To whom it may concern,
I'm one of the cofounders of the NikeTalk forum, which has been part of the ezboard network since December of 1999. I don't post to these forums often, and this is exactly why. To get anything accomplished, I have to move up the food chain. That shouldn't be the case. What I've seen here is, frankly, inexcusable.
This is the problem with outsourcing CS. Getting it "solved" means making sure it's no longer YOUR problem.
You don't care about the revenue stream - so long as the checks clear. You don't care about OUR revenue stream, that much is certain. You don't care about the user experience so long as they stop bothering you. Now, we can coat this in niceties, to some extent I'm sure customer satisfaction is everyone's preference, but to what extent are people willing to reach outside the confines of a limited job description to ensure that? You are not required to care about our forum's health, only to process reports - correct? Any sign of genuine concern, then, is a bonus, I suppose.
Is anyone being proactive, rather than reactive, in actually visiting communities and taking note of their issues and complaints? Most of our users don't even know about this forum, so they complain to us.
Look, ad networks serve tens of thousands of different ads - even though our rotation is suffering from the sort of burnout one associates with lawns in Tucson, impatient elementary school teachers, or Type A's at MIT. We're aware of that. The onus ultimately rests on the ad network for prizing automation above all else. That said, you are responsible for every ad they serve. Their problem is now your problem and, as such, it's become OUR problem. The only way I, as a community owner, can resolve the situation is 1) put the screws to you 2) leave Yuku. Be GRATEFUL we're still smashing our skulls against the wall with option 1.
Now the ball's in your court - and you've chosen to blame the end user, which is poor customer service by any standard and utterly counterproductive. Not only should the ads be removed from the rotation, but just as we've been forced to apply pressure to Yuku, Yuku must, in turn, apply pressure to the ad networks. You know, we as forum users and operators can't help but notice the utter lack of coordination between Yuku's various limbs. Whoever DOES care about Yuku's revenue stream ought to take this issue seriously. I don't know whose job description this does fall under. If I have to take it up with Cameron, I'll take it up with Cameron. If I have to take it up with Ceco, I'll take it up with Ceco and on down the line until I have to send the Kickapps CEO an email. That option isn't available to every community operator. It is, therefore, YOUR responsibility to make sure that information reported here is properly relayed to those who ARE capable of handling it. Just writing it off will reduce the number of complaints for certain - but only because you're effecting an exodus of users and community operators. If you can't act - or won't act - for whatever reason, make sure those in position to handle the situation ARE aware of the problem. This forum shouldn't be a bottomless pit for complaints.
Now, let's get real here: our average user isn't going to download a Firefox plugin, let alone purchase a new machine. That's not an acceptable solution.
Our community is adult run. If Dirtylicious is encountering this issue, if Holdenmichael is encountering this issue, and I am encountering this issue - you can rest assured it's not because we're browsing warez and porno sites. The ONE unmistakable and undeniable common denominator in all of this is Yuku - PERIOD. I haven't contracted a trojan from Sage or JSTOR, ok? So, the condescending fallback excuse is unappreciated.
The bottom line is that the "easy answer" here involves blocking the ads - which is rather like cutting out your tongue because you're being fed rancid meat.
If you can't take accountability for community's revenue streams, that means the individual owners have to. Given your system, that means we have to close up shop and start fresh on an independent host. So, to whatever extent you'd prefer to retain our business, that means you must not only plug the leaks and deliver IMMEDIATE relief to our users by removing the offending ads from the rotation, but you MUST leverage your status as a relatively large ad publisher and press the ad networks to improve their screening processes. I should hope they won't give you the run around, tell you that it's YOUR problem, and advise you to run ad aware and purchase new equipment. If they want to keep your business, they'll address the problem directly. That's the stance we're taking with Yuku, that's the stance I expect Yuku to take with Google, Yahoo, et al.
Whatever FRACTION of a cent we receive from any one ad isn't worth the thousands of page views we lose when dissatisfied users opt to install ad blocking software or cease visiting the site entirely. Your responses demonstrate an abject lack of concern for the severity of this issue as pertains to the viability of Yuku as a business. I hate to be condescending, though being condescended to has that effect, but where do you think your paychecks come from? If my livelihood depended on ad revenue, goodness knows I'd do everything in my power to ensure that they're performing optimally. Get your priorities straight. This is not one of many, this is THE problem right now. If there's a fire on the factory floor, you don't leave half your maintenance crew replacing light bulbs. This has been a persistent problem for weeks now. Given the scope of the ad network, you can have one person working all year and HOPE they're outpacing the rate at which new ads are introduced into the rotation - or you can devote sufficient resources to the problem and resolve it in a timely manner. I hate to tell you your business, but your business is adversely impacting OUR business.
The difference between Yuku's situation and our situation, as a community, is that we have no one else to pass the buck to. So long as we choose to remain with Yuku, these ads are YOUR responsibility.
We run a community for sneaker fans. I don't expect our 75,000 or so unique daily visitors to show up with $2,500 computers running Windows Vista, McAfee virus scanner, a router with a hardware firewall, and pristine browsing habits. That setup, however, IS what many of our staff members are running - and we're all encountering this issue. What should that tell you?
What effect do you really think posting "install this firefox addon and buy a new computer" in the customer support forum, the link to which is, itself, buried on the support page, will have in resolving this problem for our average user? Try zero.
I hate to be the jerk here, but being nice and patient clearly has not worked. We have a responsibility to our 75,000+ unique daily visitors and 60,000 registered users. We have a responsibility to the charities we support with our ad revenue. We absorb all of the complaints from our users and they're relying on us to get the job done and make sure the site is safe for them to browse. That means we're going to do what it takes to get the job done - and if you're not sufficiently motivated, well, then it's my job to offer you some incentive.
Fix the problem or we're taking our business elsewhere. If our users have zero confidence in our ads, we have no revenue. If we have no revenue, we have no site.
It's that simple.
