Thank you clicks don’t count

Seth Godin says in his post this Friday:

If you like what you’re reading, click an ad to say thanks.

Pretty simple, but not an accepted online protocol, at least not yet.

If every time you read a blog post or bit of online content you enjoyed you clicked on an ad to say thanks, the economics of the web would change immediately. You don’t have to buy anything (though it’s fine if you do). You just have to honor the writer by giving them a click.

The idea is good, except that it won’t work.

There is an economy behind ads. If the value of a click decreases (it decreases when you click for giving a thank you), the click generates less revenue for the advertiser, and in turn the publisher is paid less. This means that the revenue of the publisher remains the same if you click genuinely or otherwise.

You can cheat for some days (may be), but then the numbers adjust themselves.