What's new

Yep, that’s a new ad on the right side

Mike Greene

Senior Member
Moderator
And yes, it’s there so I can make more money! How’s that for honesty? :grin:

Remember how Frederick was trying to find ways to bring in more income from the site? Well, now that I own it, I understand why. This site takes a lot more time to run than you might think and the income it generates doesn’t justify the time spent. I think that frustration kept building up for Frederick and that’s what led to what happened last year.

Banner ads here are really cheap (they cost a fraction of what they cost on KVR or Gearslutz), but interestingly, many of the major orchestral-oriented companies (East-West, 8dio, CineSamples and a few others) won’t buy them. Even with their Commercial Announcements going to Tier 2, where a single potentially lost purchase would pay for months of ads, they still won’t bite.

I’m certainly no business expert, but that seems like an odd choice to me, but whether I agree with their reasoning or not, that’s the hand I’ve been dealt. Other than Spitfire, VSL and Orchestral Tools, the forum income is mostly small companies, so raising rates will be a tough ask. I could go to Google ads, which would be way easier and more profitable, but that would be kinda ugly.

Somehow, though, I need to increase the income here. So we’ve added this new sidebar ad position. Gearslutz and other sites have the same thing, so hopefully people here won’t think it’s too outrageous. FWIW, animation won’t be allowed, so it shouldn’t be too obtrusive.
 
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Whatever you need to do is fine by me Mike.
I'm sure there will be some folks who'll complain but I'm also sure that they'd be disappointed if Vi-control was gone.
I know I would be.
Thanks for keeping the fires lit!
 
Just wondering if there is any way to reduce the blue border and widen the text area though as it becomes a bit narrow with the ad - or certainly looks more narrow? Wider text area is easier to read IMO
 
Why not lock ads in tier 2 commercial announcements so there can be no comments. That way the companies don't get as much benefit.

Also I like the fact that all ads on here are relevant to me. I sometimes click on ads that look interesting. If it went to non relevant ads I'd prob be more likely to block them
 
Just wondering if there is any way to reduce the blue border and widen the text area though as it becomes a bit narrow with the ad - or certainly looks more narrow? Wider text area is easier to read IMO
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You can always use the full-width theme. I think i prefer it narrower though.
 
Fine with me, go for it! Many of the ads here have some real interest for me, which makes them pretty painless. I wouldn't mind Google ads if that would held keep this place going, I've got to the point where they're little more than colorful wallpaper.

Hey this is a valuable site, I know for a fact I've made better buying choices from being here, and skipped a few bad ones. That's money in the bank. I'll even pay a modest subscription, maybe there could be pro and amateur tiers, with no discrimination as to user privileges. Maybe we could all chip in 0.1% of the price of the VIs we buy based on info learned here. 1/2 dollar on a full price Albion purchase wouldn't be too painful, would it? Just skip 1/8 of a Starbucks coffee. Or maybe we should be nicer to our suppliers, but let's not go there...
 
Why not lock ads in tier 2 commercial announcements so there can be no comments. That way the companies don't get as much benefit.
Because that would take away conversation that could be valuable. For instance, if someone asked which articulations are included, we'd all want to know that.

Also, I don't want to make CA Tier completely unappealing. Even now, some companies (I won't say which) have used surrogates to post in Sample Talk instead of CA Tier 2 to try to beat the system. I don't want to incentivize that even more.
 
Fine with me, go for it! Many of the ads here have some real interest for me, which makes them pretty painless. I wouldn't mind Google ads if that would held keep this place going, I've got to the point where they're little more than colorful wallpaper.

Hey this is a valuable site, I know for a fact I've made better buying choices from being here, and skipped a few bad ones. That's money in the bank. I'll even pay a modest subscription, maybe there could be pro and amateur tiers, with no discrimination as to user privileges. Maybe we could all chip in 0.1% of the price of the VIs we buy based on info learned here. 1/2 dollar on a full price Albion purchase wouldn't be too painful, would it? Just skip 1/8 of a Starbucks coffee. Or maybe we should be nicer to our suppliers, but let's not go there...

I'd be down to send a small donation and I'm sure many others would too @Mike Greene

I appreciate the support! Just to be clear, though, the forum is in zero danger of going under. The existing ads more than cover the costs, and my songwriting/composing career treated me very well, so fundraisers or anything like that would feel pretty weird.

This new ad is just a matter of me trying to use a straightforward business tactic to help be better compensated for my time.
 
Is it odd, I don't notice the ads? Likely because the internets is full of them you become immune to it. But the odd secret is that even though I buy a crap ton of libraries, far more than the average user, I've never once bought anything because of an ad on vi-c. I have, however, bought an insane amount of libraries because of POSTS on vi-c over the years. I suppose it's related, you buy an ad, you get to post. But if you're logged in and only use "recent posts" for the most part, you don't really notice a difference between tier 1/2. I don't know what the point of this post is. Just that I'm the target audience for these ads but they go right over my head (except of course when botdog samples has a beautiful banner...)
 
Curious - how does advertising on the VI forum for the VI forum increase revenues for the VI forum? I mean, isnt the ad trying to get people to come here and visit? But if you see it, you're already here, no?
 
Curious - how does advertising on the VI forum for the VI forum increase revenues for the VI forum? I mean, isnt the ad trying to get people to come here and visit? But if you see it, you're already here, no?
The ones you see now are placeholders. ;) I wanted to make sure everything worked okay before contacting advertisers to tell them the space is available.
 
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