OH GOD NO!

ghosstt · Post by **ghosstt** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:40 pm

Wait.. Everytime we scroll over them, ben gets revenue?

Why not just make a script that simulates roll over on each one

mothatrucka · Post by **mothatrucka** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:43 pm

mothatrucka wrote:Wow, what a load of griping over ads. Come on, guys, they're a different shade of blue than the REAL links, and they're not hurting anything. <b>Bandwidth is not cheap, and it's Ben's site.</b> It's not like ad bars on the side that lead to ridiculous amounts of scrolling. <b>Just grow up and deal with it.</b>

Yes, well, that wasn't my point. Shall I make it obvious? Sheesh, the way you guys whine about this, if this was my site, I'd shut it all down.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:46 pm

Technically, if you type word(s) which then get underlined as an advertising link, then your permission must be obtained, as revenue generation/copyright? I for one do not give permission for my words to be used as links. I think it looks crap to use stealth advertising like this on the forum. If all these adverts pay for the forum costs then we, the members, should have more say as without our input there would be less activity=revenue?

Post by **bicostp** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:04 pm

Well, the only places I know of that use this tactic are shady websites and junk like Expert's Exchange that require a subscription. (Plus they're ugly as all hell.)

I am NOT against all ads, just ugly intrusive ones that are potentially hazardous to the computer's health.

Why aren't there more banners in the main site's sidebar? There's tons of room in there...

The question still stands: Do these generate revenue per impression or only when clicked/rolled over? The latter are pretty useless when people avoid them. (I know I don't click on random ads, not after getting hit with a bad malware infection back in '02 on an old P2 box running 98. The horror...)

It looks like Kontera (the company running the ads) is clean.

My main concern with the inline ads is data collection. Who knows what the hell they do with the page information when they scan it? (And does this cost extra bandwidth? Probably not because it's a user-end script but it still slows page execution.)

Neildo_64 · Post by **Neildo_64** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:29 pm

I think getting these new ads probably wasn't the best idea. Wow...just noticed this - It even underlines "Font" where you change the font color when posting a reply. Anyway, I have had enough with malware recently (still suffering from it) and I have spyware out the ass. Anything that does ANYTHING with information that is on my screen is a thumbs down in my book, but as stated many times before, bandwidth isn't free. I think they should just show up for guests. It's not like any of us active members are going to click anything anyway, we just avoid them.

Post by **Triton** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:48 pm

well at least bens bandwidth usage and expense isnt as high as 4chans, moot spends FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR on bandwidth and its all covered by ad revenue, of course 4chan is thousands of times as active as benheck lol

Grandmasterjimmy · Post by **Grandmasterjimmy** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:50 pm

Hey cool, it's those ad's that make me want to kill myself.

evilteddy · Post by **evilteddy** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:05 pm

I have our solution. Just click on the google banner ads about 5 times each day you visit the benheck forums. Leave them in the background and that should generate enough revenue for Ben to cover the costs of the site and then he wont need to use the link ads. Anyway that's what I'll do.

Ben Cebhrem · Post by **Ben Cebhrem** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:26 pm

Annoying, yes. Certainly livable, how it's been set up. So far in this thread, I've counted only 5 links, and an additional one in a signature. The links look different, and are more sparsely throughout than a ton of other sites using the same solution for ads.

Thumbs up, thumbs down, I don't really care. Kudos though on (somehow) keeping the count of links down. I'm here for free, and I appreciate Ben's effort into keeping it a free forum- god knows he could charge for just registering, and then things like avatars, signatures, etc. such as Something Awful does.

Post by **benheck** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:58 pm

This is not rocket science:

The forums DO NOT MAKE ME MONEY yet consume half my EXPENSIVE BANDWIDTH. Thus, they need to have ads to pull their own weight.

I do not need the forums. I can get jobs, interviews, magazine articles, all of that WITHOUT THEM. A selfish person would say "Screw this" and just yank the forums when they hear whining.

But I like to encourage modding and the community around it. So, here are the forums! It is a FREE service I am providing to you.

TV is not free. In fact, you usually pay for it and there's STILL ads. Same for going to the movies (Get Smart rules)

Many of you are younger and have not yet realized life is really just about selling out and doing things you may not want to. A "fun" job at a hot dog stand is fine for high school, but when you need to pay rent (or server costs) you have to do something you MIGHT NOT LIKE to make money. Same deal here. Site gets more popular, it needs more ads to keep up with the costs.

I do not want to hear whining about this again. This is not a democracy, it's my site.

Tell you what, if you send me a personal check for $200 each month to cover server costs (once it clears) you can whine all you want. I'll even sticky it. $200 a month, I could buy a NEW CAR with that, but I drive a 1995 Ford Escort Wagon. And you get free forums. Who's getting the shaft on this deal?