Corvus

hrm it seems pretty rediculous how much people are fighting this idea... the adds aren't really that disruptive I mean they add more to the site then some of the members do with thier junk in the forums I can basically do the same thing with the adds as I do with those pointless posts. It's not too much to just scroll past them until i get enough money to help out... I don't get what the big deal is... It's not like they're everyother post or everytime you go to switch to a new page. People here on AO are pretty freaking spoiled if they're complaining about the revenue that's keeping it going.

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lebasiara

Tsurara: As a member I do not take this as an insult whatsoever. I don't see why... nor I see where is the offence. You have put a lot of time and effort to AO as lot of us have. And I think we don't need any kind of "Oh thank you so muuuuuuuuuuuch you are sooooooooooooo special... blah blah blah" we do not require that. We do what we do because we like it and we like the site to grow. As chief said, the people that make the site grow are its members. As long as we are growing and apporting, the site will do it as well.
Other sites (as chief remarked) require payments to go to the gallery and get wallpapers and stuff... AO has it for free; AO has a lot for free. I think as members we should at least apport with this -add removal donation- (this is a very personal view).

This is a very nice community; and on a community everyone gives... not only receives. ^_^

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tsurara

Ads are not the issue. Splitting content with ads is. (ie. shoving ads between every 3 or 4 posts in a thread).

Gamefaqs absolutely does NOT.

Behold: GameFAQs - Adult Swim Comedy Message Board

They did once and EVERYONE and their MOTHER complained. It was an experiment that ended in flames 8 hours after it began.

No one begrudges a site for having advertisements. But having those advertisements appear in the middle of the site content (and a majority of them for sketchy bs no one wants to click or buy anyway as opposed to ads targetting this actual usergroup with something they may be vaguely interested in), is another.

Pop-ups, split threads, plants, false "articles", phishy links, adware: these are annoying forms of advertisements.

Banners are a reality of life when sites are sold to people who want to make money.

Anyone who thinks IGN, Gamefaqs, MiniTokyo, etc are "supporting their site" through ads is an idiot. Those ads generate REVENUE for the site owners. And generally speaking, the site owners get shit if they try to generate revenue in a way that's annoying to their users.

That... or people leave.

There's NOTHING on this site currently that people can't easily get elsewhere.

Maybe that's the ultimate difference.

There isn't anything that sets AO apart that would make me want to tolerate threads split with advertisements.

I think it's idiotic. But if you guys want to make the site obnoxious for everyone who isn't using firefox: hooray. Don't pretend you love the ads and aren't just turning them off with your adblocker.

If I didn't give a crap about this site I certainly wouldn't be complaining about something that apparently shouldn't even affect me. I'd go start a thread about how to turn the ads off as a mod and that would be the end of it. The point is: this bothers me, as a member. And when this happened on Gamefaqs, everyone got up and left. When advertisements doubled on rotten tomatoes, I got ticked and left (so did a lot of other people). I suppose at this point, after having spent years in fandoms and on boards: I don't appreciate the notion that we're supposed to give our time, effort and money to coorporations and private individuals to profit off of and then being told that that money "supports the site" or that the site somehow "needs the change". Rupert MURDOCH bought Rotten Tomatoes. He's a freaking billionaire! PLEASE don't lecture me about how he needs me to click his banners so that his children don't starve ~_~;

I understand the reality of the internet.

But you need to understand the reality of user-generated content.

When contributors are not appreciated, rewarded, exploited, or even punished (with fees, lack of access, limitations, intrusive/deceptive advertisement, etc): they leave.

And so does your content.

This isn't about ME. It's about EVERY image, review and snippet of information on this site which was donated by a member without any payment in return. THOSE are our donations to the site. To ask us to turn around and pay for it, THEN to make a move to try and annoy us into doing it (on the same day the payment was introduced): that's lame.

Making Web Advertisements Work (Alertbox)
Techdirt: Repeat After Me: Advertising Need Not Be Intrusive
INTERRUPTION MARKETING

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dark1angel

oh ok, i apologize then for my misunderstanding in the reading part since my interest is just to have ads being removed from the site thats all i was stating.

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Dragon Ball

I have now moved the ad group to the header area. Have enabled it for all mods (just for a day only) too just so they can see what it looks like.

If anyone has ideas on generating revenue whilst at the same time improving AO with this revenue, I'm all ears.

Rather than just complaining about things, suggestions and ideas would also be appreciated.

Thank you all for your input.

Cheers.

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Legend

ahhh, I usually agree with what you have to say, but you last two posts made me scratch my head a bit. The first thing I don't understand is what is the problem with owners trying to generate revenue from their site?? I don't think a candy store owner created a business just to see kids smile right? Besides it's really unfair to compare gamefaqs with this site considering their site is part of a big network which ensures financial backing. I am surprise that you said the owners of the site was willing to back down after a little bitch and whine. Just as people can flood to any other site at any time, there are many more who are willing to contribute without question.

Over my years surfing the net, I have came across way to many sites that had to go down because the owner can no longer support it. Nekio, this site, and many more. I really don't believe there is any sort of "morale" or "loyalty" in terms of the internet. It is a "What have you done for me lately" world. You can be the most member-friendly site in the world and if you don't update new stuff for people to leech in two days, they are gone.

And, it really shouldn't matter where the ad is right?? Correct me if I am wrong, but no advertiser would want their ads somewhere that can't be seen. That's why billboards are next to highways and not behind some mountain somewhere; that is the whole point of advertising in the first place. Taking gamefaqs for example, sure their ad is off to the side, but in terms of size it's definitely larger than the ads that were on here. On top of that the members are given a choice to simply link AO from their personal networking site something that can help this site and I'm sure you approve of. It shouldn't take members a lot of effort to do that. In a way this is should be a no-brainer for the members...

I guess for me it's about longevity. AO is one of the very few sites that I can leave for 6 months and be sure that when I go back I won't get a webhoster page telling me I can purchase animeonline.net for $9.99. Yeah it is corny, but that's how I feel. It is along the lines of what Chief was saying earlier. I am glad to be at this place to read and post, and at the same time the owner who provide the place should be allow at the very least to break even if not make a profit.

I'm just a little confused, considering that you are already contributing so much to this site that a little more of an ad would tick you off this much. In all honesty just adblock it if you don't like it or if you feel you have a justification for it. The important thing is not to overestimate the value of one's contribution. That statement of course was not directed at you Tsurara, but those who thinks their presence and posting is a form of valuable contribution and THAT is what ticks me off. I guess I'm one of those people who saw the other side of things, where the masses would urge this one disgruntled person to branch off to create his/her own site and when the owner asks for help all he/she gets is a tumble weed rolling by.

Definitely correct me if I'm wrong in any way.

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tsurara

Again... I think you're misinterpretting my complaint.

I never said that site owners are not entitled to make revenue from their sites. I said that I don't think anyone appreciates being treated as a stepping stone to revenue by any means. Advertising needs to be carried out with some sensitivity to your users and certainly to your contributors. Because in a site like this (or one like Gamefaqs): the ONLY reason people come here is for the content that those users generate. Be it the images, reviews, the forum posts, whatever... Every active member here represents the very reason this site is valuable to its owner or potential advertisers at all.

While you can solicit advertisements on account of hits: you can not generate hits without content.

Mass exodus of users from Gamefaqs does affect the site a great deal. And the exodus of a few very active users (import/advance faq writers, prolific FAQers, and the site's volunteer-based staff) would cripple the site more than the loss of others.

Just like how fooligar, gallcomp, frozenspring, evol, and Shinku all leaving the site would hurt more than losing 60 members who've never submitted anything at all...

While users need to understand that the internet is a business for many site owners: site owners, in turn, need to realize that their userbase is their customer, in essence (not the advertisers). Even if the site is free to a vistor: it's their butts in the chairs that generate advertising revenue and their content that makes the site viable at all. Cutting them out of the equation to please an advertiser is not wise... nor do I think it's fair.

I have no problem with the ads in their current (and former) placement. I wouldn't even necesarily object to more of them... if their placement was still clean/attractive and non-intrusive. I object with them being placed in such a way so as to hinder the experience that users have come to expect from Animeonline (ie. disrupting content with advertisements designed to interrupt the attention of a user). That experience, I think, the contributors in the very least (if not all members), have already earned by virtue of being here to play audience to advertisements at all.

And I think users have a right to be levelled with about the aims of a site. If the site is not "in trouble", people shouldn't be saying it is. If the site doesn't have a hosting bill... or that hosting bill is already more than paid: we deserve not to hear the "bandwidth isn't free" schpiel. Honesty wins you trust. Trust wins you loyalty.

Tell us the features you'd like to pursue, the server you'd like to buy, or even the personal goal you have for the site's profitablity and maybe how that's going to help us as users or a community. You'd be surprised how much more willing people will be to help out with a goal they feel is communal. Right now, we're not sure what to expect. Maybe we're just paying your rent? (and hey, if you need rent money, say so... I'm sure people will go in on that too)

Sites with user-generated content are very much partnerships. Contributors are giving of their time and efforts for free... they should never feel like they're being punished for it (or exploited in it).

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LordCastigator

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gaarasandkiller1

okay my only question is that i wanna know a address because i can send a money order^_^ because i dont mind helping ao out

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Dragon Ball

No money order... sorry. You would probably encounter fees for buying a money order too.

We have our first member added to the "Sponsoring Members" of AO. Take a look at Anime Online - Show Groups and scroll to the very bottom to see who it is.

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Chii

so while i dont understand it all it still sounds cool and for those of us who are to greedy for our own good we will just have to ignore the ads like we use to.