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Should we experiment with google ads on the site for 1 month?

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mouser:
We have actually experimented with google ads on the website briefly in the past.  Does anyone remember when we did?

We actually have an options in user profiles to disable them.

But I never really liked having them and it hardly seemed worth the ugliness and inconvenience.

However they were interesting as an experiment.

I was thinking maybe we should try the experiment again, just for a period of one month, to see what the results are in terms of donations, ad revenue, search engine indexing frequency (does google index a site more fully if it has ads?), etc.

Thoughts?


ps. in the past we experimented with the idea of having ads and if you were a donating member you could disable them.  i think that's not really a motivation for anyone and instead we should just let any forum member disable ads -- so no forum regular would see any ads if they didn't want to.

mouser:
from chat channel:

<mouser> i guess one problem with doing it as an experiment is
<mouser> people visiting will not know about the experiment
<mouser> they will think its how we always are
<mouser> but its still worth a try i think
<lanux128> yeah, that too
<lanux128> and also they'll be thinking that DoCo finally succumbed to adverts
<lanux128> which will send out bad vibes
<lanux128> all over the net
<lanux128> since Doco manifesto is being a "self-sufficient no-ads" site, how best to conduct this experiment?
<lanux128> to show that this is a short-term change to the website..
<mouser> lanux, yes that is a worry
<mouser> we could put a little message under every ad
<mouser> saying something like
<mouser> "dc advert experiment feb 1 - 28"
<mouser> which can be clicked to read more
<mouser> about how we dont normally have ads, etc

y0himba:
I understand the need for adverts on an honest site like DC, but in my opinion they cheapen the look and feel of the site.  Not to mention the fact that any halfway competent ad blocking plugin or software will never see the ads, which renders the purpose behind said ads null.

I would add DC to the whitelist and allow the ads to display, probably even click on a few because I know the people and the site.  It would not bother me other than look and feel to put Google ads here, but maybe a better solution would be to brainstorm a unique and classy, fun, or stylish way to generate a bit of revenue.  If I was able I would easily donate $50 to $100 a month to the site, it is a second home to me on the web.  Since the layoff however...welcome to the economy.

mouser:
we're not really talking about adding ads to the site permanently -- that would be something i am NOT in favor of, at least in the forseeable future.  i like the way we do things here, and as long as we are getting enough in donations to pay for hosting, and as along as the fundraisers like we did last year are received nicely, i dont see any reason we should have to put ads on the site.

this is really just a question of experimenting to see how things have changed since last time we tried this, to see what kind of revenue comes in from the ads, to see if we can tell how it affects donations, and to see if it has any effect on the indexing of the site in search engines, and just to get a general feel for what the site feels like with ads.

i am not proposing we do this for anything but a short term experiment, maybe one month.  after which we would remove ads for the rest of the year, until the time for the next experiment in another few years.

i just see it as continuing our tradition of experimentation.

y0himba:
Oh I see (said the blind man).  Maybe I should pay attention to the IRC channel more LOL.  I was thinking you needed the revenue.  I was actually sitting here seeing where I could save $10 a month to donate here.  Next step was passing it by the wife.  If you guys don't hear from me for a week notify my parents.  :P

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