Last month I blogged about a puppy mill in Alabama. A person commented on that item, correctly pointing out that the Google ads appearing on DoggieNews feature links to puppy mills.

I also posted a comment that I would monitor these ads and block any advertisers that buy ads from Google relating to the sales of puppies online. So far, I've blocked a long list of advertisers. It's interesting to note that among those who buy such ads are Yahoo and eBay. No, these are not referring to small business owners who set up shop on Yahoo and eBay, but Yahoo and eBay themselves. Go figure.

But for every advertiser I block, another shows up. And Google only allows me to block a maximum of 200 advertisers. So, it's like using your fingers to plug holes in a dike, and finding that new holes show up everywhere else.

And then a couple days ago, Gina raised the bar by distancing herself from Google ads.

Today, I replaced Google with Fastclick. So far, I'm disappointed. The only ads appearing from Fastclick are public service announcements, which generate no income for me. These ads are displayed when the advertising network has no other advertisers to fill my available inventory. Great.

The thing is that publishing websites is my sole source of income. I don't have another job. I'm a professional blogger. If I don't sell advertising space on my websites, then I can't eat. Thus far, Google has been the only solution that can provide me with paying advertisers.

For the most part, the advertisers on Google are not selling puppies. Most of them sell pet products. But the puppy millers are ruining an effective advertising delivery model. Maybe this is why online dog news is still an underserved market. There's just no other way to monetize it.

A lot of bloggers place affiliate links for books on Amazon.com. I've done this on DoggieNews, and many other of my websites. It doesn't generate much income. In fact, I haven't received a check from Amazon in maybe two years. They only pay when your balance due reaches $100.00. Affiliate links for other merchants like PETCO, PETsMART, SitStay, and all the others, haven't earned me one penny.

I still don't want to support puppy mills. But if things don't work out, then maybe someone else can take over DoggieNews, and run it as a hobby.