Advertisements on Everything sites

[chris]

All good things come to an end at some point. Starting today, you'll notice the Everything sites are no longer "ad-free". In case you haven't noticed, this site never accepted external advertising such as Google ads, etc.

After much thought and deliberation, I've decided to accept advertising on the site. I've done my best to incorporate the ads into the look and design of the site. Additionally, this site will not be inundated with ads. There are only a few spots available to potential advertisers. I certainly do not want to affect the usability of the site. With any new venture, there will be some bumps along the way and I'll do what I can to smooth these over.

For those browsing the site with your iPhone or iPod Touch, the forums will automatically display the iPhone friendly, ad-free version.

Thanks for your understanding and hopefully this won't affect your experience here at EIC.

-Chris

[KNK]

Chris, you can do all you want, nothing bothers me.:laugh2:

All good things come to an end at some point. Starting today, you'll notice the Everything sites are no longer "ad-free". In case you haven't noticed, this site never accepted external advertising such as Google ads, etc.

After much thought and deliberation, I've decided to accept advertising on the site. I've done my best to incorporate the ads into the look and design of the site. Additionally, this site will not be inundated with ads. There are only a few spots available to potential advertisers. I certainly do not want to affect the usability of the site. With any new venture, there will be some bumps along the way and I'll do what I can to smooth these over.

For those browsing the site with your iPhone or iPod Touch, the forums will automatically display the iPhone friendly, ad-free version.

Thanks for your understanding and hopefully this won't affect your experience here at EIC.

-Chris

[powersrus]

Hey Chris do what you have to do, this is and will always be the BEST iphone site!!! Keep up the great work...all of you!! And thanks!!:smile:

[iamtko]

Hey Chris do what you have to do, this is and will always be the BEST iphone site!!! Keep up the great work...all of you!! And thanks!!:smile:

/agreed

advertising is everywhereBUY COCA COLA so i'm used to it

[patrickj]

Site still looks great, works great. Glad if ads are helping the site ...

[GailLA]

No prob Chris. Nothing is free. Bandwidth certainly is not free.

[gcvt]

Doesn't bother me one bit!

As long as you don't do those ads that highlight words in people's posts and popup little windows all over the place ;)

[Lincoln]

Still looks and works like the iCafe of yesterday. As long as a site isn't 90% ads, I have no problem with a few ads here and there.

- John

[Youngbinks]

Sadly, I don't even know if I would have noticed if Chris hadn't said something.
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p91/youngbinks/runaway.gif

[Lincoln]

Chris, I have noticed something odd. Every now and then, the iCafe Store ads, which have been here for awhile, show up in the middle of two posts, like this:

http://inlinethumb58.webshots.com/41529/2927384530102559397S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2927384530102559397GDLVtH)

Could this have to do with the new ads?

- John

[chris]

Yeah, I've testing this over at EverythingBerry. I'm adding a banner ad at the top, but need to find a slot for the internal store ads. Rather than having "stacked" ads at the top, which looked pretty horrific, so I've opted for the inline ads. Took a look at a few popular forums (MacRumors being one) and they've got the same thing -- albeit with text ads.

[chris]

I still have the stacked version over at EQ (http://www.everythingq.com/forum) and you'll see what I mean.:foot:

[Youngbinks]

Ah, I definitely think the inline ads look more aesthetically pleasing.

[patrickj]

Ah, I definitely think the inline ads look more aesthetically pleasing.

You mean not stacked banners at top, but one banner top, one in between posts I think? If so, I agree. If you mean inline like someone above mentioned with the double-underline of words in posts and popup windows, I find those annoying ...

[Youngbinks]

You mean not stacked banners at top, but one banner top, one in between posts I think? If so, I agree. If you mean inline like someone above mentioned with the double-underline of words in posts and popup windows, I find those annoying ...

Oh no no, I mean the ones that are in between the posts. The ones with the double underline annoy me to no end because I usually click on them thinking they're something else.

[patrickj]

Oh no no, I mean the ones that are in between the posts. The ones with the double underline annoy me to no end because I usually click on them thinking they're something else.

That's what I thought - just thought I'd ask coz lots of people refer to them as 'inline' I think. And yeah they are extremely irritating ...

[chris]

Based upon some "less than favorable" feedback on EverythingQ, I've made a few changes. For now, I've removed the ads that appear within the threads (after the first post). Registered users will still see the ads, but they will appear up top (as they have in the past). The only difference will be the addition of the 728x90 ad that appears below the main navigation.

-Chris

[KeKe]

the ads don't bother me most sites have them but I'm mostly on the forum with my iPhone so I'm good.

[Lincoln]

Wow, you got quite a bit of input (http://www.everythingq.com/forum/off-topic/advertising-on-everything-sites-16260.html) over at Everything Q.

- John

[chris]

Wow, you got quite a bit of input (http://www.everythingq.com/forum/off-topic/advertising-on-everything-sites-16260.html) over at Everything Q.

- John
Yeah, I was surprised at the level of discontent. I've taken the constructive criticism and made a few changes. The site(s) have seen different levels of ads over the past day or so, but I think I've found a happy medium. We'll see...I certainly hope so.

BTW, I've also done a few things to amp up registration here at EIC. A few more improvements on the way.

-Chris

[Lincoln]

Yeah, I was surprised at the level of discontent. I've taken the constructive criticism and made a few changes. The site(s) have seen different levels of ads over the past day or so, but I think I've found a happy medium. We'll see...I certainly hope so.

BTW, I've also done a few things to amp up registration here at EIC. A few more improvements on the way.

-Chris

What would those few things be? I would love to see a jump in traffic around here. I suppose I should just wait until Tuesday, though. :wink:

- John

[chris]

What would those few things be? I would love to see a jump in traffic around here. I suppose I should just wait until Tuesday, though. :wink:

- John
Well, I recieved a complaint from a long-time member here at EIC and ET. He wrote about about the site not being the same and that some senior members were being too tough with new users. I have always tried to make my forums friendly for all types -- newbies included. We all have had our "day one" with the iPhone. I spend quite a bit a time in various forums -- both competitor forums and forums related to topics outside smartphones that interest me. I see all types of behavior and some forums are pretty ruthless. I certainly do not want EIC to get to that level, so something needs to be done.

The major offense of most new users is their lack of knowledge related to the forum -- and not necessarily the iPhone. This doesn't justify someone verbally beating them up. That simply sends them away to a more accommodating forum. I need to do a better job of welcoming people here and advising them of ways to get the most from the forum. If them become better members (ie. Use search, don't crosspost, etc), both senior and new members benefit. I'm going to be testing a few things out in vBulletin and I think this should help out a bit. I think that'll be a good first step, but I would like to find a way to better organize important info here at EIC. I'm still not sure how to go about this, but it's on the "to do list".

I'm hoping to have the welcome part of the equation set up by Tuesday. There are already new welcome messages in place to unregistered users to help boost registration. Some benefits include removal of some of the ads.:tounge: If you popped over to EQ, you'd see the new "Sign up" messaging and the ads that appear to unregistered members.

-Chris

[Ramesh]

Well, I recieved a complaint from a long-time member here at EIC and ET. He wrote about about the site not being the same and that some senior members were being too tough with new users. I have always tried to make my forums friendly for all types -- newbies included. We all have had our "day one" with the iPhone. I spend quite a bit a time in various forums -- both competitor forums and forums related to topics outside smartphones that interest me. I see all types of behavior and some forums are pretty ruthless. I certainly do not want EIC to get to that level, so something needs to be done.

The major offense of most new users is their lack of knowledge related to the forum -- and not necessarily the iPhone. This doesn't justify someone verbally beating them up. That simply sends them away to a more accommodating forum. I need to do a better job of welcoming people here and advising them of ways to get the most from the forum. If them become better members (ie. Use search, don't crosspost, etc), both senior and new members benefit. I'm going to be testing a few things out in vBulletin and I think this should help out a bit. I think that'll be a good first step, but I would like to find a way to better organize important info here at EIC. I'm still not sure how to go about this, but it's on the "to do list".

I'm hoping to have the welcome part of the equation set up by Tuesday. There are already new welcome messages in place to unregistered users to help boost registration. Some benefits include removal of some of the ads.:tounge: If you popped over to EQ, you'd see the new "Sign up" messaging and the ads that appear to unregistered members.

-Chris
That sounds great! Have you been able to test out that feature I was talking about?

[chris]

That sounds great! Have you been able to test out that feature I was talking about?

That's on my list. Doing some research on what they are using.:wink:

[Ramesh]

That's on my list. Doing some research on what they are using.:wink:
Sweet. I think that feature would fit right in line w/what you are trying to accomplish.