Guest Paul [MVP] Posted June 3, 2005 Report Posted June 3, 2005 Talking Point: Advertising As regular non-Plus members will have noticed (Plus members don't see adverts!), there have been a few changes to the way advertising is managed on MoDaCo over the past few months. It's fair to say there is more, with a combination of banners, google ads and text links, but I hope that it is not excessive. I am intgrigued to hear what people's thoughts are with regards to what is, and isn't acceptable advertising on a website, and also to make people aware of the reasoning behind it on MoDaCo! Personally, I accept that internet advertising is unavoidable (as will become clear), but I think there needs to be a sensible borderline. For example, I will NEVER have pop ups, pop unders or anything like that on MoDaCo, as they are just too intrusive. In the same way, we will likely never carry what are called 'interstitials' (I think?), which are the ads that take a whole page 'between pages', as I think these too are annoying (albeit well paying!). Finally, I am not a fan of ads that sit directly in the content itself. Do you guys agree? Or would you prefer other types of ads to banners, google ads etc? The reason there are ads on MoDaCo are many... but all of course down to 1 thing, the desire to monetize the site! I have big ambitions for the site, and sadly of course there are material costs (hosting etc), software and development costs (the forum software, custom mods etc), and finally, there is the simple fact that if the site makes money, I can commit more of my time to making it even better. So, I think the advertising is a fair price to pay, particularly as you can turn it off my being a Plus member. In truth, in an ideal world I would remove the top 468x60 banner ad (I think it compromises the look of the site), but it's necessary atm. What are your thoughts? I value the opinion of each and every MoDaCo visitor (although I might not agree), so feel free to reply to this topic! ;) P
Guest JamShady Posted June 3, 2005 Report Posted June 3, 2005 I haven't seen a problem myself. The advertising is noticable, but not intrusive. The only complaint I do have is the flash ad at the top of the page because it makes a dialog box on my PPC appear that I have to click to continue. As you can imagine, it's very annoying.
Guest agent.m Posted June 3, 2005 Report Posted June 3, 2005 in an ideal world ban jamster and the crazy frog legacy ;)
Guest Confused Stu Posted June 3, 2005 Report Posted June 3, 2005 (edited) The constant updating of pages does get annoying, but I've never had the problems associated with it that others have mentioned (suddenly losing your post mid-typing, etc.). I just find the click and screen updating irritating. I love MoDaCo completely, but I do promise you this - as soon as I see a pop-up, a message saying "You've won the hourly prize!" or anything that scrolls across the middle of my screen unasked I will be leaving this site and never returning! I realise most people would agree this wouldn't be a great loss to the site, but it would be a big loss to me! Don't make me do it. ;) Edit: Just re-read this and it comes across stronger than I meant it to. As far as I'm concerned the current banner/ad situation with MoDaCo is fine, but I would be concerned if things became any more "in your face". I think the balance is pretty much there as it is. Edited June 3, 2005 by Confused Stu
Guest Disco Stu Posted June 3, 2005 Report Posted June 3, 2005 Losing Confused Stu would certainly be a great loss to the forum. The 'page updating' seems to have gone for me now. That was very creepy. The worst type are those that splodge in the middle of the page but we've never had them here. We all know that Paul runs this fantastic site on a 'not-for-profit' basis and is sensitive to members concerns, so I reckon we all have to be realistic about how he keeps the thing afloat. ;)
Guest bluesmudge Posted June 3, 2005 Report Posted June 3, 2005 Ads are fine - We can all accept that a site needs to earn its keep. As long as i don't see crazy frog, pop ups, those flash things that follow the cursor, things in the middle of the screen etc etc what ever you need to put on the site is fine by me. Though i always thought that the users of the site actually have to click the banner before any money was earned . . . am i wrong? - My point is i never click the things, does anyone else?
Guest Confused Stu Posted June 3, 2005 Report Posted June 3, 2005 I have to admit, I'm with Bluesmudge in that I never click banners. How do the ads actually work - is it a case that Paul gets 0.1p every time a banner is clicked, or do you actually have to go onto buying something from the site before they pay up? If it's just a case of clicking on the banner then please tell us and I will make it a point to click at least 20 of the banners every day I log into MoDaCo. This is a serious thing - if it'll help keep MoDaCo in it's current state and Paul in his other half's good books then it's the least I can do. BTW Disco - thanks for the comment about missing me. Nice to know us Stu-clones stick together. ;)
Guest justsomeone Posted June 3, 2005 Report Posted June 3, 2005 hello all, ..personally speaking, i think anyone who drives an alfa romeo we can quite happily do without ! <coughs> ;) ..anyway, ads ? <frowns> ..what ads ? i'm a non-paying skinflint, but i can't say i've noticed the ads... then again i don't notice many things in life. to be honest, i think we all appreciate websites need ads for funding and we've all come accustomed to such. this site seems 'ok' as it is. i'd even go as far to suggest MORE ads to sites of topical products etc. done properly, adverts can be helpful, not hindering.
Guest davidhorn Posted June 3, 2005 Report Posted June 3, 2005 I'm happy with the ad situation at present - I know it's incredibly difficult between making a compromise between ads that bring in money but don't impose on the reader. One request - please, please, please, remove the Jamster Flash ads... there's is NOTHING more irritating than having music playing when you're reading something, particularly when it's at quarter to one in the morning! ;)
Guest sSword Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 I am also happy with the ads size placement etc, Sometimes I do get 404 errors on the banner ads firefox shows a dialog box with: 'this document cannot be diplayed' press 'ok' to continue I dont care really but thought Id mention it anyways
Guest Sp00k Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 Well, as it's a choice between 'suffering' the ads or paying £24(+) per annum for an ad-free site and a bunch of perks, few of which I'm interested in, including the 'exclusive' members-only section... Which I'm definitely not interested in... I'll take the ads every time! I never read the things anyway and I suspect that due to the blockers I run, few make it to my screen... The ones that do, I don't find intrusive or annoying in the least... Probably not what you want to hear Paul... But you did ask!
Guest mgama Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 Paul, thank you for confronting the issue of ads in the manner than you did. While advertisements can be distracting from the content of a website, I understand and agree that they are a necessity. I’m glad that you are refusing to implement the tacky ads (pock ups, in-thread ads, floating ads, or whatever annoying method they will come up with next). I’m willing to pay for a website membership that is free of advertisements, but after checking out your prices, and what it offers, I’m afraid I will have to pass. I’d happily pay $10 (US) a year for an advertisement free site, but I can do without all of the other benefits currently include in your Premium Membership. If there were different membership levels, one with just an ad free site, I’d certainly pony up the cash.
Guest evilking Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 You really need to fix the ad situation at modaco. The ad banner has switched focus away from this box 11 times now (I'll update that number while I'm typing). The third time I was pressing backspace so it went back a page and I lost the post. Very irritating. I'm scared of pressing enter or backspace as it might change without me noticing. Isn't this happening to lots of people? I've only been at this site for a few months and just got a c500 a few days ago. Just realise I can't even press delete without having to use the mouse to "re-focus". It's starting to get ridiculous, please fix it or I'll just have to find ways of disabling them (not a huge threat I know but if lots of people do this etc etc). I can't even make paragraphs....
Guest amo Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 I often browse the forum at work - customer queries etc that I might not at first know the solution to etc... It'd be nice for the site to recognise the browser type (either as PIE or Opera etc) and switch of Ads. Lets face it, on these devices theres probably nobody if anyone who will go onto a sponsored link when browsing while on the move. This would be very useful and also saves that GPRS ;)
Guest kyrkesmith Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 If it's just a case of clicking on the banner then please tell us and I will make it a point to click at least 20 of the banners every day I log into MoDaCo. This is a serious thing - if it'll help keep MoDaCo in it's current state and Paul in his other half's good books then it's the least I can do. I'd really advise against that. I don't know about the other adverts, but I know a bit about Google. If they think a site is encouraging clicks, or if the clickthrough rate is excessively high, they are quite prepared to kick someone out of the programme. This results in loosing all that month's income, and also never being allowed into the programme again. I suspect the banner ad providers have a similar policy.
Guest nickcornaglia Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 I've said it before....I think the adverts should show for everyone, including Plus members. I dont mind them and the current adverts are minimal when compared to other sites. Smartphone/PocketPC/Geek-Type adverts would be best, as it's the reason I'm here in the first place. I wouldnt like to see Viagra ads or ads for cookware deals, for example, as they are unrelated to my interests. "Punch the monkey" or "shoot the duck" type ads are too ugly for the site. But I've never been opposed to Modaco making money. I say, add them for everyone. When visiting HowardForums, I've actually refreshed the page over and over until I saw an ad again that I wanted to visit (for MadMonkeyBoy's site to buy my Jam). Is there a good site that explains what kind of money there is to be made on the web off of these ads? I'd be interested to see generally what kind of money is involved. In short, go for it. But please make them relavant. If I need to look at them, I'd rather they be ads I want to see (and use!)
Guest Gears Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 Ads are a necessary evil. I remember back in the day I used to say, "I'm never gonna put ads on the site" but as the costs rise you absolutely HAVE to. Keeping an eye on the ads is always a good point. I have placed a ban on any adverts being fed into my Google banner at the top by companies such as Jamster and Kingtone. These ads make people change their TV channel, so lord knows how it affects their browsing habits. I'm also with Paul on pop-ups, pop unders and those seg-way things. Highly irritating and to be avoided! I have had Google emailing me "suggestin" that I make my ads larger and more colourful but that'd annoy the hell out of me, let alone the visitors, so balls to it.
Guest Samsonite Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 i have absolutely no problem with the level of ads on the site. I would agree with others about the refresh activity causing posting problems but to me that is a technology issue not a revenue question!! This site is, without doubt, the best there is!! I have stayed with the platform almost single handedly because of Modaco and the knowledge that i can get support and information in a blink if needed. If you need to have ads like you do to allow this site to continue, keep on doing what you're doing!! I would guess most of the readers and posters are as net-savvy as you can be and recoginse that the level of adverts that we could be subjected to is gratefully not present here and long may that continue... in short, keep up the good work!! adverts an' all!!!
Guest davidhorn Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 i have absolutely no problem with the level of ads on the site. I would agree with others about the refresh activity causing posting problems but to me that is a technology issue not a revenue question!! This site is, without doubt, the best there is!! I have stayed with the platform almost single handedly because of Modaco and the knowledge that i can get support and information in a blink if needed. If you need to have ads like you do to allow this site to continue, keep on doing what you're doing!! I would guess most of the readers and posters are as net-savvy as you can be and recoginse that the level of adverts that we could be subjected to is gratefully not present here and long may that continue... in short, keep up the good work!! adverts an' all!!! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Paul - have you tried approaching Orange/O2 to see if they'd be interested in being the sole advertiser on the site. Yeah, it'd cost them, but we'd probably get some great deals, they'd get good sales and exclusive control over the advertising content, and the ads would at least be on a topic related to the site. Like I said before though, unless it's Jamster or pop-up ads, you can have as many as you like and it won't bother me. ;)
Guest funkychicken9000 Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 I didn't think there were many ads at all. Then I temporarily disabled Adblock :D Oh man, thank the lord for firefox ;)
Guest Paul [MVP] Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 If we could cut a deal with Orange or O2 etc., that'd be cool... they don't seem that interested tho ;) P
Guest Microsoft Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 NO CRAZY FROG CLONES ADS! They are so so so annoying! But i dont think ads like gamespot.com have in the beging is annoying.
Guest floepie Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 Funny this topic is at the forefront today. While waiting for the actual Modaco home page to load into Firefox, I was staring at the Google ads that load first and take up the entire page before the actual news appears and moves the ad over to the left of the screen. I was reminded how long the home page now takes to load....I'm assuming that the page is constructed in a way to grab the ad content first before loading site content? What is most annoying is the frequency with which some ads are refreshed. FF routinely searches for new ads every 20 seconds now? Aside from the rants...I do love and appreciate the site and will continue to visit. Keep up the good work!
Guest Paul [MVP] Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 No, the page loads as it loads, no preference to ads! P
Guest funkychicken9000 Posted June 4, 2005 Report Posted June 4, 2005 Google's servers are probably responding a lot quicker than Paul's ;)
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