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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?

#41

Post by solardev »

shanecleveland wrote: post #18
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…

Better yet, if you don't agree with the method of monetization of a website, don't visit it. Don't whine about it. Don't use an ad blocker. I routinely back out of websites with obtrusive advertising. I find an alternate source, and reward them with my visit.

I'd rather just be able to pay them, like EU Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, etc.

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

#42

Post by Yawrehto »

solardev wrote: post #40
Yawrehto wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Probably it does cost less - one imagines rent in Mogadishu is cheaper than in NYC - unless you're somewhere very unstable. But, I think it doesn't cost nearly as much less as it would in other industries, e.g., manufacturing. The cost of producing a story probably stays fairly similar across countries. And people have much less money to donate or click on the products the ads are hawking, so you're still not getting enough money.

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

#43

Post by skydhash »

carlosjobim wrote: post #13

The ideal solution would be broad syndication for textual content. Just as YouTube is a broad syndication of video content. Then that textual content would be locked behind paywalls and subscribers would pay a monthly fee to access vast quantities of high quality textual content without ads. Authors would get decently paid if they have the audience. Cheapskates would be stuck in the swamp with ads, scammers and AI sl…

Medium?

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

#44

Post by carlosjobim »

skydhash wrote: post #43
carlosjobim wrote: post #13

The ideal solution would be broad syndication for textual content. Just as YouTube is a broad syndication of video content. Then that textual content would be locked behind paywalls and subscribers would pay a monthly fee to access vast quantities of high quality textual content without ads. Authors would get decently paid if they have the audience. Cheapskates would be stuck in the swamp with ads, scammers and AI sl…

Medium?

Yes, but much broader. Subscribing to a textual content syndicate should be as obvious as subscribing to Spotify or Netflix. Meaning, you should be able to find high quality stuff to read within your subscription, no matter what you're looking for: news, message boards, instructions, articles, etc.

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

#45

Post by nicbou »

culopatin wrote: post #38
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.

And that I have full control of what I promote, where I promote it, how I promote it, and whether I promote it at all.

There's a huge difference between "here are all 20 banks that exists" and "here is an ad paid for by the bank".

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

#46

Post by nicbou »

shanecleveland wrote: post #23
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…

Perfectly said. Your readers do not have to use your website, they choose to. And they can choose to leave your website, and they can choose not to click on your affiliate links. When and ad comes on the radio, I can change the station. When an add comes on the TV, I can change the channel. I cannot force either one to not broadcast the ad to me and go back to normal programming.

That is fair. However my readers (and I) choose to keep using websites and getting things from creators, but strip them of their income. We expect everything to be free, but the quality content to keep coming. Oh and now it has to feed AI too.

In that sense they're not leaving. They're consuming my work and occasionally even creating more work, and not giving anything in return.

This is something I'm okay with. In my case it works that way by design. My website is meant to be a free resource. However in the absence of paying users, we're stuck with commercial patrons. Mine have no leverage, but that's very unusual.

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

#48

Post by vinnyvichy »

082349872349872 wrote: post #34
vinnyvichy wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ev…

See the following for a patch

(Suchet volunteered for the cavalry, so that takes him out of the rubric, I suppose!)

P140-->

Horst Poller: Bewältigte Vergangenheit. Das 20. Jahrhundert, erlebt, erlitten, gestaltet. Verlag Olzog, 2010

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

#49

Post by vinnyvichy »

082349872349872 wrote: post #34
vinnyvichy wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ev…

https://youtu.be/WYYOlIvs3fU

Non Greek viewers might mistake that for teutonic infantry but its probably actually just Ἱερὸς Λόχος reenactment outfits

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

#50

Post by vinnyvichy »

vinnyvichy wrote: post #48
082349872349872 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ev…

See the following for a patch (Suchet volunteered for the cavalry, so that takes him out of the rubric, I suppose!) P140--> Horst Poller: Bewältigte Vergangenheit. Das 20. Jahrhundert, erlebt, erlitten, gestaltet. Verlag Olzog, 2010

Preceding pages: Seydlitz familiar recurrence

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_von_Seydlitz-Kurzbac...

>A few days later, Seydlitz fled the German lines under fire from his own side with a group of other officers

Another virtuoso in disobedience!

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