With the holidays giving me some time off from my day job, I’ve had the time to push out a number of big changes to I Loot the Body. Most of those changes revolve around the magic item generator, but as you may have noticed, one significant change has been the decision to include ads on this website. I want to be as transparent as possible with this project, so I’ve written this post to explain my reasoning as well as to reassure you that my focus will always be on providing free tools, resources, and inspiration along with an optimal user experience.
I am truly passionate about this project. So much so that I am devoting an increasing number of hours each week to developing tools, writing posts, and maintaining/improving the site. However, this passion project is but one of many things in my life. It competes with my family, my day job, my own D&D games, other hobbies, and everything else that life throws at me. Despite all the different directions I get pulled in, my time spent working on this site has given me so much joy that I have been happily devoting late nights, weekends, and almost all of my free time to it.
I don’t mind putting in long hours towards this project - as I’ve said, it’s something I’m passionate about. However, like many people working soul-crushing corporate jobs, I have long dreamt about making a living from something that I actually enjoy. I believe that this project has the potential to make that dream a reality, or at least allow me to learn the skills I need to move into a career in which I actually get to create things that interest me and benefit others. Ads are a first step towards this goal.
I have brainstormed many different revenue streams based around this website including creating a Patreon, a youtube channel, a podcast, a merch store, and several more. Most of these options require a significant time and monetary commitment on my part, locking content behind a paywall, and/or having a clearly defined scope of the content I want to create. This site is still in its infancy and I am still experimenting with different types of content. As a result, most of those options simply aren’t realistic at this time. Ads provide a relatively simple method to start generating the funds I would need to pursue some of those other options.
My priority for this site will always be on making useful content and maintaining a great user experience. I will be limiting the number of ads on each page to ensure that the content is not difficult to read or access. Additionally, I will not be using annoying pop up ads, full page ads between page loads, ads that play video or audio, or any of the more frustrating ad formats out there. I’m still new to this so I will likely be experimenting with different methods and I may not always get it right, but I will always try to maintain the best user experience that I can.
Privacy is important and I understand that many people have concerns over data collection for targeted ads and other purposes. I do not collect personal information for use on this site. However, I do use Google AdSense to provide the ads that you see as well as Google Analytics to collect anonymized data to monitor and improve the site. This article provides more information on how Google uses your information. The bottom of that article also provides some options on how to control the information that Google collects.
I also believe that it is your prerogative to choose not to see ads if you so wish. I will be working on introducing an ad-free version of the site available to those who would rather support my work directly, likely using Patreon. In the meantime, if you’d rather not see ads on my site, I encourage you to use one of the many ad-blocking programs out there. I myself have used the uBlock Origin plugin for Google Chrome in the past and have confirmed that it successfully blocks the ads on this site. No hard feelings if you want to go that route.
As always, please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns. I want this site to grow and adapt based on the feedback of its users. I appreciate you all being here and for your continued support of this project. Happy looting and I wish you all the best in the upcoming new year!