Message 151 of 237 in News & Announcements

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I was alerted today by several users that there have been one or more 
really annoying, flashing banners running on The Webtender lately. I
appreciate being told about this, since I really don't want such banners
on the site. 

The problem is that banners are managed by a couple of different ad-brokers
and they sometimes schedule banners like this without me seeing it. (And
since they are targeted towards the US, I don't see them on the site either)


And now, a long rant :)

In an ideal world, the site would be free of banner ads, and everyone would
be happy. However, hosting a very busy site like The Webtender does cost
quite a bit (around $4500 per year).  I earn some money from selling stuff
for other sites like Amazon.com, but it's not a lot. Revenue from banner ads
cover about 2/3 of the expenses, while I cover the rest myself (because I 
enjoy running this site).

Ads like flahing gifs, pop-ups and stuff like that pay a lot more
than regular banners, but I find them so anoying I really don't want to
use them. I do hope that the banner ad market will improve and make it
easier to make some money from banner ads. If not, I will probably be forced
to start displaying pop-ups or stuff like that unless I can find an 
alternative revenue stream :-(  (like PayPal donation button on the home page)

And BTW, I have been running The Webtender for seven years now, and I do 
intend to continue managing it for many years to come.  I can't shut down a
useful site like this, can I? :)

Cheers!

-- 
Pål Løberg
The Webtender
http://www.webtender.com/pallo/