I wouldn't begrudge Prince.org some advertising revenue... but surely there's a less intrusive place to put the Google ads than than smack in the middle of a thread after the very first post?

ian said:

Agreed....

I certainly appreciate all the free airtime prince.org's given us over the years. It has been more than generous, and I have always been proud of the quality fan site prince.org is. Truly, it is one of the most professionally maintained fan sites I've seen.

But where the ads fall does seem quite, eh, awkward. Perhaps at the top of the thread? I dunno.

there's no charge to participate on this website, so I understand the need to earn $$ to cover costs...but they look...I don't know...so out of place

They don't bother me at all. They have the same colors as the website and don't have graphic banners, and always are on topic. That's why I like google ads.
Good to see that Ben is finally getting back some of the money he invested here.

ArielB said:

Agreed. Doesn't bother me in the least!

I thought the site had been hijacked when I logged in.

Lothan said:

That's exactly what I thought.

Will take some time to get used to if this is where the ads are to remain

We won't notice them soon, it's just the sudden change.

ArielB said:

Always on topic eh... one of the ads I am currently looking at is for "PRINCE2 training" (which is a project management methodology, according to Wikipedia).

It's just a bit much really. I visit other forums which also include Google Ads (and other ads) and Prince.org is by far the worst of the lot with regard to positioning the ads in intrusive places. I absolutely don't begrudge Prince.org some advertising revenue to cover some of the running costs, but sticking ads in the threads themselves is a step too far. There are ads at the bottom of the page, and they are fine. Surely we can find a better place for the ones that appear after the first post?
[Edited 7/28/07 9:22am]

ian said:

Of course, if it bothers you that much you could opt out and donate a small portion to the costs of the org. Nice option, I thought.
[Edited 7/28/07 9:26am]

June7 said:

Link?

ian said:

According to ben in his new blog:

Probably slightly less welcome for everyone is the return of advertising. In the forums, there are now Google ads after the first post on each page. I hope they’re not too annoying, and even better, I hope you occasionally find something of interest and give it a click. I didn’t plaster the site with the ads, but it’s an experiment, especially with Prince going on tour again and lots of new visitors coming to the site, for me to see if I can make enough to offset the monthly costs of the site, with ads. I am also cooking up a way for you guys to opt-out of seeing the ads if you so desire (for a small donation), but that isn’t all figured out yet, so just stay tuned to the blog for updates on that.

I don't think it's available yet... but, once it's up, it'll be a nice option.

June7 said:

Good stuff.

I'm more than happy to donate towards the running costs of the site, when that option becomes available. In the meantime I'm turning on my browser's ad blocker. Normally I'd turn it off for the Org (to support the site) but these ads are so intrusive.

Also, if Ben considered introducing stuff like affiliate links to online shops etc, I would support that. If we're talking about contributing towards the running costs of the site, I see no reason for Ben to be out of pocket here. There are enough regular users on the Org, and if we all donated a small amount I'm sure it'd add up pretty quickly. That'd allow us to lose the ads entirely. Is this a naive assumption on my part?

I suppose one inevitable question that will crop up is... if people start donating money towards the site, they might expect things to work a little better. You know, every now and then the site will just eat a post, or there are SQL errors, or you get a blank page instead of the front page etc. And that's before we consider the issue of harshly moderating people who are donors. It's a big can of worms I guess. Other sites try things like introducing tiered levels of membership, so that paying users get access to extra features and facilities. Something to consider anyway - if the costs of the site a burden, there are alternatives that don't involve wrecking it with ads for the majority of visitors).

ian said:

As I understand it, it's merely an opt-out option to avoid the ads. You would be paying to not see the ads. Everything else would be the same.