Powering the Marketplace just a lil'

D

Digital

New member
So, as we started up, I had a goal here, and that goal was to do my darned best to get a working solid marketplace going here. I think things are going well for a little more then a month in; with some larger things brewing, I think things will continue to get better - but I always am about doing more.

So, in the next few days you will see two things happening on the forums:

  • Addition of Google Adsense ads on the top and bottom of the site, and after the first post / first topic in each topic / forum.


    Being google ads, they will be a mix of display ads (banner graphic), and contextual ads (text based), and will be based off your browsing habits per google.
  • They will be responsive and display well in both desktop and mobile.
  • Should you find any ad offensive, please message me a screenshot, and I will block it.
  • Google Adsense is a solid partner for advertising and trusted, it will be the only partner we will use for monetization in terms of ads.

[*]A paid adoptable (or two).


As time goes on, more paid Adoptables, Backdrops, and other goodies will be made available.

Now, you ask, why?

100% of the funds raised from the advertising will be spend entirely in our marketplace. Whether it will be purchasing backdrops, Adoptables, other art for the forums from artists, purchasing some articles or other written things from writers, or even buying time from programmers for say the PetSite Project - it will go back to the members.

If you guys are up to viewing some ads, or buy that very cute adoptable, then you guys should directly benefit from it in some form. I feel this is a reasonable trade off for the majority of you guys, and hope you guys can agree to.

I want to support this communities talented individuals.

I don't really need to add more, but this is a true statement. I am dedicated to this goal. Each and every one of you that succeeds means that this forum is working and doing what this community needs to be doing, that is supporting each other in their projects, ideas, and goals.

The big picture.

As we grow, I hope to also grow our ability to do more. I hope to eventually do some charity or fun events here. Time will tell, but first we must take the little steps to grow and prosper.

And as always

Your thoughts and input are always welcome!

 
@Digital

Thank you for giving us a heads up about the ads.

I really appreciate the level of transparency here. Most  site owners I've encountered make these type of announcements alongside (if not sometime after) changes of this type are implemented (if at all). Typically we'd just navigate to the forum one day, find that ads had suddenly appeared, and be left to think "Oh... I guess there are ads now".

It is refreshing to find an admin who respects the community enough to keep us in the loop like this (even when the changes being announced might not necessarily be something most would look forward to).

I do not use an ad blocker, but if I did this it the type of behavior that would make me consider listing your site as an exception. ^_^  

 
Sparren said:
I really appreciate the level of transparency here. Most  site owners I've encountered make these type of announcements alongside (if not sometime after) changes of this type are implemented (if at all).
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My experience is such abrupt changes cause irreparable harm to the community and ultimately it's reputation, and why damage what is hard built and won for both sides? I want everyone here to be happy to be here, not feeling like they are here at the whim of some one who is in charge. Or worse, feel like they have no say and are ignored?

Sparren said:
It is refreshing to find an admin who respects the community enough to keep us in the loop like this (even when the changes being announced might not necessarily be something most would look forward to).
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I deeply appreciate the kind words @Sparren! Having managed large communities in the past (maybe I should share that story at some point), I learned that transparency is the best and only policy when it comes to community management. If your members cannot trust you, why should they stay? There is a major trust component in any community.

 
I too appreciate the transparency. I hate ads but I understand the need for them, and I'll throw an exception in my adblock for TGL. It might also be worth it to provide a monthly/yearly ad-free option. I'd be up for donating money to not feel bad about blocking ads lol. I really appreciate your hard work with all of this, and I'm looking forward to what's going to be built and come from this community. :)  

 

 
Thanks for the transparency.

Have you considered having a virtual currency also?
This could be something that is earned by the devs/artists on the petsite project, or bought using real money.. and in return can be used for the premium adoptables.

Also, perhaps anyone who has earned/paid for this currency doesnt see ads for like a week or something.

 
Turning off my adblock ;) I really appreciate how much time and effort you're putting into this forum, and the level of transparancy, as others have echoed, is fantastic! I'm hopeful that this forum will grow and I'm eager to see the marketplace flourish :)

 
Syntax said:
It might also be worth it to provide a monthly/yearly ad-free option.
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I am looking into this option. The hard part with monthly subscriptions is if it was just for ads it would feel underwhelming.

Nate said:
Have you considered having a virtual currency also?
This could be something that is earned by the devs/artists on the petsite project, or bought using real money.. and in return can be used for the premium adoptables.
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The thing with virtual currency is it creates a completely different economy that has to be managed. Although the Adoptables are a feature of the community, they are strictly optional and not mandatory. Most members enjoy them as a fun little thing. To have an economy around them may be too much, at least at this point. It is not completely off the table though for the future. By having the premium options available for real currency, although it is restricting in some cases is it allows me to easily funnel it back to the Marketplace, which runs on real currency.

Syntax said:
I really appreciate your hard work with all of this, and I'm looking forward to what's going to be built and come from this community. :)  
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Thanks for the kind words @Syntax!

kami said:
I really appreciate how much time and effort you're putting into this forum, and the level of transparancy, as others have echoed, is fantastic! I'm hopeful that this forum will grow and I'm eager to see the marketplace flourish :)
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And again, thanks for the kind words @kami!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for the update! I've got the site whitelisted, and the ads aren't disturbing the forum in the least for me, because there's only the two. :)

Good lord, the VPL used to have so many ads that the pages would barely load for me!

 
Thanks for the update! I hope everything goes well! I've been impressed by the way this site has been run so far. :D

 
kami said:
Turning off my adblock ;) I really appreciate how much time and effort you're putting into this forum, and the level of transparancy, as others have echoed, is fantastic! I'm hopeful that this forum will grow and I'm eager to see the marketplace flourish :)
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Will also turn off the addblock for this site! Thank you for all the hard work!

 
Turned off my adblock when I read this. It's funny to know how many people actually use ad blockers !

Thanks for all your hard work!

 
runeowl said:
Good lord, the VPL used to have so many ads that the pages would barely load for me!
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Haha. It was a nightmare, wasn't it? I only noticed it on mobile, because I use an adblocker on my computer, but when I did use my phone to access that site there was a huge wall of ads on every topic.

Well, I've whitelisted this site as well, I would rather not use an adblocker at all, but I seem to get viruses on other sites when I don't (I'm looking at you Photobucket). That said, Google Ads hasn't been an issue for me regarding malware, so I'm happy to turn off adblocker for this site.  :bashful:

 
I just wanted to let everyone know how absolutely grateful I am for all of your support in offering to whitelist the site for this. It means a lot to me that the members here are so supportive of such efforts!

 
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