Advertising Added to Public Websites

While governments are dealing with some serious budget cuts all across the nation, they are now looking for different ways to create more money, especially since budget cuts need to be made. In looking for different ways to make money, many governments are choosing to allow advertisements to be featured on their websites.

Charlie Green, the Clerk of Courts for Lee County, recently allowed national advertisements to be featured on the website or his office with the use of the Google Adsense program, in hopes of getting local advertisers to take interest. The Google Adsense program has been in existence for quite a while and has proven to be quite profitable for many people. The program allows people to add advertisements to their website and in return, they can receive income based on the number of clicks an advertisement receives and based on the number of page impressions for the website as a whole. There are tons of people who rely on this program to earn passive income and it makes sense for governments to do the same, especially during a time in which budget cuts are being made. Green was not the first to do this, as the clerk and property appraiser for Brevard County and Alachua County both chose to go this route as well.

The deputy clerk for the Lee office, Linda Doggett, is hoping to be able to generate $100,000 per year as it is much needed. She is not sure how it will work but any amount of income earned will be more income than they are currently receiving right now, so it is definitely worth a shot. The revenue earned would be a good way for the website technology to improve. She points out that they are simply trying to coup after dealing with budget cuts and knows that any bit of income can help. On average, LeeClerk.org receives about 5,000 views from visitors each day. The price per ad varies from anywhere between $62 and nearly $1500 per month, ultimately depending on the particular package that is chosen. Animated advertisements cost $50 extra.  Pop-up advertisements can be displayed on the website but there are certain advertisements that have been banned. Any advertisement relating to sex, religion, politics, alcohol and tobacco, gambling, or guns cannot be displayed on the website.

Some argue that having a website with advertisements is a sure way to clutter up the website while promoting others. But on the other hand, some believe it is simply necessary as a way of earning revenue during a period in time when budget cuts are constantly being made. And even still, placing advertisements on a government website is not always the easiest of tasks.