We interrupt The Map Room for a pledge break.

As you may know, I’ve wanted The Map Room to go ad-free for some time. But much as I’d like to get rid of them, Google ads represent something like 60 percent of my website revenue. I launched a Patreon page last year, and I’m deeply gratified by the support I’ve received from my subscribers, but to replace my ad revenue I need there to be more of you.

So I’m launching a campaign this month. Here’s what’s happening:

I’m deactivating Google ads for the entire month of March. If enough new people join my Patreon as paid members by the end of the month, the ads will stay off for good. The goal is to reach a total of 22 paid members by March 31—The Map Room’s 22nd anniversary. That number would represent roughly what I’ve been making, on average, from Google ads in recent years—an admittedly modest amount, but it would enable me to walk away from the ad ecosystem completely and still pay the bills.

Bonus content! I’ve always been an observer and a reporter, not a producer of my own map content, so I’ve always been at a loss to come up with bonus material. It turns out I do have something, though. If I reach my goal of 22 paid Patreon members by March 31, not only will ads stay off for everyone, but paid members (regardless of level) will get exclusive access to a presentation on fantasy maps.

“The Territory Is Not the Map: Exploring the Fantasy Map Style” is a talk I gave at a science fiction convention in 2019. It was not recorded at the time, so I’ll have to re-record it to present it to you here. As a result it won’t likely be ready until late May or June (I am heavily spoken for in March and April, and I’ll need to figure out how to record it before I do it).

The presentation only happens if my Patreon reaches 22 paid members by March 31. If I fall just a bit short, ads will still stay off for everyone, but the presentation won’t happen.

Note: Subscriptions via Patreon’s iPhone app will be subject to Apple’s 30% in-app purchase fee. To ensure those funds go to me instead of Apple, subscribe via the Patreon website.

If I only get a few new subscribers, or no new subscribers at all, I’ll be in a bit of a conundrum. Do I put the ads back in a more limited way? Do I start winding down the whole operation? (It has been 22 years.) I honestly don’t know. The bills have to be paid somehow, but I really, really want to get rid of the ads.

Thing is, there is a logic to my running ads here: about half of my traffic comes from search, which is to say, not regular readers. Left to its own devices, Google’s Auto Ads system can generate quite a bit of revenue, several times more than I’m trying to raise here—but does so by just painting the site with ads. (I remember the days when Google enforced a limit of three ads per page: I am old.) That’s not just annoying, it’s insulting to readers. And considering I use an ad-blocker myself, and am irritated every time a site blocks me from viewing a page until I turn my ad-blocker off, I’d rather not do that to my readers, regardless of whether they’re first-time or regular.

And on an editorial level, given that there will be times when I need to be critical of Google Maps, it might not be a great idea to rely on Google for so much of my site income. I can’t point to a time in the past 20 years where I held my fire because I didn’t want to jeopardize my ad income, but can I rule out that I did it subconsciously?

In any fanbase, only a small number will have the enthusiasm or the wherewithal to support a project with their own money. And The Map Room’s fanbase, however stalwart, isn’t huge. I’ve tried funding appeals before, when the audience was larger—limited success. Are there enough potential supporters out there among my regular readers to keep this project going, and without relying on ad revenue? This is, I guess, where I find out. I only need 22 of you.

[Changed the title from “Pledge Drive” to “Membership Drive” because it’s more precise and this isn’t PBS.]