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Ask HN: If not ads, then how are websites supposed to monetize?

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Re: Ask HN: If not ads, then how are websites supposed to monetize?

#31

Post by vinnyvichy »

vinnyvichy wrote: post #26
fallinditch wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, to pirouette upon the fractal edge of our collective metacognition, like a quantum jester juggling Schrödinger's punchlines! Indeed, our cybernetic sojourn through the noosphere leads us to ponder: can the digital agora, that grand bazaar of bits and memes, transmute the base metal of click-commerce into the philosopher's stone of genuine epistemic enrichment? (Use the infinite scroll, Neo!) The answer to the mod…

I recognize you?!?! but MST=Murderous Saint Ted (Kaczynski) and Sv Fedorov should have been Saint Nikolay (Feodorov) Also that question has been asked (or rather parodied) on mass media before, I don't claim novelty https://youtu.be/wqgkZDbe4Xk (Warning: Scottish, pace young Obiwan) But maybe I propose to elide commerce in the wanksmith's bag of tricks

Lagniappe while we wait for somebody's wife to take a joke for the team

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxu7fMeS5uc

Re: Ask HN: If not ads, then how are websites supposed to monetize?

#32

Post by jqpabc123 »

estomagordo wrote: post #30
jqpabc123 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One can also imagine that the ad networks really don't care as long as advertisers continue to buy into the ad auction ruse. The ad networks are an opaque "black box". You only get to see what they allow you to see. It is essentially built around faith. It's difficult for advertisers to compare to alternatives because they have effectively monopolized the market. For consumers, the most sensible response is increasin…

Not faith, data. Customers obviously can see performance. How is it that you imagine that you know this better than these people do?

How is that you imagine that "these people" don't have full control over any data and the entire process?

Re: Ask HN: If not ads, then how are websites supposed to monetize?

#33

Post by estomagordo »

jqpabc123 wrote: post #32
estomagordo wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not faith, data. Customers obviously can see performance. How is it that you imagine that you know this better than these people do?

How is that you imagine that "these people" don't have full control over any data and the entire process?

I genuinely would like to know how it even happens that you think you know better.

Then, data transparency is a thing and advertisers can obviously also measure their performance.

Re: Ask HN: If not ads, then how are websites supposed to monetize?

#34

Post by 082349872349872 »

vinnyvichy wrote: post #31
vinnyvichy wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recognize you?!?! but MST=Murderous Saint Ted (Kaczynski) and Sv Fedorov should have been Saint Nikolay (Feodorov) Also that question has been asked (or rather parodied) on mass media before, I don't claim novelty https://youtu.be/wqgkZDbe4Xk (Warning: Scottish, pace young Obiwan) But maybe I propose to elide commerce in the wanksmith's bag of tricks

Lagniappe while we wait for somebody's wife to take a joke for the team https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxu7fMeS5uc

Mais oui; he even managed a good, and novel, result in geometry!

(in those days, I understand the process of selecting which branch of the military an officer candidate was best suited for consisted of asking them what "2+2" might be.

If they answer "4", artillery.

If they first count on their fingers under the table, and then answer "4", infantry.

If they yell "3" while slamming their fist on the table before one even gets to the "might be" part of the question, cavalry.)

Re: Ask HN: If not ads, then how are websites supposed to monetize?

#36

Post by jqpabc123 »

estomagordo wrote: post #33
jqpabc123 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that you imagine that "these people" don't have full control over any data and the entire process?

I genuinely would like to know how it even happens that you think you know better. Then, data transparency is a thing and advertisers can obviously also measure their performance.

The point is, I don't know better --- and neither do you.

For example, you and I have no idea if the ad networks are bidding against their own advertisers in order to drive revenue. They hold all the cards.

Ad fraud is a growing business and ad networks are not the ones getting hurt directly by it.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/677466/digital-ad-fraud-...

Re: Ask HN: If not ads, then how are websites supposed to monetize?

#38

Post by culopatin »

nicbou wrote: post #20

I provide what I believe to be rare and valuable information. My readers have confirmed it many times. I live well from affiliate marketing. I don't need to pitch anything; I merely mention available options where relevant. I wouldn't consider these mention to be ads as they don't affect the content at all. That allows me to work on the website full time, so it works. Donations don't work. At all. Even the people I p…

So… ads. Except that you write them instead of showing a gif.

Re: Ask HN: If not ads, then how are websites supposed to monetize?

#39

Post by Yawrehto »

solardev wrote: post #17

One take: Maybe some websites don't need to exist? If nobody wants to pay for it, and you don't want to make it for free, maybe there's a case to be made that it just doesn't have to be made at all? Ads just force a market to optimize for clickbait and readership, not quality. Having fewer websites, each more expensive and intentional, would probably drastically increase the signal to noise ratio of the web. We could…

Except...what if the website is primarily targeted at people in a developing country who might not be able to pay, even if they wanted to? Then useful websites, providing useful information, would vanish. Your idea is good if the people are rich and willing to donate to good websites, but it completely breaks down once you consider websites where people may adore it and desperately want to donate, but be unable to.[1] It's fair that AI-BS websites probably shouldn't survive, but using money as a proxy for how much people like it unfairly catches websites in developing countries, where people might need that information the most. [1] Some quick googling turns up - and I have no idea about the reliability of these websites, but they do seem like good candidates for 'might provide valuable information but the community might not have the means', nyasatimes.com and horseedmedia.net, from Malawi and Somalia respectively. Also, looking at w3newspapers.com, there are a lot of online newspapers in very poor countries.

Re: Ask HN: If not ads, then how are websites supposed to monetize?

#40

Post by solardev »

Yawrehto wrote: post #39
solardev wrote: post #17

One take: Maybe some websites don't need to exist? If nobody wants to pay for it, and you don't want to make it for free, maybe there's a case to be made that it just doesn't have to be made at all? Ads just force a market to optimize for clickbait and readership, not quality. Having fewer websites, each more expensive and intentional, would probably drastically increase the signal to noise ratio of the web. We could…

Except...what if the website is primarily targeted at people in a developing country who might not be able to pay, even if they wanted to? Then useful websites, providing useful information, would vanish. Your idea is good if the people are rich and willing to donate to good websites, but it completely breaks down once you consider websites where people may adore it and desperately want to donate, but be unable to.[1…

Are the costs of hosting (aside from domain registrations) usually borne by richer countries on behalf of poorer ones?

If not, if they're staffed and hosted in-country, I'd have thought their costs and profits would scale to regional costs of living. Like it takes less money to run a paper in Somalia than in New York. Is that a wrong assumption?

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