We love the interwebz! Back in the early days of this site, the internet was new, and primarily information. It was even called “The Information Superhighway” – remember those days?
As time has progressed, the internet has grown enormously, and more and more commercialism has crept in. Actually, it’s taken over almost completely! It’s become increasingly difficult to find actual helpful or accurate information that’s not tainted by financial interests.
How many times have we clicked on what looked like a promising link, only to find it was a shill for some dubious product, or the site was full of wild, unsubstantiated claims, or it *seemed* legit, but down deep it turned out to be just another scam?
Ineffective Disclosure Regulations & Hidden Agendas
There have been laws enacted to combat the false claims and the product “reviews” and “endorsements” that were really just an advertising agreement. Websites are now required to disclose affiliate links and advertising. But even now, many sites do not follow the law, do not disclose their associations or affiliate agreements, or claim to be independent but are actually owned by a company or product manufacturer.
We’ve Always Been Focused on Support & Information… But a Site’s Gotta Pay the Bills!
For many many years, HerpeSite.org refused to accept advertising of any kind to avoid the possibility of contamination or the perception that our opinions were influenced by association to a product or company. But financial reality set in, and in order to maintain the site, we decided some time ago to accept ads. It’s not much, but it does pay our hosting and keeps us in coffee on those late nights when the site has crashed and we need to rebuild it from scratch.
We’re VERY selective about our advertisers sponsors, and will not endorse or promote a product or company that we don’t believe in. We’ve blocked dozens of ads from a network provider that we feel are inappropriate and don’t add value to our visitors. If you see an ad you find questionable, please let us know.
The Good, The Bad, and The Completely Unscrupulous Scammers
Meanwhile, we did a search recently, and found so many dubious sites, and many that are just a waste of time. And some great ones, too. How can you tell the difference quickly? Sometimes, you have to do a little digging! We decided to do some digging and post our findings and opinions here as an additional resource. Let us know what you think, or if you want to add anything.
