Avinash Kaushik created a (new to me) term the other day. In his email on Friday, he coined the term Taboolaing to refer to the use of the chumboxes offered by dreadful companies like Taboola to destroy one’s brand equity.

Yeah, you get a short-term–and very small–bump in revenue when you include a chumbox in your content. But what happens to all that carefully-created content above it? All the great writing and beautiful photography is negated when the reader gets to the bottom of the page and finds out how to best empty their bowels, see the two-faced kitten, or won’t believe it when…

Taboolaing isn’t just about chumboxing readers. It’s when you bend the rules to send that email, one more push notification, etc. You know all the tricks. You know how to do the LTV calculations.

But you have to say no. The loss of brand equity never shows up in the LTV calculations. The slight uptick in email unsubscribes or push notification opt-outs never seems to hurt. But it chips away at your credibility and authority. And, ultimately, as a publisher or a human, that’s all you have.

Takeaway: Respect yourself and your art. Say no to Taboolaing your users, even in these times. Respect them, and win.