Feedback on New Advertising Opportunity

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I think I would browse such a forum. In particular, it would actually be great to see some local products that I would actually want to buy, rather than random ads which, as you know I block, sorry Thanks for brainstorming a less annoying way for us to do some online shopping--which we would do anyway--and make some revenue without a soul-sucking middle-man who would destroy the character of the site. Win-win, I say.

I am tracking users who are using ad blockers now in order to get a sense of the scale of the problem. I intentionally reject and/or remove ad technologies that are overly-obnoxious. Just yesterday I rejected a very attractively-priced ad because it was an "expandable" (an ad that expands when you put you mouse over it). I keep the ads on the edges of the page despite constant pleas from ad networks to put them smack in the middle of the page. So, I really do all I can to minimize any negative impact of the ads. But, ads are currently our only way to generate revenue. When you block the ads, you are directly impacting our bottom line. Depending on how big a problem ad blockers become, we may well start blocking users who block ads. As a first step, I am considering blocking such users from posting.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[Anonymous]

Sounds good to me as long as it's a separate Forum and it doesn't clutter up Recent Topics.

[Anonymous]

Bless you; I hate expandable ads and how I accidentally click on them (on other sites).

I'm not sure I would use/peruse a sponsors forum -- would have to wait and see what kind of content ended up there -- but I don't object to one.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't mind sticky sponsored links in appropriate categories or recent topics, as long as there was a limit to them (visually I think any more than 5 is too much)

[Anonymous]

Jeff - I know of a site that does what you are suggesting. It is called Lets Talk BBQ. For instance, Pit Barrell Cooker sponsors one of the forums and people discuss cooking on their PBC. I bought a PBC after reading posts on that forum.

I'm not sure how that would translate to his site, because I can't think of a local product or venue that would generate discussions.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff - I know of a site that does what you are suggesting. It is called Lets Talk BBQ. For instance, Pit Barrell Cooker sponsors one of the forums and people discuss cooking on their PBC. I bought a PBC after reading posts on that forum.

I'm not sure how that would translate to his site, because I can't think of a local product or venue that would generate discussions.

I'm not thinking about having specific forums sponsored, but a single forum in which sponsors can post. I don't expect much discussion will take place in that forum other than questions about specific offers that are posted.

[Anonymous]

I think you need to recognize that some of the sponsors will be in for some negative comments.

Sponsor: Come down to Widget Restaurant tonight! We have a fabulous lobster mac 'n' cheese special and half-price wines on Wednesdays!

DCUM poster 1: If you were a good restaurant you wouldn't have to offer deals to get people in the door.

DCUM poster 2: So this is a great restaurant for alcoholics?

DCUM poster 3: The manager at this restaurant asked my toddler to stop screaming when we were at dinner on New Year's Eve - they are anti-family there and I will never darken the door again!!!!!

Etc.

[Anonymous]

Whoops, that wasn't supposed to be in quotes, but you get the idea.

[Anonymous]

If users can reply to the ad postings, that could be a mess.

I actually think forum sponsorship is a better idea. One banner ad at the top of a forum?

[Anonymous]

Could a company sponsor a forum for a day? The top ad for that forum would be theirs for the day and they get the right to post as a registered user that includes their information under their name? For instance, a Real Estate agency could sponsor the Real Estate forum and for that day post answers to questions via their registered user name. A tutoring service could sponsor the Independent Schools forum, etc.

A company could also pay to be the expert answering questions on a specific thread, kind of like an AMA. So maybe Child's Play would sponsor a thread in Off Topic in October called -- The Hot Toys for This Holiday Season -- and then they are permitted to post via their user name, the hot toys, answer questions within that thread (including what they still have in stock). Or the local version of Blue Apron posting in the Food forum -- the first post is about their products and then they answer questions. You can delete or lock the thread after x number of days.

And for what it is worth, I am always interested in hearing about small local businesses, so you could consider a forum in which small businesses (say those that employee under 10 people) to introduce themselves to the DCUM community. Perhaps you can let these small businesses post an introduction for free once a year as a service to your readers and your fellow small business owners.

[jsteele]

Thanks for the interesting suggestions. Please keep them coming. I'm going to give some though to forum sponsorship and some of the ideas in 22:17. I really appreciate the ideas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could a company sponsor a forum for a day? The top ad for that forum would be theirs for the day and they get the right to post as a registered user that includes their information under their name? For instance, a Real Estate agency could sponsor the Real Estate forum and for that day post answers to questions via their registered user name. A tutoring service could sponsor the Independent Schools forum, etc.

A company could also pay to be the expert answering questions on a specific thread, kind of like an AMA. So maybe Child's Play would sponsor a thread in Off Topic in October called -- The Hot Toys for This Holiday Season -- and then they are permitted to post via their user name, the hot toys, answer questions within that thread (including what they still have in stock). Or the local version of Blue Apron posting in the Food forum -- the first post is about their products and then they answer questions. You can delete or lock the thread after x number of days.

And for what it is worth, I am always interested in hearing about small local businesses, so you could consider a forum in which small businesses (say those that employee under 10 people) to introduce themselves to the DCUM community. Perhaps you can let these small businesses post an introduction for free once a year as a service to your readers and your fellow small business owners.

+1