Mibbit: One year old, and profitable

wesley wrote: post #6

So right now, the only revenue comes from adsense, right? Judging by his stats, the website is still very small, hopefully for him, it will continue to grow. Congrats!

I'm curious here, too. I didn't dig in too deeply, but I see exactly 1 ad unit at the top of the home page, no premium features for sale, etc.

I'd be interested in stats on ad units and CTR (which I've always heard is really low on communication apps).

edit: Would also be interested in definition of profitability... Covering hardware/software costs? Covering costs PLUS able to eat ramen? Covering costs plus paying yourself a market salary?

Re: Mibbit: One year old, and profitable

#9

Post by axod » Thu, Dec 25, 2008, 8:22 PM UTC

Thanks all, it's been a fun time so far, lots and lots to do to take Mibbit mainstream, but it's really nice to know I don't have to shell out more money for bandwidth.

The bandwidth usage before I did work on optimization was around 3TB transfer a month, which can cost.

BTW Thanks everyone on HN, especially those who contributed to my first post about Mibbit. It was harsh, and afterwards I almost gave up on the idea, but sometimes you need that kick.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=83660

It's actually quite nice being a lone founder... nothing that makes you more determined to succeed than being the underdog.

The other interesting stat I forgot to mention, is that Mibbit has about 3-4 times as many users online as Meebo Rooms at any point. I'm quite pleased about that, lots of room for growth though.

Re: Mibbit: One year old, and profitable

#10

Post by axod » Thu, Dec 25, 2008, 8:26 PM UTC

webwright wrote: post #8

wesley wrote: post #6

So right now, the only revenue comes from adsense, right? Judging by his stats, the website is still very small, hopefully for him, it will continue to grow. Congrats!

I'm curious here, too. I didn't dig in too deeply, but I see exactly 1 ad unit at the top of the home page, no premium features for sale, etc. I'd be interested in stats on ad units and CTR (which I've always heard is really low on communication apps). edit: Would also be interested in definition of profitability... Covering hardware/software costs? Covering costs PLUS able to eat ramen? Covering costs plus paying yo…

Most of the advertising comes from contextual advertising once in the chat. Also with the widget that other websites use.

The advertising revenue isn't massive yet, ($4 figures/month), but it's something to build on.

There's also obviously people willing to pay for chat/communication - campfire, liveperson type services.