Topic: Mouseover Ads (Read 272 times)

sheliak · « **on:** May 12, 2005, 06:43:00 AM »

I woke up today and came to checkout the scene as I always do but today I noticed mouseover ads. Certain works like "xbox" and "MS" apear green and underlined and when you put the mouse over them they pop up a little box with a sponsored link. These are new here right? One of the things I liked about these forums was that they didn't have this sort of thing but I understand you guys have to make money. It doesn't bother me if it keeps this great place up and running and free. Keep up the good work.

mkjones · « **Reply #1 on:** May 12, 2005, 06:55:00 AM »

I thought I had some spyware or a virus when I first saw this.

Did a search and nothing? My PC was Spyware free, so its good to see someone else notice.

Dont like em of course, but it wont stop me using the forum they will just annoy.

This post has been edited by mkjones: May 12 2005, 01:55 PM

HSDEMONZ · « **Reply #2 on:** May 12, 2005, 07:25:00 AM »

We are doing it as a test run.. as we are always looking for new revenue sources that are unobtrusive. We find these far better than pop up/under ads common on many sites.

They also load AFTER the site page loads.. it it doesn't interfer with you guys getting to what you want..

We will continue to work hard at providing a clean site that doesn't require it's member to cough up money.

dougMod · « **Reply #3 on:** May 12, 2005, 07:47:00 AM »

ya im not a fan of it..but if you say its for the better then i guess we have to just have it for a while

wolf202 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 12, 2005, 08:17:00 AM »

To be honest i could never stand these on any sites, i do find them obtrusive as they stand out alot in the text and i mouseover the text i', opening lil popups i know the go away after i mouseover but still i find them very annoying.

hell i'll pay 5 bicks if i don't have to see any ads and i change that lil comment thing under a avatar..... on and EDIT priviliges too....

-wolf

This post has been edited by wolf202: May 12 2005, 03:28 PM

mkjones · « **Reply #5 on:** May 12, 2005, 08:57:00 AM »

QUOTE(HSDEMONZ @ May 12 2005, 01:24 PM)

We are doing it as a test run.. as we are always looking for new revenue sources that are unobtrusive. We find these far better than pop up/under ads common on many sites.

They also load AFTER the site page loads.. it it doesn't interfer with you guys getting to what you want..

We will continue to work hard at providing a clean site that doesn't require it's member to cough up money.

Fine

However, could you posibly think about posting a news article or some kind of announcement so people dont think they have accidently got some spyware?

The reason I thought it was spyware was simply becuase a few years ago when I first got broadband the exact same system crept onto my PC and caused all of the sites I browsed to have these links.

aaron1017 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 12, 2005, 09:29:00 AM »

I think they should be removed from some threads if possible... like tutorial ones, etc.

Lamer123 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 12, 2005, 10:15:00 AM »

I hate this Invision mod , A couple of my friends did the same ones to their boards but for wikipedia .

I say use that extra revanue you are earning from these ads to pay for the bandwidth of an arcade instalation .

http://www.ibproarcade.com/ Its free and rocks .

chilin_dude · « **Reply #8 on:** May 12, 2005, 10:46:00 AM »

QUOTE(wolf202 @ May 12 2005, 02:16 PM)

To be honest i could never stand these on any sites, i do find them obtrusive as they stand out alot in the text and i mouseover the text i', opening lil popups i know the go away after i mouseover but still i find them very annoying.

hell i'll pay 5 bicks if i don't have to see any ads and i change that lil comment thing under a avatar..... on and EDIT priviliges too....

-wolf

I'd pay 5 bucks too

QUOTE(Lamer123 @ May 12 2005, 04:21 PM)

I hate this Invision mod , A couple of my friends did the same ones to their boards but for wikipedia .

I say use that extra revanue you are earning from these ads to pay for the bandwidth of an arcade instalation .

http://www.ibproarcade.com/ Its free and rocks .

I doubt that'll EVER happen, but it would be sweet

twistedsymphony · « **Reply #9 on:** May 12, 2005, 11:02:00 AM »

yeah I thought it was spy-ware too at first... clicking the "what is this" in the pop-up lets you know that it isn't though

It's the decision of the admins one way or another so I'm not going to bitch a moan and complain simply voice my opinion as a member:

I personally don't like this form of advertising and I've always enjoyed the fact that XS didn't use it. I feel there are many other ways that are just as lucrative, if not more so, that could generate revenue without intruding on the members experience. A good example is web-comics; most of them generate revenue through paraphernalia such as a variety of t-shirts, hats, stickers etc. or a simple Donation box could help as well. I know I would buy a few collared or polo XS shirts for work, or give a donation every so often. Heck you could even hold a contest where people submit designs for T-shirts and desktop background etc. to aid in the creation of these things. Another idea would be to autograph reviewed products and put them on Ebay

These are things I'm sure a lot of members here would be more than happy to do, not to mention you're giving them a choice (unlike a membership fee).

If all else fails just ask the members for ideas... you have a brain-trust of 200000+ people.... I'm sure you'd get something good out of it.

Another idea would be paid vendor pages where people who do a lot of business in the BST could pay a small monthly fee and get a single page on the XS servers to sell their products.

chefelf · « **Reply #10 on:** May 12, 2005, 11:29:00 AM »

Whatever the difference doesn't seem to appear in my version of Opera.

As for the comments, the ads aren't in place so that X-S can make extra money, it's to cover the costs or running a site with such an enormous member base and so much traffic. So I wouldn't expect to see the Admins use the money made from these ads to install an arcade mod that would increase the bandwidth exponentially.

HSDEMONZ · « **Reply #11 on:** May 12, 2005, 11:42:00 AM »

Selling stuff sounds nice and fun and all.. but that still requires us to do the overhead of managing, making.. and distro (or worse.. outsourcing all that).

We also don't want to "sell" features... that too requires time and effort that is better spent elsewhere.

One of our goals it to not add more headache for the senior staff. We have enough to do already.

Asking for donations will be a LAST option.. one we might consider just before we close the doors.

As for revenue ideas.. people as always can submit them to me and xan. As it is.. over 12000 people submitted this idea of TEXT ADS in the last 3 months. (so a few dozen nay'sayers won't get it removed...)

I read every single PM.

I don't answer them all though. That can be impossible most days.

The T-Shirt Idea.. isn't a huge revenue earner. We are commited to launching a new shirt.. but it won't pay the bills.

Arius · « **Reply #12 on:** May 12, 2005, 12:04:00 PM »

yeah, It reallt dosrnt bother me.

i saw it , and thought.

Oh ad's

I would rather that, than a pop-up or other crap like that.

Let it stay, its easy and simple

This post has been edited by Arius: May 12 2005, 07:04 PM

M3_DeL · « **Reply #13 on:** May 12, 2005, 12:19:00 PM »

www.howardforums.com is either close to or larger than here. Would be interesting to see what they do to keep afloat without charging members. Part of it may be the fact that they are legit and the different cell phone companies put money into it. But this sort of add is very annoying. Maybe just have ads at the top and after the first post. I dunno. I don't really care too much as I am barely here anymore though

amicold · « **Reply #14 on:** May 12, 2005, 12:29:00 PM »

I hate these kinds of ads, I really do but if it keeps the site free I suppose they can stay.

Author Topic: Mouseover Ads (Read 272 times)