Adsense ads are gone!

[SeanB]

Well, the response to the adds was less than positive.

I've gone ahead and removed all of the Adsense ads!

Those of you who didn't mind them, only did so because you could just ignore them; which kind of defeats the purpose. :lol:
I also did not like that I did not have enough direct control over who was advertising on the site. I was aggrivated anytime I saw an add selling products considered by most to be snake oil.

At some time in the future, I may run my own banner ads, but if I do so, the ads will only be a single banner at the top of the page and not within the posts. This would allow me to hand pick vendors with good products and reputations - copmpanies that I would be proud to associate with. If you are in the pool care business and think your company / product might fit this description, send me a pm and we'll talk.

In the meantime, the best way you can support the forum is to actively participate and of course, donations are always welcome. It's because of the current supporters that we have been able to do so much in such a short period of time. I promise to keep looking for ways to improve the site and make it even better!

Thanks for your patience while we experimented.

Sean

 

[duraleigh]

Hey, Sean,

I am not sad to see the ads go and I hope many of us are appreciative of you eliminating them. I know you couldn't control it, but I really thought it affected the credibility of the forum to advertise things we knew were not very good for most pools.

Now, I think it sorta' puts the ball in our court to put out heads together and develop some ways the forum can produce revenue.

We all need to remember that time is money and the amount of time this forum will need, particulary next Spring, is gonna' be significant. Many of us here are painfully aware that the primary issue at poolforum was most likely money.....I really don't want that possibility to even exist here. I have way too much fun trying to prove how smart I am (and failing abysmally more often than not)

 

[SeanB]

Dave, glad you appreciate the change and reasoning behind trying adsense.

I had hoped that the ads would be a little more refined after a few weeks of use but the list of advertisers is just not that impressive and did not seem to be improving.

While you are absolutely right about time and money, do rest assured that this site will never have the dilemma that PF is suffering. That is the primary reason why you do not see me selling anything directly from this site. I'd rather concentrate on running the best forum I can and avoid situations where my personal circumstances could jeopardize the site. With the business model I'm using, my only obligation is to keeping the site running and making it as user friendly as possible.

It's been a real learning experience, but I'm very happy with the results so far. It's amazing to think that we are really still just a fledgling site, in operation for less than 5 months. I'm sure things will slow down a bit in the off season, but as you pointed out, next Spring should really be exciting as we are poised for some serious growth.

 

[Buggsw]

You are doing a super job, Sean. I know that I and a whole lot of people really appreciate all your efforts, thoughtfulness and friendship.

 

[AnnaK]

Every time I see that blushing icon at the end of your first sentence up there, I feel a little guilty. I'm one of the ones who wasn't bothered by the ads because my browser blocks them yet I was quick to voice an objection to their existence, on principle. I'm sorry I did that.

I don't know how Internet ads work. Does the merchant pay for having an ad on a site? Does the site owner get paid when a user clicks on an ad? How do ads get on a site? Does the site owner contact the merchant to sell the space? Does the merchant contact the site owner to buy space?

I visit a lot of dog related sites, most of which have very discrete banner ads which are generally placed at the bottom of a page. Here, for instance, you could place them at the end of each page where they would be seen by anyone reading a topic. These ads are .gif images of the company's logo with an embedded link which opens a new tab or window, and they're sized approximately the same as our TFP LIFETIME tags.

Many of us here have found products we really like. What if we compiled a list of user recommended products and then advertise them on the forum? That's what prompted my string of questions above. How do we go about advertising products we use and like?

TFP has, in a very short time, grown into a highly credible forum. You and the Mod Squad have done a great job! I would think a merchant of pool and other outdoor related products would see this forum as a profitable advertising venue.

Anna

 

[SeanB]

No reason for guilt. :lol: I think most people would agree that the adsense ads were not a positive addition to the site.

As for your suggestion, you are reading my mind. I have been thinking about the very same thing - compiling a list of reputable businesses to contact.

To answer your questions, the way the Adsense ads work is that you install a bit of code into each page where you want the ads displayed and google does the rest. The ads are selected, by google, based on the text on the page - in our case, pool supplies for the most part. Money is earned only when an ad is clicked. Forums don't tend to do very well with this sort of text based advertising though as people quickly become "ad blind" and just don't notice the ads are there.

In contrast, if I run my own banner ads, there are several ways I could do it. I tend to like the single banner ad at the top of the page - nothing too large, but enough to get noticed. Whenever you go to the next page or refresh, it rotates to the next ad. The main difference between that and google is that I would control what companies are able to advertise. Also, there would not be any ads placed within the threads themselves as I think people found those most annoying. I could also run an ad campaign several ways but more than likely, it would be a flat rate per month or per year, not based on click throughs.

I think the benefit to members would also be much greater since the companies advertising would already be pre-screened companies selling quality products.

 

[AnnaK]

How do the companies become aware of the option to advertise on TFP? Do you contact them to sell your ad space? That adds a whole new dimension to your job: creating a sales based e-mail and contacting the companies. Like you don't already have your hands full

What I'm trying to figure out here is what we users and members can do to assist you.

 

[SeanB]

How do the companies become aware of the option to advertise on TFP? Do you contact them to sell your ad space? That adds a whole new dimension to your job: creating a sales based e-mail and contacting the companies. Like you don't already have your hands full

What I'm trying to figure out here is what we users and members can do to assist you.

I would probably contact those companies via e-mail and could also create a thread addressed to potential advertisers on how to contact me, once I have the banner ad option available.

As far as what user could do to help... If we do start hosting ads, making purchases through those companies and letting them know you heard about them on TFP, would be a big help. This is all still hypothetical as I'm not going to jump into anything just yet. There area few other behind the scenes decisions that I need to make before moving forward.

Thanks for all you interest and suggestions!

Sean