a blog that it is the genuine expression of an individual attempting to either share a part of himself/herself or at least contribute to dialog on an important issue. This is the beauty of blogging and advertizing sort of takes away from that.