Ads by Google

[Jules Ruis]

Dear Jason,

I see now 'Ads by Google' appear at the top of Fractal Forums. Did you approve this?

Jules Ruis

[heneganj]

Yes I approved it and made the changes.

FF is now on paid-for hosting.  Previously it was running on my home internet connection so it didn't cost anything to run.

Now there is an expense incurred and I intend to recoup that expense with advertising.  I don't expect to get rich - I would rather see income from the site reinvested into purchasing prizes / software licenses / advertising on other sites. 

Potentially with long term growth it may take years of Adsense money to do something serious like host a Fractal Forums conference - wouldn't that be exciting?  Or pick up an issue of New Scientist and see the 'Fractal Forums sponsored winner of the Best Fractal Discovery goes to...' - these things only happen with money.

I am not going to beg users for contributions.  If you feel the ads are intrusive, then switch to the Default Theme (see your profile settings) but in doing so you will be reducing the CPM (ad impression counts) of the site and, one could argue, hinder its growth.

[heneganj]

I welcome ideas for uses of the advertising revenue.  For instance

- pay for the hosting (it would have to do this)
- pay moderators
- pay key contributors (that could include you Jules!)
- sponsor key blogs
- sponsor events (long term goal)
- sponsor research (long term goal)
- sponsor publications - for example provide investment for (say) a Fractal Forums yearly print calendar

I should point out that FF is owned exclusively by www.jaycatech.com so there is a high probability that there would be a high percentage of reinvestment in FF to avoid some tax issues.

[titia]

I understand the want for ads. There is nothing wrong with it....but...

For me the ads disturb the layout a lot, they separate de head from the body.
A better place for it would be above the head.
From a commercial point of view: the position of the ads couldn't be better.

If you want this place in the first place to be commercial: let them on this position, but if you want to keep me happy :-) : place them on top.

Usually I avoid a site if ads are this prominent.
So: keep the ads, give them another place.

As for the money: I like the idea of spending it for things like events.

Titia

[matera]

Ah. I temporarily renamed my HOSTS file so I could see the ads. Yoicks, they do take a chunk, but it's not that bad, just makes another step down to go.

...could add a PayPal donation button to the footer, hee-hee...

[Nahee_Enterprises]

Jason Henegan wrote:
>
>    I welcome ideas for uses of the advertising revenue.
>    For instance
>       - pay for the hosting (it would have to do this)
>       - pay moderators
>       - pay key contributors (that could include you Jules!)
>       - sponsor key blogs
>       - sponsor events (long term goal)
>       - sponsor research (long term goal)
>       - sponsor publications - for example... yearly print calendar

For myself, I do NOT wish to be paid.  I would rather see the money used to pay the ISP, and invested back into the Forum for things that would make it more interesting.

[heneganj]

I'd like to think that I could scrape up enough money by April time to extend the domain name's life by 10 years.  That would help search engine ranking.

[matera]

That's a nice thought

[stefan]

The Google Ads are maybe a nice way to exchange links. However I suspect this is not a serious source of income. Moreover - the rules are not completely clear.  Some time ago I used to display AdSense links on my website (www.fractalexperience.com), but suddenly Google threw me away of the system and said that there were illegal clicks on my website. But they did not provide an explanation how they measure illegal clicks and I had the impression that there is something wrong with this deal.
BTW: I agree with Titia that the obvious place for the Google bar is on most top part of the layout. Maybe on right side of the banner. Another convenient option is to display a vertical bar at the right of the main layout.

[heneganj]

However I suspect this is not a serious source of income.

Correct, I'd like to think one day another website I'm building will provide that! But at the moment, this site is not self sustaining.

and said that there were illegal clicks on my website

I don't doubt it - I am prepared for this and what I expect is happening, is that Google fires off this e-mail pre-emptively without any investigation.  The fraudsters back off and the legitimates fight their corner.  Guilty until proven innocent?

Another convenient option is to display a vertical bar at the right of the main layout.

Yep I am really toying with that idea - it's less intrusive.

Really though I'm looking for a better paying provider based on CPM rather than PPC.

[heneganj]

I have started with Amazon Associates, the links are way more relevant than Google which has brought in a whopping $20 in 4 months.