2009-07-16, 02:19 AM
First off this forum really needs a gen. discussion board, or at least a meta board for discussing the other boards...
But anyway, this post is about ads. Todd wants me to pull the Google adds that are baked into the theme. It's not a prob, but I thought I'd put it to a poll first.
First off my position. Being all, "ads are commercial man, and they make the internet ugly," is so 20th century. First off the ads are fun and often interesting, especially when targeted better than they are atm. They're using up empty space with nothing to put there... though maybe some day SoM game ads could be placed in the same space.
But mostly websites don't run on moonbeams and faeriedust, and considering this website doesn't have a business model and is probably already costing money for someone, I don't see how they are really hurting anyone. Even if once your site starts scaling, and donations seem like they're sufficient, even people with no money to spare can still help support the site, by the simple act of converting their attention into Google backed cash. And let me tell you, I thought ads worked on like a fraction of a penny at at time. But just today, two ads were clicked on this account that totaled 2.34$. Google payed more than a dollar for just one measly click (and that is during the flailing economy, which has driven down the value of ads several fold)
Anyway, the real purpose of this poll is to find out why people really don't like ads. And ultimately is it really necessary to pull them...
disclaimer: This is not a democratic website at this time afaik. Todd has the final say, but I'd just like to see some opinions aired before I go digging in the theme code to flip them off.
PS: The ads won't show up on PM pages, so you don't have to worry about Google reading your PMs. Also Google runs public service announcements, and it's just text, no graphics will ever popup. And I've never seen any sleazy ads on Google.
But anyway, this post is about ads. Todd wants me to pull the Google adds that are baked into the theme. It's not a prob, but I thought I'd put it to a poll first.
First off my position. Being all, "ads are commercial man, and they make the internet ugly," is so 20th century. First off the ads are fun and often interesting, especially when targeted better than they are atm. They're using up empty space with nothing to put there... though maybe some day SoM game ads could be placed in the same space.
But mostly websites don't run on moonbeams and faeriedust, and considering this website doesn't have a business model and is probably already costing money for someone, I don't see how they are really hurting anyone. Even if once your site starts scaling, and donations seem like they're sufficient, even people with no money to spare can still help support the site, by the simple act of converting their attention into Google backed cash. And let me tell you, I thought ads worked on like a fraction of a penny at at time. But just today, two ads were clicked on this account that totaled 2.34$. Google payed more than a dollar for just one measly click (and that is during the flailing economy, which has driven down the value of ads several fold)
Anyway, the real purpose of this poll is to find out why people really don't like ads. And ultimately is it really necessary to pull them...
disclaimer: This is not a democratic website at this time afaik. Todd has the final say, but I'd just like to see some opinions aired before I go digging in the theme code to flip them off.
PS: The ads won't show up on PM pages, so you don't have to worry about Google reading your PMs. Also Google runs public service announcements, and it's just text, no graphics will ever popup. And I've never seen any sleazy ads on Google.