Sean
Admin
Hi All,
We've been trying to partner with one of the larger ad agencies for over a decade, but they rarely want to work with forum-based user-generated content sites. We’ve finally managed to get onboarded with a well-known agency and are now working with them to implement everything.
Currently, many ads earn us very little - perhaps only a few cents per thousand page views. The new approach has the potential to increase revenue from similar ads to as much as $20 or more for the same space and traffic. Such a major boost to our revenue will permit us to reinvest heavily in the website, including potentially compensating our current volunteer moderators for some of their time and efforts, perhaps pay writers for special original article content, and much more.
The vast majority of our traffic comes from unregistered visitors, and I plan to introduce a full ad layout for them, with a notice explaining that registering will significantly reduce ads. For registered members, we’ll provide a much lighter ad layout, and for subscribers, no ads at all. Members or subscribers who want to go above and beyond in supporting us will also have the option to opt in to the full or light ad layout.
For now, we’re focusing on implementing ads for unregistered visitors and seeing how that goes. This process can take a couple of weeks of back-and-forth with the agency as they fine-tune the user experience (it is not in their best interest to irritate visitors but to hone the best placements). Visitors may notice some changes during this time, but members and subscribers should see little to no difference.
I'll post more updates as we progress.
Thanks!
Sean
We've been trying to partner with one of the larger ad agencies for over a decade, but they rarely want to work with forum-based user-generated content sites. We’ve finally managed to get onboarded with a well-known agency and are now working with them to implement everything.
Currently, many ads earn us very little - perhaps only a few cents per thousand page views. The new approach has the potential to increase revenue from similar ads to as much as $20 or more for the same space and traffic. Such a major boost to our revenue will permit us to reinvest heavily in the website, including potentially compensating our current volunteer moderators for some of their time and efforts, perhaps pay writers for special original article content, and much more.
The vast majority of our traffic comes from unregistered visitors, and I plan to introduce a full ad layout for them, with a notice explaining that registering will significantly reduce ads. For registered members, we’ll provide a much lighter ad layout, and for subscribers, no ads at all. Members or subscribers who want to go above and beyond in supporting us will also have the option to opt in to the full or light ad layout.
For now, we’re focusing on implementing ads for unregistered visitors and seeing how that goes. This process can take a couple of weeks of back-and-forth with the agency as they fine-tune the user experience (it is not in their best interest to irritate visitors but to hone the best placements). Visitors may notice some changes during this time, but members and subscribers should see little to no difference.
I'll post more updates as we progress.
Thanks!
Sean
