hey part people.

Just thought I'd ask what you guys think about putting advertising (like Google AdSense or Banners) on a company website that offers professional web hosting, development and/or design?

Not at all... only in very small amounts... or yes, go for your life and supplement your income.

. :eek4:

I think it depends.

Lets say you are going to advertise on another web hosting company in my opinion it would look back for both companys but if you are saying if its ok to advertiseon googleadsense then yes it is because many many companys do it or even buying banners at other companys site that do non hosting like if you own a web hosting company and you advertise on like a game acrade site or something then that would work.

Just my opinion.

If I go to a business website to look at their products, seeing Google ads would make me instantly go elsewhere in most cases. It is one of the most unprofessional things you could do to a site, it shows that you are trying to scrape every single penny you can and gives me the impression that your main business is struggling.

Advertising has become a bad taste in people's mouths over the last 5-6 years with Google and others and their equivilent spam. I agree with FLH-Wullie. If I went to a professional's website and saw advertisement, I'd start to think they aren't either a.) making any money, or b.) don't care about their appearance.

Instead of pasting advertisements all over a corporate page, a better option would be to better craft your page to make a more positive reaction and to streamline things and make more sales. Google ads or similar on a corporate site should not even be an option.

I agree with FLH-Wullie, if I go to a professional site and see all kinds of ads, Google or other, I'm gone. Especially one that has that stupid talking Pal Talk thing!

I think in very limited cases it is okay. For example if a company supports a charitable cause such as MDA or AIDs to name a couple and wishes to link to or promote that cause. Even then it must be placed carefully and tastefully.

"offers professional web hosting"
I don't see how ads and professional go together?

I've yet to see someone in the hosting industry pull off having ads on their site and still look professional. But here is a link to show how someone in another industry is doing it...
http://www.successfuloffice.com/call-center-overview.htm

I almost bought from them and the decision not to use them had nothing to do with them having ads or not. I simply decided to handle calls in house.

Just about all my clients are word of mouth and I do encourage others to compare us with different services. So I could probably add ads, explain it just like they've done and get away with it. But so far I've opted not to do it.

Advertisements will distract potential customers and possibly lead them away from your website. If your website is trying to sell something, then that's BAD.

What if you found a company offering a service that maybe complements what your company offers? In that case, it may be in their benefit to purchase advertising from you, it would avoid any conflict of interest as well. I haven't seen this much in web hosting, but it's something that can work.

What if you found a company offering a service that maybe complements what your company offers? In that case, it may be in their benefit to purchase advertising from you, it would avoid any conflict of interest as well. I haven't seen this much in web hosting, but it's something that can work.

In that case a page on your site describing the product and explaining how it would be of benefit to your customers would work, but the OP was specifially talking about banners and Adsense type adverts and those are cheap looking on a business website.

I agree with IncognitoNetworks. I went to Futuremark the other day to download 3DMark06 as I've recently bought a new video card so I can test it, and there are Google Ads on the right side... well it may not be all that bad though... as you can only see them on the ORB pages.

what pro company use's it's .com for corporate crap, they have links to it.