Josh thanks for working on this and dealing with the fallout etc. there is no free lunch.
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We're Going to Try Some Banner Ads for Guest (Not Logged In) Users
- Thread starter Jwest7788
- Start date
Josh thanks for working on this and dealing with the fallout etc. there is no free lunch.
I feel your pain Josh. Thanks for giving it a damn good try.
And thanks for taking the heat without one single complaint. I must say that I was VERY impressed. A lesser man would have bitten back. For a while I was worried that you might. Wish I lived close enough to invite you over for steak and beer.
When the dust settles on the membership's, I'll sign up for more.
Former Member
Guest
@Jwest7788 I think part of the objection to advertisement is the in your face intrusion of visiting the site. As an example that POP UP that covered the whole page during page views, just a complete turn off as it steals precious time and I have to get past it to view the site. For me and I suspect others this is game changer to drive me from a site.
Now a small banner on the page top and bottom, while there does hinder view and experience, and god forbid has an ad that catches my eye I might follow it, but importantly does not intrude on my experience.
Example www.skitalks.com
As to yearly vs monthly, I'll pay yearly for an experience without NO auto renewal. Is a deal breaker because it relies on auto renewal and this can get expensive quickly when fees suddenly change (been there done that ain't doing that again..... EVER!) The second down fall is increased cost (ie banking fees etc) for this service. This in turn drives up the cost (in a lot of cases for both ends, buyer and seller). As the saying goes getting nickle and dimed into the poor house should be avoided.
To be fair I am not anti-ad as there are costs (and liabilities) to the site and should be offset but at the same token careful on what you are doing as it can backfire costing you more than you expect.
Now a small banner on the page top and bottom, while there does hinder view and experience, and god forbid has an ad that catches my eye I might follow it, but importantly does not intrude on my experience.
Example www.skitalks.com
As to yearly vs monthly, I'll pay yearly for an experience without NO auto renewal. Is a deal breaker because it relies on auto renewal and this can get expensive quickly when fees suddenly change (been there done that ain't doing that again..... EVER!) The second down fall is increased cost (ie banking fees etc) for this service. This in turn drives up the cost (in a lot of cases for both ends, buyer and seller). As the saying goes getting nickle and dimed into the poor house should be avoided.
To be fair I am not anti-ad as there are costs (and liabilities) to the site and should be offset but at the same token careful on what you are doing as it can backfire costing you more than you expect.
Please excuse the delay, I stepped away from the forum for a couple of weeks for a bit of time to clear my head.
And yeah, I have enough things to worry about without starting a good ol' fashioned flame-war. haha
If you're ever in Calgary, shoot me a note, and we can grab a bite. Equally, if I am headed to any other province, I'll make a point to post it to the forum. Lots of folk to meet! haha
(We want registrants anyways.)
The whole week with ads net $30, of which almost half came from the first day everyone had to deal with ads.
As I turned the knobs down more and more, we were down to <$0.50 a day, and the usability was still crap.
@Degen, your approach is good for usability, but we're not large/trafficked enough to support it. This was a primary contributor to me pulling the ads completely and is also why I turned my attention back to the membership levels.
However, we're small enough that things like subtle banner ads can have a meaningful impact on solving these concerns.
So yeah, not totally sure of our game plan here, but we're just going to keep forging along for now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Probably browser caching. Please empty your browser cache and have a quick review. Let me know if anything is out of place.
Appreciate the kind comments. Have to give things a try, or else we'll never know for sure!
And yeah, I have enough things to worry about without starting a good ol' fashioned flame-war. haha
If you're ever in Calgary, shoot me a note, and we can grab a bite. Equally, if I am headed to any other province, I'll make a point to post it to the forum. Lots of folk to meet! haha
Yeah, I am going to leave this up for the moment. Even though we've removed the ads themselves, the psychology of the banner makes sense.
(We want registrants anyways.)
It's part of what the testing with ads revealed to me. We're in an awkward spot where we're not large enough (not enough website traffic) that a couple of elegantly placed ads actually has a meaningful impact as far as revenue goes.
The whole week with ads net $30, of which almost half came from the first day everyone had to deal with ads.
As I turned the knobs down more and more, we were down to <$0.50 a day, and the usability was still crap.
@Degen, your approach is good for usability, but we're not large/trafficked enough to support it. This was a primary contributor to me pulling the ads completely and is also why I turned my attention back to the membership levels.
Our group's forum is definitely in an "awkward toddler" phase. We're large enough that the admin/mod team is constantly speaking about incorporation, accounting, insurance, and admin liability, and with more and more issues popping up for items like copyright infringement and user safety specific to the content on the forum; issues which have clear potential for damages to be asserted against the forum.
However, we're small enough that things like subtle banner ads can have a meaningful impact on solving these concerns.
So yeah, not totally sure of our game plan here, but we're just going to keep forging along for now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This is what I'm seeing after clearing my browser cache.....
@Susquatch @David_R8 what do the Account Upgrade options look like to you? Josh tells me they should have reverted to the original options?
@YYCHM @David_R8 @Jwest7788
Mine look the same as yours Craig.
My renewal is coming due shortly, so I too have an interest in seeing them get reverted back to what they used to be.
Mine look the same as yours Craig.
My renewal is coming due shortly, so I too have an interest in seeing them get reverted back to what they used to be.
Well.... I sure don't see that $60/yr option?
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Did you already buy a one year membership?
Ya, I'm good until Mar of next year.
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My first available choice is the same as yours
I'm good to October I believe. I even tried Microsoft Edge which I've never used before on this forum so I had to enter in email and password.
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What it does have at the bottom is:
But nothing for $60.
But nothing for $60.
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Then either you bought something else or you’re getting hosed
