Question Google Adsense and other Affiliate Account Ads

[Art Andrews]

While we already have an announcement thread up here regarding our reasons for adding in Google's Adsense, and the new Weta Affiliate program, since I know some of you will be itching to comment, I thought I would go ahead and provide a thread for you. lol:lol

I do want to say that we are going to be test and refining how the ads display over the next few weeks and want to work toward a solution that is as unintrusive as possible while still serve the purpose of providing funding to keep the site open!

As always, we thank you in advance for your support!

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Be careful with Adsense. If you experience any issues you won't get any help from Google and you won't find any reasonable ways to contact them directly. I've been going on the 2nd+ month of trying to get them to fix my account because of an error on their side. And still nothing.

 

[Qui-Gonzalez]

Everything is white now...two hours ago, I had my lovely black screen. Ugh-lee.

 

[Jodo]

I like how one of the google adds is for ssed propellers. Because us prop dorks...We love us some propellers.

 

[cheech9898]

No offense to the staff, but Google Ads and Adsense and the tracking that comes with it is annoying. I've tried to block it with the host file redirect but it's not working 100% so I've turned back on Adblock Plus.... Ultimately forcing some of us to turn back on Adblock just nix'ed the Weta, Propstore and other supporting buisness Ad banners in the header.

 

[Servo]

Yep. Just installed AdBlock for Safari specifically because of this.

Edit: I should add that it's not just because of the Google tracking. The header, plus the CP bar, plus a row of 2 banners, and now the Google adsense bar pushes the content of the page down to the lower 2/3. I wouldn't have minded it as much if the banners and Google were in the footer, but it's taking up most of the top 1/3 of the site (and I'm viewing this site on a 17" laptop monitor).

 

[amish]

I really do not understand why this is needed as it really distracts from the site. I know people will say, so what, just ignore it.

Well, I like the rpf, it is what got me started with props, and then prompted me to start Propsummit.com. I want to say with all due respect, that it is annoying to log onto the rpf and see the top third of the screen have a huge banner saying one thing or another and asking people to sign up for facebook or twitter, now we have adsense that shows up on every screen taking up even more space.

Is there really a need? I understand it the costs behind running a website, but do the costs outway the user experience?

While the RPF is for fans of movies, props, and the like, it is, at least for me, starting to intrude on the enjoyment I get from browsing this site. I know I do not post as much as I did in the past, but to have to log in and be blasted with announcements and now ads, seems a little much.

Again, I say this with respect for the RPF and what it is and was. We are all fans, and this has always been a place to gather. I do not think advertising, huge announcements, and such really fit in.

Otherwise, if it is money you want, I will donate just to make all of this go away.

Thanks for listening!

Tom

 

[Art Andrews]

Tom,

This is all new for us and as we implement new things, they will definitely take time to refine and improve to a point where they serve their purpose but aren't overly intrusive.

With the site service announcements, we have found the more "in your face" approach may annoy a few but it gets results whereas in the past, we would post an announcement more "quietly" and then make a change and everyone would get up in arms demanding why we didn't let them know... it is one of those "no-win" situations so we do the best we can, but as mentioned above, will continue to refine the process as we go.

In regard to your question of whether there is really a need, we won't go into the financial details of the site except to say, yes, there was/is/will be a need.

In regard to donations, we have moved away from that particular model as it was too uncertain and we simply do not like grovelling for money every X number of months. However, we are looking into options that would potentially give members the option to remove affiliate and adsense type advertising... but again, we are still new at this and are not ready to pursue those avenues at this time.

I will throw the offer out that we would love to have someone help us better formulate our site notices in a way that is less obtrusive while still being effective, so if there is anyone who would be willing to offer a professional perspective, please contact us.

In the meantime, while we work out the kinks, we appreciate your patience.

 

[Art Andrews]

I should add that it's not just because of the Google tracking. The header, plus the CP bar, plus a row of 2 banners, and now the Google adsense bar pushes the content of the page down to the lower 2/3. I wouldn't have minded it as much if the banners and Google were in the footer, but it's taking up most of the top 1/3 of the site (and I'm viewing this site on a 17" laptop monitor).

Matt,

It is unlikely that we will move all the ads to the bottom of the page, but chances are good that we will ultimately move to a system where there is either one Leaderboard ad (728X90) or two Full banner ads (468X60) oriented side by side.

 

[Servo]

I totally understand the need for this, by the way. I have more than a few sites that were doing well with commission-based banners. Doing well, that is, until my state became one of the 3 states that required advertisers to track and report commissions to the individual state's department of revenue. Many advertisers, including Google and Amazon, dropped all companies in those three states. (I've seriously thought about re-incorporating in a different state!) Commission can, and will, pay for hosting a site - and more - if handled properly.

 

[cheech9898]

Just 1 idea you guys might look at. CNCzone somehow does a random Advertisement as a post listing about twice the height of a regular text post text hyperlink box size every x # of posts & it shows a post lock icon to the left. I think they have it set based on the average # of posts shown on the forum listing page so it keeps 1 on each page more or less. The advantage is it doesn't overly expand the header, and throwing it in the post listings odds are everyone will read it as they scroll through the posts. (hope I'm making sense on the description).

 

[Gordon Gekko]

Just 1 idea you guys might look at. CNCzone somehow does a random Advertisement as a post listing about twice the height of a regular text post text hyperlink box size every x # of posts & it shows a post lock icon to the left. I think they have it set based on the average # of posts shown on the forum listing page so it keeps 1 on each page more or less. The advantage is it doesn't overly expand the header, and throwing it in the post listings odds are everyone will read it as they scroll through the posts. (hope I'm making sense on the description).

Dear God No! Please don't start putting ads inside the threads like CNCzone. I'd much rather go with the current setup. At least for me, the ads inside the thread really disrupt the "flow" of reading.2 cents

 

[Rylo]

Agreed 100%

It's getting a little busy isn't it?

I really do not understand why this is needed as it really distracts from the site. I know people will say, so what, just ignore it.

Well, I like the rpf, it is what got me started with props, and then prompted me to start Propsummit.com. I want to say with all due respect, that it is annoying to log onto the rpf and see the top third of the screen have a huge banner saying one thing or another and asking people to sign up for facebook or twitter, now we have adsense that shows up on every screen taking up even more space.

Is there really a need? I understand it the costs behind running a website, but do the costs outway the user experience?

While the RPF is for fans of movies, props, and the like, it is, at least for me, starting to intrude on the enjoyment I get from browsing this site. I know I do not post as much as I did in the past, but to have to log in and be blasted with announcements and now ads, seems a little much.

Again, I say this with respect for the RPF and what it is and was. We are all fans, and this has always been a place to gather. I do not think advertising, huge announcements, and such really fit in.

Otherwise, if it is money you want, I will donate just to make all of this go away.

Thanks for listening!

Tom

 

[cheech9898]

Dear God No! Please don't start putting ads inside the threads like CNCzone. I'd much rather go with the current setup. At least for me, the ads inside the thread really disrupt the "flow" of reading.2 cents

Well, I turned Adblock back on after getting an Ad inside the 1st post of one of the Ironman threads.... so that aspect may already be in place.

I'm talking just in the forum thread/title listing page, not inside the posts & replies themselves. So instead of it showing 40 threads, it shows 38 and an Ad. So it would be:

Dollar Store Arc Reactor Contest
Ironman 2 gauntlet
My Evil Dead Chainsaw build
Google Ad
Building a ROTJ Solo DL-44

Heck, I'd live with the old side by side banner setup (propstore, sideshow size banners) on all the forum main thread listing pages, and when you open a thread to a smaller RPF logo next to a google ad on the top side by side.... ultimately same space without extra scroll down/excessive header size.

But as it is now, if everyone starts running Ad block... there aint going to be no Ad revenue

 

[Art Andrews]

Dear God No! Please don't start putting ads inside the threads like CNCzone. I'd much rather go with the current setup. At least for me, the ads inside the thread really disrupt the "flow" of reading.2 cents

In regard to inline ads, we have no plans to run them. Our research has indicated that while inline ads produce more revenue, the frustration and level annoyance associated with them outweighs the revenue generated, unless the sites sole purpose is to pull in money. Obviously, revenue generation is not the purpose of this site so we do not have plans to place ads inline.

With that being said, I have had two reports of members saying they have seen ads inline. There shouldn't be any inline ads (only at the top and bottom of the page) so if you see one, please do a screen cap and send it our way. Thanks!

 

[JoeR]

Whilst I totally understand why you have done this, I find the ads very annoying.

I would rather make a donation than have to put up with ads. I am sure that I am not alone in the viewpoint that a few dollars per year is more than worth the resources and friendships etc that are available here.

 

[Qui-Gonzalez]

The thing is the RPF cannot always count on donations. I know I would pay for the sites upkeep...especially if it meant we stopped having open registration every so often. I seriously doubt that this decision was made lightly, but we live in a world where we need money for FREE sites like this to keep running.

The RPF has been my home on the net for almost 8 years. I enjoy coming here and reading, buying and interacting with a good many of you. People have been doing this freely since 1999. I know I would like it to stay that way. Hell, it is what keeps us as members coming back.

We do not know what straits the ownership was in to comment on what was the right course of action. The fact is we still have a FREE forum that people want to be members of. We have a little ad space at the top of the board that I EASILY scroll past and don't even notice. Looking at it, how many of you really know it is there? Servers cost money. Hosting costs money. A lot of us have been content to bury our heads in the sand and forget those two facts. Well, the owners of the board have done what they need to do to keep us afloat. This seems to me like a long-term plan, not something they did as a knee-jerk reaction to financial issues.

I may be wrong, but these ads are also on The Dented Helmet and The Prop Den as well.

 

[JoeR]

I get all that Qui I don't need it spoon feeding from you. I am merely stating my opinion that I don't like the ads.

I am happy to pay and I bet a lot of others would be too. That was my point. Why don't we have a poll pay vs ads?

Joe

 

[Qui-Gonzalez]

I get all that Qui I don't need it spoon feeding from you. I am merely stating my opinion that I don't like the ads.

I am happy to pay and I bet a lot of others would be too. That was my point. Why don't we have a poll pay vs ads?

Joe

I am not spoon feeding anything, Joe. I am saying that you cannot always rely on your user base for funding.

I'd be happy to pay as well, but it is what it is. This is a private forum, in the end, despite the open registration.

 

[Art Andrews]

Agreed 100%

It's getting a little busy isn't it?

We could always look into charging a percentage of sales to those who use the site to sell runs of their product. :cool