I've removed all ad network code from my blog • Hacker News Board

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#231

Post by JoshTriplett » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 7:05 PM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #187

vintageseltzer wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask: if one is not "famous" (i.e. popular), why should one expect their site to be profitable from ads alone? If my limited edition, 250-prints-per-month 'zine isn't making money, is that the advertising industry's fault, or is there an issue with my expectations? People ask the "how do we fix dwindling ad-based revenue" question all the time. The answer is clear, it's just not what people want to hear: metered…

On the other hand, this will lead to us only being able to read the blogs and personal websites of people who are able to dip into their own money and time to make and host a blog. I'd be very interested in reading about the life of exactly not that kind of person.

> On the other hand, this will lead to us only being able to read the blogs and personal websites of people who are able to dip into their own money and time to make and host a blog.

If you just want a blog or simple personal website, a hundred different services will host that for you for free, including Github, Wordpress, Tumblr, and others.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#232

Post by manigandham » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 7:13 PM UTC

Idea: we previously built an ad-blocker that would remove all ads/tracking and was paid by a monthly subscription, that was then divided by time spent per domain.

Similar to the Youtube Red model but for the rest of the internet. Wanted to get it to the ISPs so it would just be a bundled add-on (internet + premium content sub) and would also give access to premium sites like NYT, WSJ, FT, etc. Nobody wanted to work with us.

Failure in cooperation is causing failure across the rest of the media landscape. I wonder if we should try again...

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#233

Post by JoshTriplett » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 7:19 PM UTC

bazillion wrote: post #159

tiles wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not seeing anything. Hovering over images doesn't work for me on any browser; what should I be trying?

The publisher just disabled the tag on the page. Please go to: https://www.theskinnyconfidential.com/2016/10/28/thehangover...

Not bad! Unlike the hundred "link every keyword on a page to a tenuously related product" scripts out there, this actually adds value to the page, highlighting and identifying items in the photo on hover.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#234

Post by djsumdog » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 7:23 PM UTC

cr0sh wrote: post #179

vintageseltzer wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask: if one is not "famous" (i.e. popular), why should one expect their site to be profitable from ads alone? If my limited edition, 250-prints-per-month 'zine isn't making money, is that the advertising industry's fault, or is there an issue with my expectations? People ask the "how do we fix dwindling ad-based revenue" question all the time. The answer is clear, it's just not what people want to hear: metered…

I kinda agree with you; I run a personal website, it isn't very popular (and I don't update it often - hmm, maybe there's a link there!) - but it is my website, and I've kept the domain active since 1998 or thereabouts. ie - a "labor of love" How do I pay for it? Well, I reach around to my back pocket for my wallet, and... I don't have ads, I don't have a sponsorship, and I don't care - what I have and what I put on…

I do too. I run PenguinDreams. I'm trying to post more, and am working on graphics so I can setup a Patreon. I'd like to be able to live off it, and I'll see how it goes.

I'm not famous, but I do love working on my own open source projects and I like writing tech posts. Last time I quit my job I lived for 11 months off my savings while travelling in over 10 countries. I got some OSS done, redid all my websites and wrote a lab manual for a friend of mine who was teaching a class based on the stuff I wrote.

My goal was to get into University and work on a PhD. I had attempted this a few years ago, but my grades for undergrand and grad school weren't all that great (2.5/3.2), and it pretty much killed my chances. I had some publications under my belt this time, but still very few professors would even talk to me about my work in sensor network research (BigSense).

I've spend over a decade in software. I do not enjoy being in industry. Even though I work remotely more now and less in the office, I still find my career choice mind numbing.

I'm going to try again soon, with more savings, so hopefully I can make it further before having to give up and having to find another software job.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#235

Post by intrasight » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 7:35 PM UTC

doodpants wrote: post #195

intrasight wrote: post #169

One thing I've always admired about Apple is that they use no third-party scripts. And I thus always think "If that works for Apple, which is arguable the most successful company, why don't other companies follow their successful model?" I still have no good answer to that question. Also, I followed this troyhunt.com post to the "Ad blockers are part of the problem" post - which I found to be an even more interesting…

Arguably, his sponsored links are ads, and ad blockers block ads. Sure, there is a case to be made that only problematic ads should be blocked, but I don't think it's so cut and dry.

I personally do discriminate between ads and sponsorship but certainly it is not so cut and dry.

Would you call all these sponsored sports stadiums ads?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sponsored_sports_stadi...

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#236

Post by CodeMage » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 7:46 PM UTC

arjie wrote: post #196

cr0sh wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kinda agree with you; I run a personal website, it isn't very popular (and I don't update it often - hmm, maybe there's a link there!) - but it is my website, and I've kept the domain active since 1998 or thereabouts. ie - a "labor of love" How do I pay for it? Well, I reach around to my back pocket for my wallet, and... I don't have ads, I don't have a sponsorship, and I don't care - what I have and what I put on…

> ...if you really love what you're doing, you'd give it away free. This doesn't make sense. It follows logically that we should all not love what we do for a living. That strikes me as an absurd conclusion.

Of course it doesn't make sense when you remove the context. Here's the original, with the context properly included:

> not everything is worth money, and if you really love what you're doing, you'd give it away free

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#237

Post by gravyboat » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 7:52 PM UTC

lazyjones wrote: post #9

fiatjaf wrote: post #4

Ok, you have a sponsorship model that works because you're probably very famous. That doesn't solve anyone's problem, because almost no one is famous. How can we replace ad networks with something better and saner?

> How can we replace ad networks with something better and saner? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flattr Not enough traction? Someone has to start using it, people will adapt...

I've been using it for a while now and no one contributes to it. I've worked on multiple open source projects, some with a lot of visibility, write a good amount of free content, and the most you'll ever get is 'thanks'. Unless you fall into specific groups your chances of making money from systems like Flattr are basically 0.

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#238

Post by pbhjpbhj » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 8:11 PM UTC

jasonlotito wrote: post #76

overcast wrote: post #32

So as long as you've got a huge enough following, that is willing to pay for anything you give them, it should be no problem. Not realistic for majority of sites. Reminds me of big musicians, giving their new album away for free. After thirty years of making millions. Very poetic.

If you don't have a huge following, if you don't have a huge audience already, what kind of money are you really making with an advertising network?

A nibble of data for you:

I'm getting between 1800 and 2600 page-views per month, eyeballed [mean] average 2100 on my blog. I just decided before Christmas to drop Amazon ads. Amazon made me something like 80p [~1USD, ~1EUR] last year, for the whole year.

Google Adsense made me about £80 [100USD, 94EUR] for the same period. Which pays for the hosting and may be a meal for the family, or a piece of computer equipment but nothing else.

I basically do nothing to optimise my advertising, I just stick it on there and forget it. Occasionally I've mentioned a product in the blog but never had anything significant in return. Google has the best position (top-right sidebar), Amazon had the most impressions (repeated automatically in the sidebar down the page IIRC, I have ublock!).

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#239

Post by Melk » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 8:15 PM UTC

vintageseltzer wrote: post #168

fiatjaf wrote: post #4

Ok, you have a sponsorship model that works because you're probably very famous. That doesn't solve anyone's problem, because almost no one is famous. How can we replace ad networks with something better and saner?

May I ask: if one is not "famous" (i.e. popular), why should one expect their site to be profitable from ads alone? If my limited edition, 250-prints-per-month 'zine isn't making money, is that the advertising industry's fault, or is there an issue with my expectations? People ask the "how do we fix dwindling ad-based revenue" question all the time. The answer is clear, it's just not what people want to hear: metered…

That's a surprising statement coming from an otherwise libertarian leaning HN. The ad market is one of the largest and most successful of the 21st century. Isn't that the definition of a market economy?

Until recently OP monetized his blog with ads. Should he have given up before his blog was popular enough to switch to sponsors?

Re: I've removed all ad network code from my blog

#240

Post by CIPHERSTONE » Thu, Jan 05, 2017, 8:24 PM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #187

vintageseltzer wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask: if one is not "famous" (i.e. popular), why should one expect their site to be profitable from ads alone? If my limited edition, 250-prints-per-month 'zine isn't making money, is that the advertising industry's fault, or is there an issue with my expectations? People ask the "how do we fix dwindling ad-based revenue" question all the time. The answer is clear, it's just not what people want to hear: metered…

On the other hand, this will lead to us only being able to read the blogs and personal websites of people who are able to dip into their own money and time to make and host a blog. I'd be very interested in reading about the life of exactly not that kind of person.

I'd disagree with you a bit. It's perfectly possible to host a blog for free on Github or other sources (can even use jekyll themes) and just pay the yearly cost for a domain name. A domain name costs $10-20 a year. That's affordable.