Thread: AD's on SRP?

I see a blank bar labeled 'sponsored links'. I do run adblock plus on firefox 2.0 and SpySweeper, fwiw. Maybe one of them is blocking the ads for me.



Wayne

edit: Yup, there's that blank bar just below. Hmmmph!

I don't mind the ads. It costs money to keep things running.

People put a lot of stock in the guys here, and I'd hate for someone to end up with a crappy product (such as a Venus razor) just because it was advertised here.

I suppose the other option is to find out what it costs a year to run the thing. Not sure about the legality, but maybe some of our vendor(s) could offer up product for a raffle, with the proceeds going to fund the site.

There was a guy offering all the USGS contour maps of the entire US online. He recently took them offline, and held them "hostage" until enough money was secured to fund their release, which was basically the purchase price.

We are looking at some ad options. More then it costs money to run the site, Joe and I spend a TON of time working on the site. It takes a lot of stuff in the background to bring all of these new features online, and make sure they work.. Add to all that, it's not our full time gig.. I work two jobs, go to school along with everything else.. Same thing with Joe.. So.. enough bellyaching.. Whatever we do, and we're still talking and expirementing.. It will be for the good of the site!! If you see an ad that shouldn't be there, send me the URL that it goes to.. I'll get it blocked.. No venus razor ads around here!!

Thanks
David

David, so how much would our operational costs be? I'm sure that if we took up a collection we could cover the expenses without polluting the site with ads.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

David, so how much would our operational costs be? I'm sure that if we took up a collection we could cover the expenses without polluting the site with ads.

I'm going to try to stay our of the ad-fight. But I would like to share two personal events that shed some positive light on having ads... as a minimum, they bear some consideration...

1. Since the Google ads started a couple days ago I've actually clicked a few out of genuine interest. They were sites I didn't even know existed, so it has broadened my choices in the future.
2. A few years back I was active on a site that had banner advertising. While some of the ads were just plain annoying with loud colors and animation, most were unobtrusive enough that they seemed to just blend into the background after a while. Several of the advertisers were also members of the site and occasionally ran terrific 1-day "while-they-last" specials on electronic equipment. Fortunately my subconscious continued to see those ads... otherwise I would never have seen the special deals and been able to purchase several of my stereo components at rock bottom prices.

Ilija, I'm not defending the ads per se... I'm just saying they aren't necessarily all bad, at least for me.

I had to switch over to the Steel Blue to see what all the "fuss" is about. While no advertising is nice, I also understand that there is a cost to running and maintaining the site. I would have no issues with any advertising. I participate in numerous shaving forums, none of which currently have advertising on them. However, tastefully done and non-offensive, I say go for it. I'm benefiting from this site, and would gladly pay a monthly stipend to see it continue, but there are those who either can't or won't volunteer to do so. Underwriting the cost just makes sense to me.

RT

I'll accept them if coming up with the scratch becomes an issue. However I'd like to see if we can cover the expenses and keep the site ad-free (excluding real members of the community in the BST/VC forums). Having a ballpark figure in mind can help us estimate the amount of contribution necessary to keep the site running.

I don't like how invasive it looks right now, pasted over the banner, but I told Joe that already. I hate them for that reason. If they could be better integrated with the page they'd bother me less.

X

Here's a happy compromise, except it eats all the admin's time to implement

What about two membership levels, basic & paid? Basic is free and has advertising. Paid members contribute annually and have an ad-free ride.

My thoughts on this subject are, I dislike them when viewing the forum but if the Makers/moderators want them on here then thats what happens, becuase without them there may not be a site in the future. I have to say they have been on here for a week or so and i do not even know what they are promoting, i dislike that they come up every 5 posts and especially dislike the first set of links between the first and second post but having them down the side or at the top somewhere seems ok.
I would also love to know how much this costs to keep running a month, or westher we could donate money to Dave and Azjoe for keeping this running for all us Enthusiasts.

oh and can we put a spell checker on here