Banner ads through major ad networks are targeted and efficient. I’ll give them that. But they all enable retargeting, which means advertisers can track your behavior across the internet long after you leave my site. I work in the system. I understand how the system works. And I don’t want to participate in it on my own property. That should tell you a whole lot about the trust I don’t have in these fuckers.

There’s a second reason, too: I don’t want products on my site that I have no control over. When you run ads through a network, you don’t get to pick what shows up. I could have anything from a sketchy supplement to a politician I can’t stand sitting right next to my content. As a site owner, I’d like to know everything that’s on my site. Strange concept, I know.

So here’s what I do instead.

I use ShopMy, which is an affiliate linking service. On this site, you’ll find a link to shop things that I actually own and actually like. If I’m telling you a product is good, it’s because I use it. That’s my voice as an endorsement, not an algorithm placing a banner.

You’ll find stuff like the robot sweeper/mopper thing I use because my floors are perpetually dirty with three kids in the house. You’ll find Nike Cortez, which I wear constantly because they go with everything. I can wear them around the house, to work, running errands with the kids. They’re stylish without trying too hard and genuinely affordable. You’ll find things I’ve bought for my kids, like the bunk bed I actually researched, and my dresser.

I’m a big fan of cooking, so there’s a lot of kitchen stuff in there. The knife sharpener I swear by, because you should always keep your knives sharp and most people don’t. Kitchen gadgets I think are criminally underrated, like a garlic press. You should own a garlic press. I’m not going to argue about this.

If you decide to buy any of those things through my links, I make a small amount of money from the affiliate commission. That’s it. No tracking you around the internet, no mystery ads, no pretending I use a VPN I’ve never opened.

I think this is better than having random ads for VPNs, password managers, and whatever else the ad network decides to serve you. Those products might have some utility. I’m not saying they’re all bad. I just don’t want to be a random VPN shill. I’d rather tell you about the garlic press.