Video Ads

[Anonymous]

I really think you should add a Royal forum and allow the Harry& Meghan vs The World battles to drive up your traffic. Seriously.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Excuse my ignorance, but you get paid just for Keanu, etc, coming onto my screen, regardless of whether I click on the ad? A related question was has anyone in the history of DCUM intentionally clicked on one of the mass ad buys (not a local summer school, etc)? I just cannot imagine this. Last, do you get paid more if I see the ad, click on the ad, and actually buy something?

We have a couple of different types of ads but the most common are CPM, or cost per thousand. Those ads pay for being displayed whether anyone clicks or not. I believe the Keanu ad was filter video used by the vender to fill spaces between ads. Technically, I don't think we get paid for those, but if it were an actual ad we would. Basically all the ads we run get clicks, if very few in some cases. I guess some of those could be accidental, but they could also have been intentional. The ads are actually more valuable if you allow yourself to be targeted because then you get ads that interest you. I am into playing and buying guitars and after I browse Reverb, I get a lot of Reverb ads. I enjoy seeing the ads for guitars and have clicked on a few.

[Anonymous]

It would be great for local businesses like the parenting magazine outside of Whole Foods. Good for local banks, car dealerships, camps, child’s entertainment, stores, restaurants, ice cream parlors - the list is endless. Think capital one center advertisements but on a smaller scale?

[Anonymous]

Did you know that taking excess supplements could be harmful for your health?

I figured you just needed to bump your revenue up Jeff and as long as there’s no sound, I can just keep scrolling.

[Anonymous]

It gives the site a very cluttered feel and is distracting. If it's not remedied I'll likely spend less time here, which is too bad because I enjoy the give and take of this board. Revenue IS important, I get it, and would much rather pay a nominal monthly fee to avoid.

[Anonymous]

I have been keeping an open mind about the video ads, recognizing what you're trying to do. For my experience, having the ads only popping up in threads and not on the front pages was helpful. I am using a computer, though, and can't speak to the mobile experience.

I think it's likely that I will get used to it and will continue to get the value I get out of this site. Would still be willing to contribute to a fundraising campaign or a Patreon-type deal. But for me so far, the reduction has been helpful from what it was when the videos were hot and heavy everywhere.

Will also be making tikka masala tonight for dinner, thanks a lot

[Anonymous]

I've posted my thoughts on the ads in general above so I won't repeat them and skew your responses.

But, I just saw a Fiverr ad in another language that could have been Dutch, I don't know. I'm not sure that was intended.

[Anonymous]

How much are the ads paying? Can you set up wikipedia style begging campaign instead, before you drive everyone away?

[Anonymous]

These ads are awful. They break up the space and look bad and then they float and interfere with scrolling. None of them are anything I am even remotely interested in.

Please rethink this because it is negatively impacting the site experience.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excuse my ignorance, but you get paid just for Keanu, etc, coming onto my screen, regardless of whether I click on the ad? A related question was has anyone in the history of DCUM intentionally clicked on one of the mass ad buys (not a local summer school, etc)? I just cannot imagine this. Last, do you get paid more if I see the ad, click on the ad, and actually buy something?

We have a couple of different types of ads but the most common are CPM, or cost per thousand. Those ads pay for being displayed whether anyone clicks or not. I believe the Keanu ad was filter video used by the vender to fill spaces between ads. Technically, I don't think we get paid for those, but if it were an actual ad we would. Basically all the ads we run get clicks, if very few in some cases. I guess some of those could be accidental, but they could also have been intentional. The ads are actually more valuable if you allow yourself to be targeted because then you get ads that interest you. I am into playing and buying guitars and after I browse Reverb, I get a lot of Reverb ads. I enjoy seeing the ads for guitars and have clicked on a few.

I think they get clicks because people are trying to close them and not because they are interested in them, at least that is the only time I click on ads. The video ones drive me to read on Brave, where all the ads are blocked, and post on Safari.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are moving advertisements in many platforms, you just dealt with them. Why does one feel they have the right to complain here? Look up entertainment and news sites, recipe websites etc and you have these pop up advertisements.
I say stop complaining and be thankful.

I find other places to go for the info that I am looking for. Some of the Guide pages for Zelda have the video pop ups but some don’t, I avoid the ones with the pop ups and only go there if the pages without the pop ups are not providing the one piece os a shrine that I am struggling to figure out. That does not happen all that often.

I get that the site needs to make money and that ads are a part of that. The video ads are large, disrupt the page, and no, I don’t like the floating ad. It does mean that people will spend less time on the page and will negatively impact revenue for the page if people leave because the ads are becoming too annoying. I appreciate that there is a balance there but the video ads are sending some of us to use browsers that block ads, which is not benefiting the site.

[jsteele]

If you use Brave, the browser already has a way to make payments to us. So far, we have made $0.16.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gift certificates for ads seems like a novel idea.. but I think there's a group out there who would just donate if you set up Patreon. Why not try that first? I'm guessing it's easier to set up too.

We are a business and not a charity so I am not really comfortable with donations. I'd like to provide something in return, even if those buying it don't intend to use it.

I think what you fgive is good content moderation and (relatively) troll free zones. But hey, give merchandise like NPR if you want too. But please not ad impressions. Not on a site where a lot of the readers are Feds. That has the potential to be a really mess.

+1 what you'd be giving is a place where we can shout at each other and share ideas, without ads. that is a benefit. dcum is the product - dcum without ads is a more valuable product. it's not really different from my slate plus membership - i could listen to the podcasts for free with ads, but i pay $7 a month (or whatever it is) so i won't have to listen to the ads.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Jeff: FYI I have noticed a sharp uptick in the page reloading issue (where you lose what you are composing as a response) when the video ads started. It’s now happened multiple times in one day. [/quote]

This happened to me as well. I didn’t retype the note.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gift certificates for ads seems like a novel idea.. but I think there's a group out there who would just donate if you set up Patreon. Why not try that first? I'm guessing it's easier to set up too.

We are a business and not a charity so I am not really comfortable with donations. I'd like to provide something in return, even if those buying it don't intend to use it.

You are providing DCUM! I would sign up for a monthly subscription to DCUM honestly. Especially to avoid these video ads.

I will say I totally understand this is your livelihood and get why you would go down this road but this is probably the first update you've ever done that I think might actually make me less likely to use the site. The videos are distracting in a really significant way. If I had an option to 'pay' for an ad free version, I would for sure.