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On-line Communities - Ads or no Ads?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the gotta-pay-the-bandwidth-bill-somehow dept.

numacra asks: "There comes a time in the life of every growing on-line community where ads start looking like a good way to support it. What does the Slashdot community think about ads on open source and security community websites? Does it bring down the quality of the website/community? Should we start putting ads up on our wargame pages? We receive around 10,000 unique hits a month and are debating whether or not ads will improve our community or ruin it." Ads and donations seem to be the easiest way to drum up money for grassroots websites, however are there other alternatives which could cover the costs?

4 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. First off... by Qzukk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In general, Ads don't ruin anything. Whiners ruin things.

    That said, flash ads ruin websites. Especially flash ads that stretch out over text. Floating DIV ads that block your content ruin websites. Noisy ads ruin websites. Ads that cause seizures ruin websites. Sites with more ads on the screen than content have been ruined by ads.

    --
    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  2. Adds don't work by ps3udonym · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Adds and banners don't work. Period. It has come to the point that I don't even SEE a banner when it is up, even if it is relevant to the site. One of my favorite online stores decided to put up a Specials section on their site. They promoted it by way of a banner add on the front page. I didn't even SEE it until someone pointed it out to me. The reality is that after you have spent enough time online you simply filter out the adds and garbage to focus in on the information that you came to find. Since the net went public and the Web was introduced, I belive I have clicked on exactly three adds and never spent a dime on any of the sites advertised.

    Ditch the adds. They simply don't work.

    1. Re:Adds don't work by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 5, Funny

      With an attitude like that, you will never win a free iPod by clicking on the monkey.

      --
      It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  3. If Slashdot has taught me anything... by GoofyBoy · · Score: 5, Funny

    After you've set up ads and paid subscriptions (for extra features!) its all about keeping them coming back;

    1. Slashvertisments. Hidden ads disgused as original content! Two birds, one stone!

    2. Obvious trolls posing as "news that you want to know." Flamewars never hurt anyone that really matters but it does drive up website hits!

    3. Dupes. Make it look like you have more content each and every day!

    4. User editable "tags" to postings. Make it look like you care about the public's opinion but, really, its your website. Trust me, no one is going to notice when you "edit" them.

    --
    The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.