Thoughts: ads in forum stream for non-registered members

[VegettoEX]

See, here's the thing: anyone who's going to respond to this is a community member, so it almost doesn't even affect you. Hey, lurkers! Tweet me up or drop us an e-mail!

Donations have been light lately. It's cool, I get it. But that also means that back-coverage for what I like to call "keeping the lights on" - simply paying the raw server costs each month - are now multiple hundreds of dollars and months behind. The site's never gonna go down, and we're never actually late in paying any bill, but you can imagine how that adds up over time to... uhh... me.

I and the rest of the staff have absolutely zero desire to ever put ads on the website-proper. They're intrusive, they slow down page loads, they open you up to third-party code injections, and there's a potential for the rights holders - who are watching everything, by the way - to start getting uppity and making claims of "profit" off even just raw information about their IP. I get it, I know you all get it, we all get it.

And this next potential idea/thought/"solution" doesn't really solve ALL of that, but maybe a little bit.

It's something I've seen on other forums out there, and it's something I would extend SOLELY to the forum (not the full website itself): the occasional in-stream ad every so many posts in a thread, and only visible to non-registered/non-logged-in members.

While I do consider every part of the website... well, part of the website (that includes all of our regular pages, the forum, the podcast, the upcoming wiki, etc.), the forum I could at least somewhat legally fenangle my way around saying that it's "user-generated content", does not represent the viewpoints of the website as a whole, material spoke by members is the word of those members and those members alone, etc. And so that doesn't even solve headaches like some of the ones I just mentioned above, but at least for the very active community, you'd never see it, and for all the extra traffic the forum gets from the massive amount of lurkers and referrals, at least it can start helping out in some way. It would never even remotely sustain the site, but it sure couldn't hurt... right?

I haven't even tossed this out to my other co-dudebros. Just total stream of consciousness right now. Not only welcoming, but actively looking for, any and all comments about everything.

(Toyed with other thoughts in the past, too, including a Kickstarter-styled thing, but I just don't have the time or resources to run something like that... none of us do with our actual jobs and families. Thought about doing something like a live video stream fundraiser, but when we participate in live streams that raise money for... ya' know... real life worldly problems, it kinda makes me feel insignificant and douchey for even contemplating it.)

[Ajay]

I think it's a great idea. As long as they're not intrusive and you code in something that appears for those with adblock and kindly asks them to disable it. I don't see why it would be an issue at all.

Other things to consider for helping to raise money would be monthly giveaways. Snatch up some cool stuff and have a $5 entry into the raffle and I imagine that would help a lot.

If the non-members ad prove successful, I would have zero problems you extending it into members areas too. That way you could open up some type of optional subscription service that would allow members to support the site whilst gaining a few perks - no ads, premium member only giveaways etc.

There's a lot of ways you could take it, I guess. It'd just be a tough case of risk vs. reward and seeing how the community would respond to a change up.

I imagine the latter suggestion is a bit too extreme but I do think the raffles would be popular.

EDIT: Oh and one more thing, I'm not sure if you have it set up but you can get in contact with Amazon and sort out a referral partnership with them. If anyone orders a product through a link they've clicked on your site, you'll receive a percentage of what they bought. I reckon that'd be helpful with all the home releases and various content they have.

[Blade]

I think it's a great idea. As long as they're not intrusive and you code in something that appears for those with adblock and kindly asks them to disable it. I don't see why it would be an issue at all.

I agree with this entirely, it's a good idea.

Other things to consider for helping to raise money would be monthly giveaways. Snatch up some cool stuff and have a $5 entry into the raffle and I imagine that would help a lot.

It's probably not a great idea, I think when it comes to competitions that people are paying to enter there needs to be both financial transparency and a degree of care taken over legitimacy and fairness. I think it's a potential banana-skin.

Oh and one more thing, I'm not sure if you have it set up but you can get in contact with Amazon and sort out a referral partnership with them. If anyone orders a product through a link they've clicked on your site, you'll receive a percentage of what they bought. I reckon that'd be helpful with all the home releases and various content they have.

The problem I see with this is that it has the potential to damage Kanzenshuu's integrity as a fair and all-encompassing fan site. Such a move is technically an endorsement of Amazon, as you're essentially advertising their products. With Dragonball releases, I think a site like Kanzenshuu should really be reflecting the best possible deal for its readers, not advertising for a given company. It's a vested interest that I think the site is better without.

As for my own two pence on the subject, I think that at some point there's maybe a case for making Kanzenshuu a subscription based service, or offering a higher level of content access for a nominal subscription fee. A small monthly subscription charge of 2 or 3 dollars per user would more than cover server costs.

[VegettoEX]

We... uhh... already have Amazon, CDJapan, and Play-Asia referral systems. Have for years.

What minor referral revenue exists goes into products for review/discussion. They don't/can't pay for the site to exist.

(Yes, Amazon payments can come as cash rather than store credit, but you have to hit a higher limit, and you get deductions to get it paid out that way.)

As for raffle stuff, yeah... can't really go that route. US laws about gambling and such.

[Ajay]

Ah okay, I've not been here that long. Wasn't sure if it was the case or not.

Oh well, sorry I couldn't be of much help.

[Blade]

We... uhh... already have Amazon, CDJapan, and Play-Asia referral systems. Have for years.

What minor referral revenue exists goes into products for review/discussion. They don't/can't pay for the site to exist.

(Yes, Amazon payments can come as cash rather than store credit, but you have to hit a higher limit, and you get deductions to get it paid out that way.)

As for raffle stuff, yeah... can't really go that route. US laws about gambling and such.

Have you considered Podcast sponsorship?

"Kanzenshuu, the podcast, brought to you by ___" or "Kanzenshuu the podcast will return after these messages" and so on?

I'm under no illusions about the size of the listener base, and how that isn't going to translate into big-bucks, but I think that if you put the option out there, there are definitely companies who would like to have access to advertise to your listener base.

[VegettoEX]

There's zero money in podcast sponsorship, and on principle alone I would never do it (the principle being any money seeming to fund the editorializing of something; I know that we've reviewed things like games and DVDs based on review copies received from publishers, but I dunno... that somehow feels different? And it's super rare?).

I know I rule out a lot of stuff, which doesn't help... .

[sangofe]

Go for it!

[Metalwario64]

I wouldn't mind at all. In fact, I'd sign out when I'm just browsing to help contribute some additional ad revenue.

[Tanooki Kuribo]

I think it just makes sense to do it.

[JulieYBM]

Sounds like a sound plan. While I like the lack of ads I'm usually logged in when I visit anyway. If the non-member traffic is high enough to foot the bill I say go for it. That is until somebody wins the lotto and decides to donate.

[Li'l Lemmy]

The costs by now must be astronomical. Not so much that it ain't gettin' done, obviously, but still. Anything that can be reasonably done to offset costs is a plus at this point.

It's been a little while since I've donated. Let me get my hands on another paycheck, 'kay?


~Da Lemmy

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

I say go for it.

I get so much out of this site, but as someone who doesn't have a job or PayPal, I can't exactly donate to you guys. I feel like having ads while I'm logged off would make me feel like I'm doing my own little (really little) bit for the website, and I'd feel less guilty every time you bring up donations on the podcast.

[MagicBox]

I wouldn't mind at all. In fact, I'd sign out when I'm just browsing to help contribute some additional ad revenue.

Seconded. I rarely log in when I'm browsing the forum anyway, so I'd be able to contribute despite being a registered user. I think it's a great idea. I wouldn't be bothered by the ads at all.

This is a silly question, but do the bandwidth usage / site costs increase if the member count increases? I only ask because I can see some lurkers creating accounts to avoid the ads and never posting. Of course, I'm not discouraging people from joining the community or anything like that. I'm just asking.

And of course, I need to donate the next time I get my paycheck. This site has given me so much that it's only fair.

[Big Momma]

If it only effects guests, I say go for it. It might even incline more people to sign up and post.