But first, make sure your servers are up to the task of handling all the massive traffic we’ll send your way! Okay, so maybe we won’t actually crash your servers, but we do believe that VI-Control offers the best ad value compared to any other forum or commercial site. For starters, for only $89/month, you’re banner ad will get 40,000 impressions (views) per month. Other forums charge 3 to 8 times as much.
Second, with all due respect to other websites or forums, the VI-Control audience is a high end group. These are people who take their careers seriously, and it’s not uncommon for members to come here *looking* for things to buy. If you have a better mousetrap (or better yet, a better string library), they want to hear about it.
As you can see from the picture (to the right), we have several options for ad placements. Note that all prices are a la carte. We no longer have bundle options, but here’s the good news: when you add up the a la carte prices with our lower sidebar and Portal prices, they’re actually cheaper than the bundles were!
728 x 90 Banners (798 x 90 also allowed)
– Top Banner – The classic!
– Bottom banner – Gets as many views and clicks the top, and possibly more clicks. (See details below.) Also … bottom banner position can accomodate 1160 x 105 if you want!
Sidebar Ads
– Top Sidebar (Up to 300 x 150)
– Bottom Sidebar (300 x 600)
Feature Ad
– Our exclusive new option available for one week at a time.
Portal Ad (Not shown)
– Our other classic! These appear on the Portal page and get high exposure and clicks.
Non-Advertising Option
– Some people want to post Commercial Announcements and support the forum, but don’t actually want an ad. This mucho cheaper option is for you. Details below.
Sounds great, Mike! So what do I do?
– Click one (or more) of the buttons below to pay, then send your artwork to that same PayPal address. (vicontrolforum {at} gmail) Easy!
BANNER ADS
Top Banner – 728×90 (or even 798×90 if you want a little extra width)
This is the classic ad that most companies get. It’s a banner at the top of every forum page. You can, of course, swap graphics and links as you introduce new products or have sales during the course of your contract.
Bottom Banner – Anything up to 1160 x 105 is allowed! (728×90 or 798×90 are also fine, of course.)
We added this option because … the space wasn’t being used, so why not? Interestingly, our testing so far shows the bottom yields a slightly higher click rate. Skeptical? Well, it’s easy for us to switch your Ads positions, so you’re welcome to try the top position one month and the bottom the next, and compare results for yourself.
Top and Bottom Banners – You knew that was coming, right? Double your exposure for only $40/month more.
Or single term options:
$139 / month
$299 / 3 months
$89/month Auto-Renew Option:
Note: Auto-renew option is intended for periods of at least three months.
Or single term options:
$109 / month
$239 / 3 months
$69/month Auto-Renew Option:
Note: Auto-renew option is intended for periods of at least three months.
Or single term options:
$189 / month
$399 / 3 months
$119/month Auto-Renew Option:
Note: Auto-renew option is intended for periods of at least three months.
PORTAL ADS
(Must be purchased in conjunction with a Forum Banner Ad – So you’ll make two purchases: First a banner ad, then this Portal ad)
This is a 468×180 ad that appears on the Portal page, as well as a few other pages on the portal. Note that these ads get fewer views than the main forum ads, but for some reason, they generate a lot of clicks. My theory is that people who visit the Portal or Resource or other pages tend to be people who stay longer, plus they’re often newer to the game, so they’re not already aware of most companies. These ads also appear on every page load, rather than in a rotation (like banner ads do), so they get more views this way.
$39/month auto-renew (See below)
Or single term options:
$59 / month
$129 / 3 months
$39/month Auto-Renew Option:
Note: Auto-renew option is intended for periods of at least three months.
SIDEBAR ADS
(Must be purchased in conjunction with a banner ad – So you’ll make two purchases: First a banner ad, then your Sidebar ad(s))
Full disclosure – on VI-Control, most forum pages only show the top and bottom banner ads, and do not display sidebar ads. They’re still pretty cool, though, and since very few people get these ads, your ad comes up a lot. Plus they’re cheap!
Sidebar Ad Top – 300x160px, although any height under 160 pixels is also cool. Although smaller, this ad might get seen more since it’s higher.
Sidebar Ad Bottom – 300X600px, although any height under 600 pixels is also cool.
SPECIAL COMBO PRICE: Sidebar Ad Top & Bottom – Double your exposure by using both the top and the bottom sidebar ads (please note there is a difference in sizes between the Top and the Bottom Sidebar ads).
$29/month auto-renew (See below)
Or single term options:
$49 / month
$109 / 3 months
$29/month Auto-Renew Option:
Note: Auto-renew option is intended for periods of at least three months.
$29/month auto-renew (See below)
Or single term options:
$49 / month
$109 / 3 months
$29/month Auto-Renew Option:
Note: Auto-renew option is intended for periods of at least three months.
$49/month auto-renew (See below)
Or single term options:
$79 / month
$169 / 3 months
$49/month Auto-Renew Option:
Note: Auto-renew option is intended for periods of at least three months.
COMPLETE BUNDLE (EXCEPT FEATURE)
This is a package which includes: both Top and Bottom Banners, both Top and Bottom Sidebars, and the Portal Page ad.
In other words, all ads (except the single-week Feature ad.)
Note that our pricing already reflects combination pricing. (The Portal and sidebar ads, for instance, are much lower than they used to be, because they now require a concurrent banner purchase.) But for those who want the whole shebang (minus the feature ad), this option will save you an addition $32 per month.
$175/month auto-renew (See below)
Or single term options:
$295 / month
$625 / 3 months
$175/month Auto-Renew Option:
Note: Auto-renew option is intended for periods of at least three months.
“FEATURE” AD (FORUM HEADER)
(Does not need to be purchased in conjunction with a banner package)
For a couple weeks in September, I ran an “Hurricane Harvey” ad to support the Houston Food Bank (which my brother runs) in the upper right corner. This ad appears on every page load and gets seen around 40,000 times per day. (We have three sources for stats, the XenForo stats, Google Analytics, and StatCounter. They yield wildly different results, ranging from 36,000 per day to 160,000 per day, so I figure 40k is a conservatively safe number).
We’ve decided to offer this ad to advertisers for one week periods, on an experimental basis for now. The Hurricane Harvey ad got a TON of clicks, although obviously comparing a charity to companies like ours is ridiculous, so I’m not sure what the results of these ads will be. I’m also thinking it might be best aesthetically if most weeks don’t have an ad there at all, so pricing may go up or down as we see how this goes.
Note that this ad does not appear on mobile devices.
Does not need to be in conjunction with a banner package
$299 / week
COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS OPTION
Option for Non-Advertisers
Note – This is only for people who don’t buy ads. If you are a current advertiser, you already have full Commercial Announcements posting privileges, so you don’t need to also purchase this package.
If you prefer not to purchase advertising, yet still want to use the Commercial Announcement forum section regularly, then this option is for you. Not only does it give you full Commercial Announcement posting privileges at a lower cost, but you’re also helping to support the forum, which we really do appreciate.
But Mike! Why should I have to pay for this? – It’s only fair. After all, if some companies are buying ads which keeps the forum running, then other companies who take advantage of the forum should also help.
Or our $39/month auto-renew option
(See below)
$39/month Auto-Renew Option:
Note: Auto-renew option is intended for periods of at least three months.
THE FINE PRINT
2- To retain a certain visual ambiance on the forum, we ask that “animated” banners use a reasonable amount of transitions (we recommend between 2 and 4), and that transitions be timed apart resonably. Members tend to refresh the page to get away from jarring stroboscopic banners. It is to your advantage to keep members engaged with the content of your ad.
4. Complete rules about Commercial Announcement postings are on the forum. It’s mostly an honor system, though, and I’m not going to play police. The purpose of advertising is to support the forum, so in fairness, if your company is making money by posting on our forum, please help us out. Thank you.
5- For more info, feel free to contact us at support at vi-control dot net.
6- Banner design services: If you need help to create your banner, you can contact André through the forum PM system (member name = creativeforge). For a reasonable fee, he can create a banner per your specifications. This would constitute a work-for-hire independent from the forum. Static banners and animated banners have different costs. Click here for more info.
