Video Ads

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recognize and respect the need for revenues but these adds often cover the content, move around and are are very “loud” visually, making it hard to read or enjoy anything. Sensory overload makes it hard to look at them and find out what they’re about, just that they are aversive and I don’t want to see them. I do avoid cabs, gas stations, and websites where unwanted video exposure is a part of the experience.

+1

I find them to be really disturbing.

+1 just realized I’ve been off dcum most of the day and that’s why

Me too, but I think this may work out an overall "win" for me personally. I've been hanging out more on Reddit anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recognize and respect the need for revenues but these adds often cover the content, move around and are are very “loud” visually, making it hard to read or enjoy anything. Sensory overload makes it hard to look at them and find out what they’re about, just that they are aversive and I don’t want to see them. I do avoid cabs, gas stations, and websites where unwanted video exposure is a part of the experience.

+1

I find them to be really disturbing.

+1 just realized I’ve been off dcum most of the day and that’s why

+ 1 more - they’re awful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you all mean by the original site link?
KeanuReeves is driving me bonkers.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and you will see a link that says Go To Original Site

I also suggest that if you bookmark the DCUM page as I do (I bookmark Recent Topics) then bookmark the Original Site version, not the new version.

It doesn’t last, tho…..I’d have to keep clicking it. Annoying.

Not true. I open DCUM by clicking on my bookmarked Recent Topics link from the original site and then my entire DCUM experience is on the original site.

[Anonymous]

Oh boy...these pop up ads might finally cure me of my DCUM time. If these new ads stay, I don't think I can.
Sorry, Jeff.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Oh boy...these pop up ads might finally cure me of my DCUM time. If these new ads stay, I don't think I can.
Sorry, Jeff.

I am sorry to say it but it doesn't really mater. Either DCUM dies because users go away or DCUM dies because it is not worth our while to run it at current revenue levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you all mean by the original site link?
KeanuReeves is driving me bonkers.

But I just learned how to harvest a prickly pear!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I usually only use the Original Site and this ad thing that is discussed here does not happen there. Occasionally I'll click on a link that takes me to the new format and that's when big videos wishing Keanu a Happy Birthday! appears and then as I scroll it jumps down to the corner, all of which is annoying.

So, to avoid this, just use the Original Site, the link is at the bottom of the page.

I just followed your advice and it was such a relief to be free of the jumping ads. It will probably only be temporary relief, but, wow, so much more pleasant.

I had forgotten how much better the original site was. I can’t tell, ultimately, how much the ads will cut down on my traffic on the site.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh boy...these pop up ads might finally cure me of my DCUM time. If these new ads stay, I don't think I can.
Sorry, Jeff.

I am sorry to say it but it doesn't really mater. Either DCUM dies because users go away or DCUM dies because it is not worth our while to run it at current revenue levels.

I’m sorry to hear that.

[Anonymous]

On some threads it’s almost impossible to read actual posts on my iPhone. The ads take up 80% of the screen and I can’t x them out and if I scroll past, they just reappear. Maybe this will finally break my dcum habit.

[jsteele]

I've removed the videos from the pages that show posts. As I have said a couple of times, it will probably take a few days to work out all of the kinks.

[Anonymous]

1. Are you going to give us a warning before you shut down completely? Or, just go cold turkey?

2. What percentage is the decrease in your revenues? 5%? 25%? 50%

3. To what do you attribute the decrease in revenues? Majority of regular posters on DCUM are rich liberals who say they are doing great in this economy. Curious why your business is struggling….

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:1. Are you going to give us a warning before you shut down completely? Or, just go cold turkey?

2. What percentage is the decrease in your revenues? 5%? 25%? 50%

3. To what do you attribute the decrease in revenues? Majority of regular posters on DCUM are rich liberals who say they are doing great in this economy. Curious why your business is struggling….

Our revenue is linked to display advertising which has suffered decreases across the board. We started to see a decrease about a year ago. That main reason I started writing the blog on the home age was because I thought the stagnant content there might be hurting us with our Google ranking. Ad revenues dropped again in March of this year and that's what led me to introduce the new design. Again, because Google was penalizing us for not having a mobile site. Also, all of the ad networks we work with kept saying that mobile ads would earn more. It turns out they don't. But, these efforts have helped with Google and our number of monthly users is going up at a rate of between 10-12 percent per month. But, CPMs for display ads are still very low. Overall, revenue is less than 50% what it was.

The wealth of our users is of no importance. We don't require logins so we can't do much tracking of users. Ad networks used to use cookies, but Apple and other browsers have made that impossible. If ad networks can't track you, they aren't wiling to pay very much to server you ads. That's probably the main reason that advertisers are unwilling to pay much for display ads.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe people are being so mean...just saying they don't care if site is shut down because they are slightly inconvenienced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are being so mean...just saying they don't care if site is shut down because they are slightly inconvenienced.

No one said that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are being so mean...just saying they don't care if site is shut down because they are slightly inconvenienced.

No one said that.

+1. Agree, no one said that. This is how capitalism works. If a business cannot generate enough revenue to earn a profit, then eventually that business goes under. It sounds like Jeff is trying to make changes that will grow his ad revenue. But, being down over 50% is tough and doesn’t put food on the table for a family.