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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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This is for iomfats.org
I was interested in opinions, which I promise to listen to. If I do it, I will use http://www.gayadnetwork.com/ (probably).
I may also look at it for an experimental period to assess results and opinions.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy wrote:
> This is for iomfats.org
>
> I was interested in opinions, which I promise to listen to. If I do it, I will use http://www.gayadnetwork.com/ (probably).
>
> I may also look at it for an experimental period to assess results and opinions.
I have a couple of worries:
section 8(iii) of their program member agreement states "to copy and otherwise use portions of your Web Site or Blog in order to drive traffic to your Web Site or Blog and for other promotional purposes." I would very much like to see this forum specifically excluded from any such agreement.
the "gay audience demographics" they refer to specifically suggest that gay men have a high disposable income, and are likely to work in management positions ... while that may be true of gay men in general, I'm pretty sure that it doesn't reflect most of the contributors here, and may not reflect the make-up of visitors to the main site. Especially for younger visitors, it would be a balance between providing stuff showing that gay men can aspire to a conventionally successful lifestyle versus provoking or increasing feelings of wondering whether they are actually going to get through things enough to reach such a point ...
Perhaps it's time for a poll?
I assume that you won't be subscribing to pop-under ads - I boycott any site that uses them!
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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I hate pop up adverts. So that is out anyway.
I will ensure that only pages where adverts may be applied are part of any such promotional or copying agreement.
At present they exclude us anyway. Apparently we are adult themed and outside their scope.
My motivation for doing this, should I do it, is simple. The current revenue from all the other sites is sufficient to pay for the server, the backup system, the domain names and not, to be fair, much else. I have a small surplus, but insufficient to go for a stand alone server. We have an excellent virtual private server, but it has drawbacks. One of those drawbacks is the instability over the past few days where the sites whitescreen for no controllable reason. We put this down to the virtualisation system.
We want and need independence. That's what the other sites are about - creating that independence with revenue generating adverts, and they've replaced the old donation system that Paypal cancelled on us (incidentally cancelling my paypal account along with it).
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Zambezi
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Toe is in the water |
Location: Various (!)
Registered: January 2004
Messages: 40
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I think there is a recognition that a free resource such as this has to be paid for one way or another, and if you are old enough to be visiting iomfats.org then you are old enough to recognise the contribution that advertising makes to revenue streams.
However, there are lines to be drawn. As hinted above, pop-ups (particularly those ones which just WON'T die when you close them or leave the page) are irritating enough that I will consciously avoid a site which uses them. Also, any embedded advert fed from another server which is so slow that it prevents the page loading quickly does not endear the site to me. It's bad enough with a broadband connection: using dial-up makes it almost impossible.
Maybe a trial is a good idea. But if it is so bad that it sours the experience I'd rather take the existing reliability issues and recognise that it comes with the territory of providing this service for nothing.
If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving isn't for you.
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I agree with you on all accounts, Zambezi.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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I can't find a source of adverts I'm happy with yet. It either looks like good quality adverts who object to any adult content, or dicks and butts and anything goes.
While I like dicks and butts privately, I am not about to give them public space.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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JimB
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Likes it here |
Registered: December 2006
Messages: 349
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I suspect that you are between the proverbial rock and hard place on this one Timmy. I certainly do see some "soft" ads, for books or travel or the like; but, considering the likelyhood that ads in a particular spot are from the same company, I don't find any that are consistantly soft.
I personally don't like ads, don't like the advertising industry as a whole; it just raises the prices we pay for what we buy. All the spam email we get, all the pop-up ads that anoy us, all those telemarketing calls that cause us to run to the telephone, someone pays for those; ultimately that someone is the consumer. We pay for our own anoyance; isn't that a laugh.
Because I am a homeowner I get telemarketing calls for reduced mortage rates, but I don't have a mortage. I get mail adverts and telemarketing calls for satelite TV from the same company that is my supplier. They pay to solicit their own customers; isn't that stupid.
I do understand your desire to improve the reliability and quality of both the IOMFATS story site and forum and the need to help cover the growing costs for both. Therefore I have mixed emotions about your advertising efforts; but I'll encourage you to continue trying to find something that fits your standards. You will likely have to compromise some, but that's what life is all about.
JimB
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