Advertising

conZ

I taught that Advertising would only be used to fund hosting and mainiting the site. That was about 5 month's ago. Now there are 10-15 companies (possibly more) advertising on Boards.ie, along with three CI boards.

Surely this is bringing in more than enough money to fund hosting and maintenance?

All these new ad's with their flashes and slides are an eyesore and it seem's to me that the Administrator's are taking on companies that aren't even half set up (irish-heaven for example).

In my, and many other member's opinions, Boards.ie has sold out.

ecksor

Originally posted by conZ
In my, and many other member's opinions, Boards.ie has sold out.

Leaving aside the fact that this isn't a support query and you're on the wrong forum, what exactly is your definition of 'selling out' ?

If we were selling out, then surely at least one of the admins would be making some money from this, yes?

conZ

Leaving aside the fact that this isn't a support query

It's for the Admin's (you know, Admin/Support- where else was I supposed to put it? Boards Awards maybe?

If we were selling out, then surely at least one of the admins would be making some money from this, yes?

Yes.


The purpose for the banner's were to fund hosting and the like's.
Surely hosting and maintenance doesn't cost 15 x Advertising rate (i'm sure you dont want to share this with us).

There's no need to accept all these companies offers. I'm sure you dont need half the amount of paying companies to keep the site afloat.

I'm asking ye to cut down on the advertising and maybe look into the websites companies want to link - checking if they're set up (you might have done that with Irish-Heaven).

The reason for the ''sell-out'' bit was that ye were reluctant to take on advertising in the first place. Ye started poll's to see how the member's felt, and didn't accept the offer from Eircom (maybe because they're muppet's).
Now, seemingly, every advertising offer you get, you accept.

You also have supporter's pack's now - i'm sure the site doesn't need advertising at all.

ecksor

Originally posted by conZ
It's for the Admin's (you know, Admin/Support- where else was I supposed to put it? Boards Awards maybe?

It looks like feedback to me.

The reason for the ''sell-out'' bit was that ye were reluctant to take on advertising in the first place. Ye started poll's to see how the member's felt, and didn't accept the offer from Eircom (maybe because they're muppet's).
Now, seemingly, every advertising offer you get, you accept.

The main point to all of this is that boards becomes more and more self-sufficient. 'sell-out' implies that we have somehow diluted the original aims of boards in return for some financial gain. In what way has boards been diluted? From your 'Yes' response above, you seem to be under the impression that we're raking loads of cash into our pockets at the personal expense of our users.

BTW, not long ago you were creating bogus accounts with which to take the piss out of the admins, which I never did anything about at the time (apart from disable the accounts). And while there's absolutely no obligation or expectation upon anyone to purchase a supporters pack if they do not feel it it worth it, I don't think it's appropriate to refer to it as if it gives you some special rights despite not being a supporter. Pardon me if I find any complaints coming from you to be a bit rich.

ecksor

Moved to Feedback / Suggestions so we can see what everyone else thinks.

Victor

Obnoxious ad.s, painful on the eyes.

Not exactly blue chip clients. Let dahamsta give you his Euphony rant.

phreak

you could do something like remove ads for subscribers?

personally the ads don't bother me. i never look at them.

ecksor

Originally posted by Phreak
you could do something like remove ads for subscribers?

Great minds think alike ...

We're thinking about that.

sionnach

i dont find the ads a problem at all, i just automatically scroll down a bit every time i open a thread. Yes the ads are a bit of an eye-sore, but all advertisements HAVE to be eyecatching. Wheres the logic in a company paying for advertising space only to get a subtle ad that no-one will notice in return?

dahamsta

Originally posted by Victor
Not exactly blue chip clients. Let dahamsta give you his Euphony rant.

Dahamsta started blocking Boards.ie ads last week, so dahamsta doesn't care.

adam

yossarin

I don't mind the adds at all.
(allthough I do read them and often purchase products after following the links )

I don't think boards has sold out at all. The spirit here is the same as its allways been - Belligerent and grumpy. rock on guys !

Redshift

If boards.ie had sold out I'm quite sure they could find far more profitable ways than a few measley ads. Have you any idea how how a site like boards costs to run? Let me assure you it's a heck of a lot of dough. The admins get nothing in compensation except maybe for the enjoyment of doing the job they do although from the amount of crap they put up with I sometimes wonder. Personally I get a great deal of enjoyment from boards and IMO it's well worth 50 euros a year and looking at a few ads that are not really that obtrusive. So to summarize I think that to accuse the admins of selling out is unfair in the extreme.

Anyway even if there is a few bob to spare after expenses why shouldn't the admins have a night out for their efforts.

Ryan

Gordon

If there's always going to be one ad up top then what difference does it make if it changes all the time. The only thing that would annoy me is if the ad is flashy and in your face.

Personally I wouldn't mind if the owners get profit from the ads, do we not get profit from boards in some ways?

Beruthiel

jeez
begrudging a few adds
And what if they had sold out? tbh, at the end of the day, what they do with boards is their own business, whither we like it or not

Cake Fiend

I wonder if one of the admins can give some sort of estimate of boards.ie's total monthly running costs? Maybe then people mightn't be as quick to bitch about unobtrusive ads contributing to their favourite website.

I personally am pretty damn grateful for what's been given to me for free for over 4 years. I sure as hell am not about to accuse anyone (who has risked mental health, death threats and litigation for my benefit) of selling out because they put a few barely noticeable ads about to break even. Take a look at something like www.ign.com if you want to see selling out.

woosaysdan

Originally posted by conZ
I taught that Advertising would only be used to fund hosting and mainiting the site. That was about 5 month's ago. Now there are 10-15 companies (possibly more) advertising on Boards.ie, along with three CI boards.

Surely this is bringing in more than enough money to fund hosting and maintenance?

All these new ad's with their flashes and slides are an eyesore and it seem's to me that the Administrator's are taking on companies that aren't even half set up (irish-heaven for example).

In my, and many other member's opinions, Boards.ie has sold out.

would you prefer if the charged you for the maintenance of the site or the companys? and even if they are making a small bit from advertising they deserve it for all the hard work they put in to keep this place running!!!

irishgeo

Originally posted by dahamsta
Dahamsta started blocking Boards.ie ads last week, so dahamsta doesn't care.

adam

You just got to love the hosts file.

Dustaz

apart from that euphony one being ugly as HELL, i dont mind the ads at all.


Oh, and afair , boards did run eircom ads. So at least get your facts straight there einstein.

Asok

Aye afaik there was eircom ads until they did something bold with the ad (didnt it get huge if you moved your mouse over it or something?)
As for ads i dont mind them granted i might bitch about how poorly done they are but as long as the cheque clears i can live with it lol. tbh if there is any extra cash being made you can be sure its going to end up being spent on boards.

Hobbes

Originally posted by conZ
In my, and many other member's opinions, Boards.ie has sold out.

Where are they? Maybe get them to reply too.

TBH the adverts don't bother me and Devore et al are pretty decent about not being asses when it comes to advertising. It also helps the site and bare in mind that for a long time this site was being funded out of the guys pocket.

Lucifer

i dont mind the ads at all. they are not big and in your face like most sites. i'm sure the admins have put far more money into the site than they have got back so they deserve it if there is money left over.

DeVore

ConZ , I'm sorry man but you are wrong on a number of counts.

Please tell me which 15 companies are advertising on Boards (so I can invoice them lol)

Euphony
Irish Heaven
Hosting365
NTL
Esat


The site can (if we sell all the ads which is extremely rare) generate profit.
That is, money beyond what it takes AT BASE COST to run the site.
We have hosting costs, licensing and parts to pay for.
Remember that second server? We gave 10 months of 1/3 of our ads to get it.
You know those Ram upgrades we did? 500 quid.

Thats 500,000 sold (non charity) ads.


So if we wanted to do the math on the cost per month, well I put about 15 hours a week at least into this site. My hourly cost (and I am charged to companies for the next *9 months solid* by my company at this cost ) is 1000 a day (8 hours) or
125 an hour, so Boards owes me in the region of 2000 a week.

That doesnt include Regi, Cloud (who has only ever gotten one Thai meal out on this site!) Vex and Ecksor. Who's going to pay their "wages"?

We dont keep track of that because its a labour of love.



what I really dont get is if we werent selling those ads there'd be house ads in their place, so its not like you are getting loads more ads all of a sudden!
Its like you begrudge us a little success from time to time... its enough to buy the admins (so far only one) meal out. Jeez, we're really selling out man....


My final point is this: I'd love to see a time when the admins could work on the site full time. No question about it, I've been completely honest about that before. Right now the site couldnt support a hampster (dancing or otherwise). We have about 40 supporters (of which you arent one I might point out, so you're getting this all for free and still complaining). 40 x 50 = 2000. Not even one persons wages for one month and thats their yearly donation to the cause.

We used that money to buy ram, pay off some debt and license costs (Usenet sw, VBB and Photopost), we banked the rest for a rainy day and went for a meal before the last boards beers.


I could say a lot more but I think Sico has it right, go look at www.ign.com to see a site sell out.

When we sell out you'll know it. You'll be washing down your Boards Burger with your Cloud Coke and playing with your DeVore and Ecksor action figures. (Ecksor will obviously be the evil admin and I'll be the flaxen haired aryan hero!)


DeV.

mneylon

I am always mystified by these kind of complaints.
Any website or server costs money to maintain. Boards.ie runs standard 468x 60 banners which are not intrusive.
Unfortunately there seems to be this pervasive ideology rampant amongst the public that you can 'have your cake and eat it'
If boards.ie 'goes down' (for whatever reason) people bitch and moan, regardless of the time of night or day that this happens.
All the admins and moderators on boards give of their time on a voluntary basis.
So what the hell is wrong with the site getting some of its expenses paid by way of advertising??

Victor

Originally posted by DeVore
So if we wanted to do the math on the cost per month, well I put about 15 hours a week at least into this site. My hourly cost (and I am charged to companies for the next *9 months solid* by my company at this cost ) is 1000 a day (8 hours) or
125 an hour, so Boards owes me in the region of 2000 a week.

Not to mention the 100 hours a month at €80/hr+VAT I put in

Hobart

Originally posted by Victor
Not to mention the 100 hours a month at €80/hr+VAT I put in

Originally posted by DeVore
We dont keep track of that because its a labour of love.
DeV.

Victor

Originally posted by Hobart

I only keep track because it costs me in café time

sceptre

Originally posted by Victor
I only keep track because it costs me in café time

A GBA would solve that little addiction of yours Victor. Replace boards time with 8 hours of tetris a day. Cheaper in the long run.

& slow down on the posting, there's a good chap. I've got you down for passing 10k on January 4:)

Victor

Originally posted by sceptre
GBA

??

Moriarty

Game Body Advance. Tch

echomadman

I only keep track because it costs me in café time

100 hours a month in net cafes, surely that would buy you your very own computator and pay for a net connection.


or could I persuade you to move to ennis and use my cafe, you sound like a good source of revenue:p

Evil Phil

Originally posted by DeVore
... and I'll be the flaxen haired aryan hero!)


DeV.

You mean the gay haired aryan hero!

I too block the ads, but that doesn't effect the revenue created for boards. The image is blocked in my browser but its still served. I don't have a problem with the advertising per sé (I mean some of my best friends are in advertising). I just block them because some of them are ugly.