Try a Google blog search for "Ad Free Blogs", and it is easy to see that there hasn't been much of a buzz regarding this trend for at least a year now.  The site adfreeblog.org was started by illustrator/blogger Keri Smith and artist Jeff Pitcher where they offered a range of identifiable buttons that bloggers could add to their own sites as a declaration of the following:

1. That I am opposed to the use of corporate advertising on blogs.

2. That I feel the use of corporate advertising on blogs devalues the medium.

3. That I do not accept money in return for advertising space on my blog.

signed,

the author

The site's FAQ goes into considerable depth regarding Smith and Pitcher's overriding belief that advertising money was shaping blog content and quality - to the ultimate detriment of the medium. Steve Lambert reflects concisely at stayfreemagazine.org.  But whilst trying to find any updated information on Ad Free Blogs I was surprised that no-one had mentioned it recently - and having an interest in why certain bloggers decide to or to not advertise, I decided to find out.

I think the first identifiable problem is knowing exactly what an Ad Free Blog is.  At its heart, the original notion was that AFB content was not meant to have been shaped, in opinion or form, by money.  But is this to say that a blog with many posts centered around consumer interests (with links back to commercial sites), but which haven't been paid for by the businesses mentioned, are going to be of significantly higher quality.  I doubt it.  Therefore, wouldn't it be more worthwhile if an Ad Free Blog simply did not contain any links back to commercial sites?

The second problem is knowing exactly what Ad Free Blogs is.  Was it a scheme?  A service?  A movement?  Each button was a symbol, sure, but was it ever considered a badge of honour for bloggers to have the owl and the speech bubble in prime position on the Blogroll?  Could it have become that?  Maybe if the community/network element was added to the scheme (with all AFBs in one place), then bloggers would've been more inclined to jump in.

It seems that if it had become more of a movement, then the service element would have become stronger also, and something could have really begun.  Any blog visitor, whether they are looking for top quality, or for someone to link from, would know even before reading anything if they were in the right place - in a similar way to page rank, and its use as a quick preliminary judgement.  Still, the internet is the perfect medium for such a revolution to take off - I'm just surprised it hasn't yet.