Why are there ads on NikeTalk? The answer is inside.

Quote:
Placing ads, on the other hand, allows us to continue to offer NikeTalk for FREE. That IS a positive benefit. Sites have to pay their bills somehow. You've obviously been spoiled by the completely free and ad free site we've run thus far, but the situation has changed. We can't purchase our hosting costs for $2,000 a YEAR like we used to. It costs real money now, and where do you suppose that should come from?


Look, Im a member since 2002, and I feel that I am a more intelligent person than most people on this site. You dont understand, Meth what I am saying. You guys had two choices: 1. Host advertisement (just terrible :rolleyes
eyes.gif
), keep the site free, and keep all of the annoying 11-14 year olds that go here and contribute NOTHING to the community. ORRRRR
2. Force all the members to pay a small annual fee, thus dismissing all those who do not find Niketalk worthwhile enough to pay money for.

If you chose to make Niketalk something you need to pay for, the QUALITY of this site would be much better than the site that you have planned out for us in the future. It would be a privelage to post and share secrets about sneakers and to sell and trade our products. It would be a Niketalk that we all have dreamed of, one that we saw a small glimmer of around the time when I joined this community.

Sure it wouldnt be free anymore, but it would be MUCH better than what niketalk will become.
AIM- roman736
P.H.I.L.L.Y.
Email-mroman@fandm.edu
Click to expand...
 
^ Get over it and just cause you display your intellgance on the internet doesnt make you smarter than Most members. It makes you more serious.
Im black but it doesnt matter.She meet me in the club she is going down. A brother gives her bud she's going down. Any time I see her guaranteed she going down
 
Quote:
Look, Im a member since 2002, and I feel that I am a more intelligent person than most people on this site. You dont understand, Meth what I am saying. You guys had two choices: 1. Host advertisement (just terrible ), keep the site free, and keep all of the annoying 11-14 year olds that go here and contribute NOTHING to the community. ORRRRR
2. Force all the members to pay a small annual fee, thus dismissing all those who do not find Niketalk worthwhile enough to pay money for.
ups will fail - as do most start-ups period - but the subscription-based "leader" will have their user base fractured by the free alternatives. Generally, at that point they'll either be replaced by one or more of the free sites or their business will have diminished to the point where it will simply fold up for lack of subscribers.

Unless you have an indispensable service with exclusive content rights, it's not going to work out.

Imagine if you had to start paying to read stories on ESPN.com. Would you pay $10 a month, or would you just start reading sports news somewhere else for free?

Remember, our users generate our content. If we scare 80% of our users away (and that's conservative) by introducing subscriptions, we lose the majority of our content providers.

The only subscription model that seems viable for sites like ours are those that offer "premium" features to paying users. Ezsupporter is an example of this (though we don't receive that money.) If we started offering subscribers the use of @niketalk.com email accounts, private forums, and other perks... we might be able to generate some supplemental income - but it probably wouldn't be sufficient to replace advertising, which will almost certainly remain our mainstay."


If we ever FORCED our members to pay subscriptions, everyone would just start posting on Crooked Tongues or NikeTalk Jr. Only a handful of people would actually pay for the privilege of posting on NikeTalk. The poor performance of our community chest and ezsupporter subscriptions over the years only underscore this.

80+% of our current users would HATE the prospect of forced subscription costs.
Perhaps 5% of our current users HATE the prospect of advertising. (and, in those cases, you have to wonder WHAT sites they're visiting that dont' offer any ads at all. Most of the larger content sites have pop ups and interstitial ads.) You tell me which loss is more sustainable: 80% or 5%? Clearly, you're in that 5%. We'd hate to lose you, but I'll accept that as consequence sooner than I would driving the overwhelming majority of our members and our CONTENT off of this board.
Click to expand...
 
Quote:
Imagine if you had to start paying to read stories on ESPN.com. Would you pay $10 a month, or would you just start reading sports news somewhere else for free?


TRUE THAT!

but....

ESPN.com does not offer people a chance to make money. Niketalk does! Most people on this site are here to spend money on sneakers or make money on sneakers. The whole community revolves around spending money. Sports websites do not. I bet those previous examples u talked about also dont revolve around spending money. I think 100% of the people who rely on niketalk to allow them to advertise their own selling, or to find important sneaker release information WOULD pay to stay on niketalk. ESPECIALLY if making members pay would:
-lessen hype that is so often started on this website
-lessen the amount of young children that clutter the website
- increase the amount of witheld information that is kept secret these days on niketalk
-help sell and advertise personal selling
-benefit the site as a whole from money revenue
-decrease the costs of keeping this site
-and, of course, kill advertisements

BUT i do understand that I probably am in a small 5% minority here on niketalk, and the only way any one is gonna change this website is if other people begin to feel the way I do (even though, of course, 75% of the people here are too young to find a way to pay a membership fee) and express their feelings as well.
AIM- roman736
P.H.I.L.L.Y.
Email-mroman@fandm.edu
Click to expand...
 
Quote:
I bet those previous examples u talked about also dont revolve around spending money.


Actually, many of them do. What about computer/video games? Such interests are based around PRODUCTS. You can't even PLAY those games unless you've paid a very significant amount of money for a computer or video game console, so you're not dealing with a cash poor audience. Plenty of websites in all sorts of categories revolve around products. The truth of the matter, however, is that as long as the consumer expects the site to be FREE (and this is determined more so by the way the Internet and the site's content group as a WHOLE function) then the overwhelming majority of the site's audience would not tolerate anything less than a free site. That's why you almost NEVER see totally pay sites. If anything, you see sites with "premium" content that is NOT offered for free ANYWHERE. Our content is provided by our members. If we force them out, you'd find the same content somewhere else - and for "free" since the site would probably be one of those boards set up by a site that just so happens to have a webstore attached to it. (CT, UTA, etc.) If we wanted to gouge our audience and sell sneakers for 300% of retail value, we could cover the costs of this site pretty easily. We don't.

Quote:
I think 100% of the people who rely on niketalk to allow them to advertise their own selling, or to find important sneaker release information WOULD pay to stay on niketalk.

WHY would you pay to sell on NikeTalk if I'm going to take away 80% of your market!?

That makes no sense.


It seems like you have somewhat of an elitist outlook towards the younger members you feel "clutter up" our community, but keep in mind that if you sell on here - THAT is your market. Force them off the board and you have nobody to sell to. The only people who'd pay would be the ones trying to SELL. Nobody's going to pay just for the privilege of buying sneakers from individual sellers. After a few months of trying to sell only to other sellers, I don't think anyone would be willing to pay anymore. Buyers want to visit a site where they have plenty of sneakers to choose from. You don't do that on a site that's alienated 80% of its sellers. Sellers want to visit a site with as many BUYERS as possible. You don't do THAT on a site that's alienated 90% of its buyers.


Most people would much rather look at an ad rather than pay their own hard earned money to browse a website they expect to be free, let alone a website they're actively contributing to like ours. Plus, what happens when we ban someone? Do they get a refund? If it's nonrefundable, you'd better believe we'd get all types of complaints and perhaps even some nuisance lawsuits. It makes it more complicated for our staff to impose the standards of etiquette that make NikeTalk what it is.

If anything, we'd just offer premium features that could possibly include access to a private forum ON NikeTalk where there'd be less "clutter." Even so, unless we had hundreds of people paying $5 a month for those services, we'd be bleeding money just paying our bills. Asking me to adopt such a model exclusively is requesting that I put NikeTalk at risk. The subscription model is unstable and precarious and I will NOT rely on subscriptions alone to cover our costs. Likewise, I'm not going to alienate 80% of our members because roman736 thinks they're "too young."

Ads really aren't a big deal. If you had the choice to simply look at an ad in order to see the ESPN Insider content instead of paying for it, would you? If I asked that question to 100 people, I'd wager that at least 95 would say "yes" as though it were a no brainer. If ads allow us to not only continue offering NikeTalk for free but donate thousands of dollars to worthy charities around the world, I'm certainly willing to live with them.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Quote:
Look, Im a member since 2002, and I feel that I am a more intelligent person than most people on this site. You dont understand, Meth what I am saying. You guys had two choices: 1. Host advertisement (just terrible :rolleyes ), keep the site free, and keep all of the annoying 11-14 year olds that go here and contribute NOTHING to the community. ORRRRR
2. Force all the members to pay a small annual fee, thus dismissing all those who do not find Niketalk worthwhile enough to pay money for.

If you chose to make Niketalk something you need to pay for, the QUALITY of this site would be much better than the site that you have planned out for us in the future. It would be a privelage to post and share secrets about sneakers and to sell and trade our products. It would be a Niketalk that we all have dreamed of, one that we saw a small glimmer of around the time when I joined this community.

Sure it wouldnt be free anymore, but it would be MUCH better than what niketalk will become.


what makes you so much better than everyone else? you were a 11-14 year old once. why shouldn't they be allowed on Niketalk if they want to? they have the same interests in sneakers as you do. you think you're some hardcore OG NT vet just because you've been on since 2002? get over yourself dude.
Click to expand...
 
Quote:
what makes you so much better than everyone else? you were a 11-14 year old once. why shouldn't they be allowed on Niketalk if they want to? they have the same interests in sneakers as you do. you think you're some hardcore OG NT vet just because you've been on since 2002? get over yourself dude.



Look, I understand that every individual is different from everybody else, and many people are GREAT! But what you have to realize is that AGE is proportional to MATURITY, and the older you get the better your decisions become. I don't think that I need to say much more. Also, I said I joined in 2002 in a humble manner, and I understand I am not a so-called "veteran" of this website.

P.S.- Method, I knew you were gonna say that, actually. I thought about it the night after my previous post... But I do think that 20x+D=Y, where x= the amount of people that would pay the price of being a member of niketalk, D= donations by members, 20 is the annual fee of niketalk, and Y= the cost of keeping this site up (considering the amount of members that would be part of it). In fact, you might need another variable on the right side that would be P, which would be P=profit.
AIM- roman736
P.H.I.L.L.Y.
Email-mroman@fandm.edu
Click to expand...
 
If you want to be part of a 400 person message board, I'm sure you can find one out there that won't even charge you for the privilege of posting.

Our challenge has been: how do we maintain OUR community of 50,000 + members and 100,000+ viewers - not "how do we scare off the most members possible so that hosting costs are once again reasonably cheap."

We ALREADY have a profit variable in play - and we're using it to benefit charity. The one variable you seem to be missing is opportunity cost under a subscription-only model, which would be immeasurable.

We have a working business model that allows ALL of our members to continue using NikeTalk for free. Our solution performs the greatest good for the greatest many - and ads are ONLY going to improve as time goes by.

I am incredibly frustrated with the ads in place at this moment - but they're just placeholders that allow us to run the site and collect data to help generate superior advertising solutions in the future. In three months' time, I'd consider it an absolute waste of our potential if we're still publishing ads for mutual funds and toenail fungus treatments. Future ads will be a far cry from what we're dealing with today, but our goal of providing the best possible FREE community for sneaker fans worldwide will remain unchanged.
 
recently, i've been seeing "video" ads move up... like ones with animation and stuff. these ads have been slowing down my web browser significantly. the scroll button doesn't work cause of it.

i realize that we're in a testing period for these ads, but i really hope that NT in the future doesn't include these video ads, especially since we've been so strict about keeping avy's to 150 kb and keeping pictures out of sigs to preserve the viewability of this site.



licious
I am the Kobe Stopper​
 
I was seeing the ads but now I only see a blank space where the ads used to be.

Have they been removed or is it just me?
[/b]artist | day to day
terrorartist.deviantart.com​
 
i see people still catchin feelings trying to beat meth in an argument. yall aint gonna beat him unless you tryin to write a novel or some @#%$.


anyways these ads is weird as @#%$. "milk the cow faster and win a playstation 3?" tha @#%$????
[/center]
​
 
Quote:
nyways these ads is weird as . "milk the cow faster and win a playstation 3?" tha ????

The problem is, we were put into a position where we suddenly had to go from paying virtually nothing for webhosting to paying thousands of dollars per month.

Ideally, we would've had months to go about securing advertising SPECIFIC to the NikeTalk community: ads for products and services that our members are actually interested in. Unfortunately, we didn't have that luxury. You can't instantaneously go from idle to 100 mph. We've been steadily improving the advertising that's been appearing on NT, but at the moment we're still limited to poorly targeted and widely available sponsorship deals designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator rather than advertising that takes advantage of our incredibly unique niche.

If we're still publishing ads for mutual funds and the like in 2 months' time, I would consider it an abject failure. For the time being, though, I ask that you please bear with the ads and - if you value our site - click through from time to time to help us continue to bring you NikeTalk for free while raising money for worthy causes worldwide. I'm still waiting to hear back from ezboard to CONFIRM our first charitable contribution, but if you consider that tolerating and merely clicking on a few advertisements will, for instance, help feed and immunize hundreds or even thousands of impoverished children I think you'll agree that the minimal "sacrifice" you've each made has been worth it.
Click to expand...
 
There was an ad with a cow humping another cow.

It said "Do you find this picture funny?"

I clicked "Yes"


Dilla was and will always be my hero."[/center]
 
Quote:
Our challenge has been: how do we maintain OUR community of 50,000 + members and 100,000+ viewers - not "how do we scare off the most members possible so that hosting costs are once again reasonably cheap."


touche
AIM- roman736
P.H.I.L.L.Y.
Email-mroman@fandm.edu
Click to expand...
 
for the love of god, please change the ads back to TEXT! its slowing down my comp!

Reppin the 816
Keepin it KC krunk
​
 
Oh man I have adblock at home, but I checked in at work today...bad idea. First ad I see is a cow humping another cow from behind....what the @#%$?!?!? :rofl:
roll.gif
:rofl:
roll.gif
:rofl:
roll.gif


edit: also are we back to text ads now? Or is it an alternating thing?
Threadless T-shirts
 
Blockbuster and Nokia...thing are lookin' up for NT. The ads are deffinatley getting better.
- BOILER UP!
TORONTO RAPTORS - A NEW ERA HAS BEGUN
FC BARCELONA - FORCA BARCA!
​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Nelson C
Happy 24th bday NikeTalk!
2 3
Replies
54
Views
2K
a blinkin
a blinkin
ghenges
Are you Team Cremation or Team Burial?
2
Replies
39
Views
2K
smedroc
smedroc
jape
Is death the only answer?
3 4 5
Replies
123
Views
12K
spizike231
spizike231
therealest1
Nike Giannis Freak 6 - Roses slated for August 16, 2024
2
Replies
33
Views
4K
proplayer
proplayer
therealest1
Reebok FloatZig
Replies
0
Views
236
therealest1
therealest1

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

NikeTalk was created as a way of giving back to both the sneaker enthusiast community and to the greater global community of which we are all a part.

NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom