POLL: Should ILX put ads in front of unregistered lurkers in exchange for money?

yes

sorry omar :-(

all the way, fleece these fools

can i get my $20 back if you do this

Yes.

yes.

Hell yes but I would like all you lurkers to know that we love you and in no way consider you fools except for the dicks who ruin ILM polls.

heck yeah

do it barrage them knock em out with adsssss

Yes, but the Register button should say "Register - it's free" so we don't scare away potentially active new users.

No, I remember seeing this format for the first time after the horrors of so many other forums (fora?). So clean, so clutter free - everyone should be able to see this. And I'm happy to pay for them to do so. It's like the one adfree place left after the BBC and they've got HYS which is even worse. Now...if I could just get these penguins from sliding across the top of every post.

Just so the results of my back of the envelope estimates aren't lost from the other thread:

In an hour after I restarted it at midday, there were about 10,000 hits. Can't tell the difference between logged in and not without making code changes, but I'd guess that 75% of these are logged in people, so 2,500. Guessing this translates into about 150,000 per day, which squares up with the roughly 3-4 million hits a month I've looked at in the past.

It looks like Google Ads only generate cash on click through.

― Keith

Hmm. Well, using these example numbers from this article (estimates of a 1% click through rate and 25 cents per click), the amount of money generated per day would be:

150,000 visitors per day x .25 not logged in = 37,500 unregistered hits per day

37,500 x 1% click through rate = 375 click throughs per day

375 click throughs x 25 cents = $93.75 per day

$93.75 per day x 365.25 days in a year (including leap year) = $34,242 per year

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ok that article's assumptions of 1% click through rate and 25 cents per click must be wrong. But even if we assume significantly lower assumptions - 0.2% click through rate and 10 cents per click - the total would still come out to...$2739 per year!

WE'RE GONNA BE RICH

― ya'll are the ones who don't know things (Z S)

http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/6/6c/Bling.jpg

OK, let's assume that pay per click has taken a dive in the last year. Now it's 7 cents per click. Also, we'll assume that ILX unregistered users click on ads less than most other people do, because they're too busy looking for guess papers, and use a mere 0.1% click through rate (1 out of every 1000 hits results in someone clicking on an ad). Also, we'll assume that Keith's estimate of 25% of ILX hits as unregistered/not-logged-in is too optimistic, and that the true figure is instead 15%.

With 3.5 million hits a month, that still results in:

3,500,000 hits per month x 15% unregistered = 525,000 unregistered hits per month.

525,000 unregistered hits x 0.1% click through rate = 525 clicks per month

525 clicks per month x 7 cents per click = $36.75 per month, or $441 per year.

And that's with the negative nancy assumptions all around.

― ya'll are the ones who don't know things (Z S)

To sum up:

I think that a reasonable estimate of the revenue from using AdSense on unregistered users only would be $1000-2000 per year. If negative nancy assumptions are used, drop that to $500 (which would still be almost half of the money needed and make fundraising less of a hassle), and if positive polly assumptions are used we could be on the internet together in tropical paradise.

― ya'll are the ones who don't know things (Z S)

Do we really want active new users who are frightened away by a text ad up the side of the page?

good question

Have to say that Google's popularity has been badly dented by running ads tho.

Where is this money going?

Is this poll not a little one-sided, given that unregistered users can't vote?

didn't we just raise enough money btw

Can I change my vote to no now I've read what Ned said and I realized I completely agree?

Experimenting would be interesting, OK, but once casual visitors/lurkers disappear they're gone and you can't just get them back by turning the ads off. Not that this is a commercial site that's selling anything, of course - (what do we have against lurkers again?)

Yes, but the Register button should say "Register - it's free" so we don't scare away potentially active new users.

OTM

Have to say that Google's popularity has been badly dented by running ads tho.

this has nothing to do with whether google is popular or not. these ads show up on sites regardless of how the site is found.

So clean, so clutter free - everyone should be able to see this

Which they could do by registering, for free.

xpost

Point was that people don't go "urrrrrrgggh I can't use Google it has horrible adverts on it".

At least I hope they don't.

I guess I just don't understand why we would suddenly want to use ads when we've only just raised enough money in an hour to host the thing for a year. This is with just over 60 or so people donating out of a community of more than 3000 active users and growing. It doesn't seem unreasonable to assume we could raise a similar amount of cash next year quite easily.

So out of interest, proponents of ads... Why do you want them? Do you think they would add to the site, or do you think we won't be able to raise enough money ourselves? Or some other reason?

Register button should say "Register - it's $1500" so each new user funds the site for a year.

you know sometimes I look at this site on places where i'm not logged in

the ads wouldn't bother me since i am registered, i guess i'd just have to log in when i don't normally do so (or just not stop by here when I wouldn't log in) but it still makes me wonder why i donated $20 if this is under discussion.

This is the stupidest fucking idea ever. We had a problem and we fixed it in 45 minutes. It cost me $10. Why should we be giving Google any money?

HEY GUYS LETS GET TOGETHER AND RAISE MONEY FOR A BIG COMPANY AND SCARE AWAY POTENTIAL POSTERS! AWESOME!!!!

Third option: i vote whichever is less work for the mods. i am certainly not opposed to ads for luckers in principle.

thank you keith, thank you omar, thank you whiney

whiney, is everything ok?

Yes. This is 2009, for fuck's sake, and the internet is not some free-ass hippy utopia.

Also: if I was a lurker, a couple of poxy ads -- THAT WOULD GO AWAY WHEN I REGISTERED TO POST -- would be a long, long way down the list of potential things that would put me off ILX: many, many places below "threads about Animal Collective and Coldplay", f'rinstance.

scaring away potential new posters is probably the best thing we can do for ILX imho.

I am totally up for some kind of new rolling thread game where we all post and try and manipulate the Google ads for lurkers. The ads on ILTMI alone would be hilarious.

I think that a reasonable estimate of the revenue from using AdSense on unregistered users only would be $1000-2000 per year.

Wow, we could have Google Ads all the time or politely ask 63 people to chip in their lunch money once a year. Sounds awesome, glad we're having this riveting discussion.

scaring away potential new posters is probably the best thing we can do for ILX imho.

"See, Mr. President, it was this site I used to post on before I helped save the Internet."

"I don't know, the ads are putting me off."

If we could figure out a way to scare away existing posters.

Register for free so you can help donate next year because there's no advert click throughs because you registered!

i'm gonna register 100 sock accounts and vote no on this

I voted no, because tempting though the idea of getting a $34k party-boat cheque from Google is, we *clearly* don't need the money and there are tax hassles to having it. Also I really like having a completely ad-free site on the net.

I do get that this is leaving free money on the table, tho.

this riveting discussion

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I paid and was happy to do so, because I enjoy ILX. I would pay again if required next year. But I think they should consider trying out ads for a month or so - just to see what it brings in. If everybody hates it we can have a huge clusterfuck thread then go back to how we were.

just dying laughing at people - registered, regular posters - who have a problem with this

Yes. This is 2009, for fuck's sake, and the internet is not some free-ass hippy utopia

Yeah, and it never was, but that doesn't mean we all have to join in sucking from the mighty Google teat. Especially as we don't have to which we have just proved in one hour. Also if I'm a little bit utopian, so what, it's all I've got left.

AND WHY IS EVERYONE SHOUTING!

Why do you want them? Do you think they would add to the site, or do you think we won't be able to raise enough money ourselves? Or some other reason?

Good questions.

1) I don't want them. As I said on the other thread: I just think it's a good time to experiment while we've got a bit of breathing space. Just because we solved that particular cash crisis in a matter of minutes, it doesn't mean we desperately want to do it again (do we?) ... and if we do have to do it again, I'm all in favour of having a target made smaller by some kind of ad-related pot.

2) I don't think anyone thinks ads would add to the site (although they'd probably be of marginally more value than, say, that Coldplay/AC thread).

3) Again: we raised the money easily there, and I'm pretty sure we could do it again next year if we needed to. Even with ads, I'm pretty sure we'll need to hunt down the back of the sofa (under the trucker hat) for some loose change to make up the difference. But I think the one thing this is hammering home is that we can't take anything for granted: hosting can disappear, costs can increase, servers can break. If we can have a tiny little piddle of income, why not go for it?

4) Like I say, all I'm advocating is a trial period. It might not work, for all manner of reasons. But to just flat-out ignore the possibility, at a time when we've just been rudely awoken to the fact that ILX does need cash to survive, seems a little odd.

^^^

Do we really want active new users who are frightened away by a text ad up the side of the page? Animal Collective threads and Dr. Morbius lurking in the political threads?

and there are tax hassles to having it

This is an exceptionally good point which I hadn't considered (though I'd like to know more).

The immediate reasons why it would be a hassle is:

• Coding it. Default Google code doesn't work in ILX. Not a massive deal, but it would be nice if people didn't assume it just does itself
• Income tax - do we have a volunteer, or is someone into setting up an ILX company?

x-post

we have enough money already, why do we need more?

if it's that big of a hassle, we really don't need it

im gonna use my old log in to vote no

Get me that commie punk, Omar Little
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/gordon.gecko.cell.jpg

Grimly, unless there's some sort of loophole I'm not aware of, then if I direct the ad income into my bank account, then I will need to declare this as income on my tax return and pay tax on it.

Alternatively, I could set up a company, which would do the same thing. Or I could set up a company, try and register it as a charity (seems unlikely) and do the same thing to reclaim the tax.

I would expect the same sort of deal in the US, but obviously this various from country to country.

is there gonna be a sign on the top that says HAY UNREGISTERED USERS REGISTER AND YOU DONT SEE ANY ADS AND ITS FREE

(varies - d'oh)

Keith's points make it sound like enough of a ball-ache to not bother about for the time being.

Tho we could become lol tax exiles.

We need to find someone in the Cayman Islands.

Omar, the question is not "why do we need more?" but "why not try this alternate method of getting $$ for the next time we get the bill?"

Fair enough Keith. I thought it was basically 1) sign deal 2) profit. Thanks for explaining.

this took all of 45 minutes and no one has complained about giving money so i guess this just seems like a hassle

"why not try this alternate method of getting $$ for the next time we get the bill?"

cuz the method we used took an hour and worked really well?
xposthaa

If the company is registered in the UK (or is someone acting as a sole trader in the UK), makes zero profit (i.e. spends all income), pays no wages, and has gross revenue less than UKP 60,000 (so no VAT) then i don't think there are any tax or substantial paperwork issues. (btw, legally, any issues there are apply equally to the pledge drive you've just done.)

(I'm in the final year of grad school, so I'm not going to volunteer to be the accountant if this happens, but I do own a company and regularly move its money -- more than we're talking about here -- between the UK and US, so happy to offer guidance.)

generally, i don't see why anyone would be strongly opposed to either ads or pledge drives, and it all boils down to which is less work.

OK, we'd just need a fundraising drive to cover the income tax. Simple :)

Fuck it, I'm off to bed. You're right: it maybe is more of a logistical hassle than I'm giving it credit for. That said: if anyone is willing to step up to the plate and form, umm, ILX Ltd (or can we do it in Germany and be ILX GmbH? That would rock) then, again, it's worth exploring.

And unless, of course, this poll comes out with a resounding "no", in which case I will STFU about it for 12 months: that's a given.

Isn't there some kind of "ads until we reach $1600 and then no ads anymore" kind of deal possible?

(My last was an x-post to Keith, btw. Caek's post is very interesting.)

Knock Out Eminem With The Flying Bruno And It's FREE!!!!!!

If this is about paying for the hosting service, then I vote no. I thought it was for a pool party or something.

The thing is, it can be.

Yep - I'm with J0hn

Caek, that is interesting, so I guess we're looking for a volunteer to set up a company.

lolz I R SLOW

seriously the ads should be an awesome source of lulz on most threads

if they're anything close to the comedy gold in my gmail, anyway

i voted for NO ads.

(btw, legally, any issues there are apply equally to the pledge drive you've just done.)
that money is just resting in my account!

http://i42.tinypic.com/2ikpsg2.gif

http://i26.tinypic.com/n225ph.png

why do you people give so much of a shit about unregistered users & their ease of interface? borders on concern trolling imo, I don't think the community needs any kinda new blood that isn't bright enough to figure out "if I register the ads will go away" or can't handle the horrible terrible oh-no Google ads they see before they register

sell the ads, divide the money between the 63 donors, fuck all the haters imo

Enter the Goog-Tang (63 Donors)

that's a real ad that erratically appears above the first post in this thread btw. click it, maek me rich

I have clicked it 5 times.

Now, even if 495 other people see the ad and don't click it, the click through rate is still 1%!

Can we just put ads on ilm?

I believe there's money to be made in providing guess papers

man i would order so many burgers through google ads on 1p3

sloth targeting

this took all of 45 minutes and no one has complained about giving money so i guess this just seems like a hassle

― gangsta hug (omar little), Tuesday, June 2, 2009 7:10 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

t-bomb

Everyday I type I Love Music into the google on my computer and eventually I end up here. So it isn't like they don't already know what I am up to.

Setting up a company and Keith putting extra coding work in seem like ridiculous unnecessary hassle for something that probably won't make much money anyway. I want to change my vote to no.

Technically, someone is being just as naughty from a tax/legal pov with an undeclared annual pledge drive as they would be with ads that run until the hosting charges are paid (large excess ad revenue is another matter). Pledge drives are perhaps more likely to fly under the taxman's radar though, unless you start doing them to try to pay for five year's hosting rather than one.

p.s. thanks for resurrecting the site and sorting this out so quickly and smoothly, keith and stet!

Caek, I can't quite see that. What tax would be due on the pledge money?

Is there some bizarro-world difference between soliciting contributions and people "randomly" chucking money in a pot?

I'm saying if you're worried about the tax and legal side of adverts that run each year until you make $1500 then you should also be worried about it on an annual pledge drive, even if that pledge drive does take 30 seconds and the money leaves your account immediately. There's no difference.

Whether it should be taxed will probably depend on the circumstances of the individual who owns the Paypal account. But you are technically liable to declare plenty of income that isn't taxed, e.g. the first £5000 you make each year, etc. If you -- or stet -- whose name this is in -- were worried about being completely kosher then you'd need to speak to an accountant. No one bothers for small amounts like this that you spend anyway (e.g. you don't declare Christmas money) and I wouldn't bother doing it myself, and I can certainly see how advertising revenue _feels_ different.

p.s. if you've collected the donations in USD then sending the money to Canada via Paypal rather than withdrawing it into your UK account and wireing it to Canada in CAD will almost certainly be cheaper, btw. (I have done both: http://ask.metafilter.com/118320/How-do-I-move-dollars-in-a-UK-Paypal-account-to-a-US-bank-account.

Sure. I would have thought advertising revenue is specifically different as it is new income, rather than gifted money, so needs income taxed.

thanks for resurrecting the site and sorting this out so quickly and smoothly, keith and stet!

btw

Can we go back to caek's point (namely that the whole incorporation thing for tax purposes needs to happen in order for everything to be fully on the up-and-up regardless of whether we do yearly fundraisers or run ads) for a second? Beyond tax reasons, what exactly would that mean for us from a legal standpoint (ie, wouldn't there now be an organization liable for the material written here and ergo we'd have to crack down a lot more heavily on file sharing, libel, etc)?

how necessary is it to set up an corporation just to cover costs? wouldn't it have been necessary before now if it was that much of an issue? (presumably, PTW had to give the money to someone?)

That would be a big wet blanket for sure. xpost

Setting up a company would be the way to go if we were to start taking Google Ad money, but doesn't really seem to be necessary for annual fund drives.

thanks for resurrecting the site and sorting this out so quickly and smoothly, keith and stet!

meant to say this yesterday -- many thanks to the high overlords!

cosign

(hypotenews)

How do other forum type sites do this? (except that most seem to have ads)

heres my extraordinary rendition of what google ads could look like on ilx just fyi

http://i42.tinypic.com/2i9gy89.jpg

and of course i voted yess

and ty stet and keith et al and the donators for keeping this goin

As long as they aren't pop-ups/stupid flash animation things who really notices ads anyway?

Suggest Ban Permalink Microsoft ShamWow! Chrysler

btw would totally click the ShamWow! link

but doesn't really seem to be necessary for annual fund drives

Well, that's the point Dan and Caek are making: it probably is if we're being absolutely by-the-book about it. I'll freely admit I know absolutely fuck all about this kind of thing but I'm also a cautious cove by nature so it's the kind of thing I do consider worth considering (if you see what I mean). However ...

As far as the tax thing goes (this is assuming we don't have ads, natch, and I now have the feeling we won't): my gut feeling is that it's best just to keep our heads down and say "fuck it" because the chances of getting into any kind of trouble are minimal. And even if we did, the trouble would be minimal too (I think).

In terms of defamation (and this is the case regardless of the financial situation): I guess we're bound by Canadian law. And I don't have a clue about that ... I think as long as mods are ready to zap anything if there's a complaint, we're fine. And file-sharing: same kind of deal, I reckon.

All in all, then, I suppose what I'm saying is that I think ILX is small enough that we can afford not to have to worry too hard (although maybe that's easy for me to say because I'm in no way responsible for it).

Yes you are.

It was your idea

so glad a boring unnecessary argument about ads has turned into a boring unnecessary argument about taxes.

If you like, we could ban you from this thread; that way, you wouldn't feel compelled to make worthless posts to it and we wouldn't have to read them (win-win!)

Not all messages are displayed: show all worthless messages (114 of them)

It says 115 now.

I adjusted for omar little's truth bomb

117 now.

i fully support banning whiney g weingarten from this thread

but he's contributing so much to this and other threads these days.

oh wait, you only meant this thread.

Here, Whiney G: I listened to the entirety of the Green Day album on your recommendation and it was utter jizz. So I figure you owe me 45 minutes of your time now, during which I'm going to whack on about taxes and ads (though, thankfully, not in an ageing snotty skate-punk way over tired guitars).

Though, you know, the more I think about that, the more I'm tempted.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Can open, worms all over the place.

So we put up an ad for fried worms.

^ Yes! That's exactly the kind of thinking that will make new, commercially minded ILX 3 such a clusterfuck of hitherto unimaginable proportions resounding success.

To wit:

1. Ads on ILX.
2. Ads on ILX.
3. Ads on ILX.
4. Profit!

Okay, how do I go about getting my cut of the ad money? I'm gonna be an internet millionaire.

I propose we sell grimly fiendish to the highest bidder (after making a clone you heartlessly care nothing for).

I'm in for that.

And so am I.

logging out to avoid list of favorites v. logging in to avoid ads hmmmm. why isn't some type of set and forget donation system on the table here? hundreds of willing posters missed the chance to give u money like i don't get it. another site i visit has a donation button plus they run ads which users can turn off and on (on is encouraged but not mandatory).

logging out to avoid list of favorites = yr doing it wrong

what do i do?

Eh, I overlooked this. I would have applied the Golden Rule Principle in casting my vote and therefore voted negatory, if anyone cares.

logging out to avoid list of favorites = yr doing it wrong

― bnw, Tuesday, June 9, 2009 8:55 PM (3 hours ago)

yeah what does that even mean

it means that tremendoid has a bunch of posts bookmarked and they're clogging up the top of his page cuz it tells him that the threads have new answers

yes, lazy iow, suppose it's so people don't use the bookmark feature willy nilly but then why have it

love the site btw!

dollar dollar bills yalll

logging out to avoid list of favorites v. logging in to avoid ads hmmmm

There's always one, isn't there? Why not just, umm, remove the old bookmarks?

Anyway. In a half-assed bid to be serious about this: the appetite for ads has surprised me here, because I genuinely thought popular opinion would be against it. ILX isn't a democracy -- thank fuck -- but I'd be interested to see if this changes anyone's mind.

That said: given some of the simple points eloquently outlined above -- not least "who's going to be in charge of the money, then?" -- I do have doubts about the practicalities that weren't really bothering me when I voted Yes.

Any mods/admins/etc have any thoughts?

It's also a pretty big vote isn't it? Do we usually get 122 votes for polls? (I admit to rarely actually looking at poll results). As a "No" voter I am disappointed that my arguments failed to sway anyone except StanM (who had already voted "Yes").

Ned, the biggest votes tend to be on polls that have universal appeal (i.e. everyone understands what they're voting for) and polls that have few options (makes a decision simpler). So for example, 'What is your favourite Klaus Schulze?' track is unlikely to attract a lot of votes.

You reckon?

Well, you could always put one together!

I considered it. Then decided that, really, life is too precious and short.

Let's just cut to the chase, what's your favourite track?

Do we usually get 122 votes for polls?

when it's just a choice of two or three options and it's a meta issue, actually yeah!

Let's just cut to the chase, what's your favourite track?

Dunno, actually! Probably Voices of Syn.

122 is an trifling figure. no mandate.

Poll Results
Option Votes
I hereby swear that I would like Dom to return to this board. 154
I have thin skin and shouldn't be on the internet at all. 150

― Dr. Phil, Tuesday, April 21, 2009 4:55 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Voted no because the idea of 'monetizing' ILX kind of creeps me out in the karma department.

yes, lazy iow, suppose it's so people don't use the bookmark feature willy nilly but then why have it

― ~'-.,,.-'~'-. .-'~'-.,,.-'~ (tremendoid), Wednesday, June 10, 2009 3:38 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I think that the idea is to bookmark the end of threads so that when someone revives them, you will be sure to be aware. I only started using my bookmarks like this recently, and had previously used them to bookmark individual posts, which clogged the hell up my screen.

Yeah, maybe I should do something about this. Like a "warn me of new posts" option against the bookmarks.

and an "unbookmark" link on the thread itself, which is they page you're one when you realise you don't really want to read this shit anymore!

The tax-hassles argument against ads is v. v. persuasive, btw.

"buy this album" iTunes affiliate link on every ILM thread

The tax-hassles argument against ads is v. v. persuasive, btw.

Yep. I was an ad stan (if only to make worrying about paying for servers in the future unnecessary) until all of the tax stuff started up. I definitely wouldn't want to be the one responsible for setting up a company and then doing the taxes, so unless someone else decides they want to do it...

If you are worried about the tax thing you could (without any charge) open a club/society account with a bank (I think most UK banks will do them, HSBC certainly will) like you would for an amateur football club or film society or something - you would need a few people as signatories on the account do it might be hassle unless you had a few people who all lived in the same area.

As its not for profit you wouldnt need to pay any taxes.

are taxes hurting the small-business message board industry?

hey stet or whoever is the head mod these days,

I can plainly see you have a revenue/money earner solution in place to cover server costs (hopefully) with that skimlink affiliate code. how is that working out? was there an announcement on it?

how is this thing that only got installed today ~working out~ STET YOU CORPORATE GREEDHEAD

is how I read that

no, i noticed it 6 months ago. here: THIS IS THE THREAD WHERE WE WELCOME gabbneb AND BRO, i mean MONETIZING EYEBALLS!

i think it's pretty smart and unobtrusive, wondering if it's working.

I'd completely forgotten we had this poll, this is handy to know! I've been thinking about this a lot recently, as the bandwidth costs keep going up, and from what I can tell it's mostly random googlers. I obviously hate ads, but if we can come up with a way for the googlers to pay for themselves, that'd be good.

The skimlinks thing is one such experiment. I actually have nearly all of what they offer turn off -- I only used it as a quick way to add our affiliate code to Amazon links. The income goes to our amazon hosting account. It's not zillions: last month was $14, month before $12, but over the course of the year if that continues it will works out at a month's free hosting.

I'll add a page somewhere stating that we're doing this, I don't want it to seem underhand.

I think we should also trial the google ads, yes. Depending on how much they make, we may only have to run them for a few days a month. I will never show them to registered users, though, even if they're logged out (so far as that's possible).

I will never show them to registered users, though, even if they're logged out (so far as that's possible).

IMO this blows away all arguments against them.

is the amazon affiliates link replacement only turned on in certain threads? $14/mo seems light -- I'm getting like $5/mo on a site that likely has 1/10000th the traffic and relevance of ilx.

It should be on in all threads. Just looking at last month's report, it was 326 clicks on Amazon US, giving £7.25 in revenue, plus 215 on Amazon UK, giving £2.78. How does that compare to yours? I know Skimlinks takes a cut, I'm not sure how large.

i got like 191 clicks but only 7 conversions --> $5.05 --> £3.2
if those 326 are not clicks but actually conversions, I think that means skimlinks is taking a lot.
adding a tag is not super-difficult, if that's all skimlinks is doing.

Yeah, that was 33 conversions, so it does look like they're taking a bit, huh.

yeah that seems really really low

no, i noticed it 6 months ago

ha, I guess I am bad at updating ghostery

still on the record as saying "shove ads in front of random googlers and let stet spend the excess on mink underwear"

OK, I've put ads on for unregistereds, let's see what the outcome is. If you see an ad (after logging in on that browser) let me know asap and I'll investigate.

sweet

time to start generating some content

YES WE SHOULD SETH

I guess they take a while to kick in? I don't see ads in Safari or Chrome. No adblockers installed on either, I don't think.

Logging out isn't enough to show the ads -- we have some registered users who prefer to only log in to post and I didn't want them to have to see ads either.

Try Chrome's Private Browsing mode (Shift-Apple-N), you might see them then.

Meet Girls in Chat Rooms Flirty girls are fixing dates in chatrooms now. Meet a pretty cutie!

finally ilx pays off.

The ads are personalised, I guess. I get
Monitoring Tool Monitor App Servers, Databases, Web Apps, Systems, Websites
and
Outsource Java/J2EE/Flex Cost Effective in Ukraine. Great Talents Available Now!

We should get some Ukrainians to program this

Jaclyn Smith Reviews
Online Nursing Degrees
Top 100 Girls Names

Forget posting to or reading ILX, just the ads are a goldmine of entertainment

Great Talents Available Now!

hooray, hope it provides some revenoo

is this racist provides some winners

Does this mean I'm either going to have stay logged in all the time, or not do private browsing? :-(

UGH how do I make these things GO AWAY?

Am I going to have to login every morning and then log out again to make a cookie stick for the session?

Well maybe it will spur me into spending less time on ILX again.

You should only have to log in once to get the no-ads cookie, but if your PC is wiping all your cookies, then yes, you'll need to log in each time it does that (why is it doing that?). If you use private browsing we've no way of distinguishing you from a random unreg

I use private browsing because this is a work computer and they don't need to see my cheesecake addiction, but I guess I'll just have to log in ever morning. It seems to hold that cookie for the length of the session if I don't hit "remove cookie" when I log out.

But I'm scared that if I leave myself logged in on ILX when I'm away from my desk OfficeBoy will come over and start typing "HELVETICA R00LS" stuff under my name.

Private browsing won't stop your work from knowing you are using ILX all the time, it just stops it appearing in local history.

The ads are stopped by a cookie that's left when you log in. We never delete that (even if you hit "delete cookie" on logout) so you can log out in normal mode and they'll still be blocked.

What won't work is closing all your private browsing windows and reopening them, but for all the security that gives you you'd be as well off just setting your history to 0 days, I think.

Well, it also stops Google ads and things from tracking me day to day, so it stops me be followed about the internet by Cornish cottages and tweed waistcoats based on whatever I was looking at yesterday which I guess I find more annoying than ads on ILX. I'll stop moaning now.

"We never delete that (even if you hit "delete cookie" on logout)" ha, brilliant :-)

how does this work then, if I'm bored and click on the ads lots, does it make money for ILX - or do I actually have to buy stuff from the advertised site?

if your PC is wiping all your cookies, then yes, you'll need to log in each time it does that (why is it doing that?)

I have the same problem – this is a work computer and all cookies are wiped when I exit the browser.

if you click on the ads lots they treat it as fraudulent, so don't do that! :)

anagram: my work was set up the same way, but if it's IE, the settings might let you turn that off (uncheck "Delete browsing history on exit"). If they've blocked that setting as well it's going to be tricky, short of you logging in each day.

I'll have a think, there might be something we can do based on IP address.

yep, they've blocked that as well. never mind, I'm used to logging in three or four times a day :)

damn them, they think of everything xp

SMS Abstimm-Votingsystem
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All ILX ads should feature Ned Raggett

"Voiceover actors HATE him!"

lol

Tempting...

seeing these now, ew

also I am logged in and seeing them so idk

If you don't mind, can you "save as" the page and send me the HTML?

done

Good news and bad news:

Good news: Ads were making about £4 a day, which is almost enough to cover our hosting costs -- no more fundraising!
Bad news: Google suspended our account because of "adult" content on ILX.

I've updated the pages so they don't show ads on threads marked NSFW and appealed, but with the size of the archive we're probably not going to have marked all the threads they could object to as NSFW, so I'm not sure we'll be accepted. Oh well, it was exciting while it lasted.

(also I think I fixed that problem Ed III, though it's academic)

you're a prince, stet

we're probably not going to have marked all the threads they could object to as NSFW

Def initely. Among otheres, some porn'shopped pics of Laura Bush are buried deep in some thread out there.

love the MittRomney.com ad i got before logging in today

why did we do this

Exploiting untapped brand value iirc

Are they back on for unregs? I thought stet had to turn it off because of the all the rudey nudey pics?

Yeah, they accepted the appeal, so they're back on. Last 25 days' earnings were £10 short of the hosting bill, so it's on the right track, I think.

ugh what's this linked coupondropdown shit dnw

http://text-enhance.com/

Wait, what?

or maybe my firefox got infected..ilxor went down for a minute, when it came back up random words had become links to ads, but looks like this is a local issue. Carry on!