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

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slowmaker:
<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 (January 03, 2010, 06:10 AM)
--- End quote ---

That danger cannot be overstated; I joined because I was blown away by the incredible sincerity of the site and many of its visitors. Had I read your intro pages and the (2006?) letter that was my entry point to the site a few days ago while simultaneously seeing ads, I would  have simply thought 'yeah, right; nice software collection, but no way I'm donating on top of your ad revenue.'

I would not have thought, maybe I've finally found a home on the 'net.

I would not have thought, maybe I've found a place genuinely interested in pursuing a life financed without crudity, crassness, or desperate grasping greed. Maybe they'll fail in the end, but I'm damned proud to see someone trying it. I would not have thought that, had I seen ads.

Seriously, it makes that much difference. No, I can't speak for everyone. I can only speak for me. But...at least some of the other new visitors to your site will be like me.

<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
-mouser (January 03, 2010, 06:10 AM)
--- End quote ---
Would have made zero difference to me. I would just have assumed that either you were lying, or that the original Great Experiment was over and the ads were here to stay. I would not have clicked to read more. Once you see an ad, you already know (or think you know) what you're dealing with. I am sure that I'm speaking for a lot of people there, again assuming we're talking about new visitors.

Please don't do this. Find another way to run the experiment. Run it on another site. Anything but here. Buy the domain 'advertcoder.com' or something, put the experiment there, let it be an anthropological comparison between what kinds of communities grow up in the two places, but I'm begging you not to do it here.

A heartfelt plea shouldn't have to describe itself as such, it should be obvious, but I'm not a good enough writer to be sure what's coming across (and I'm really really sleepy right now, too) so I will state it flatly: this is, truly and sincerely, a heartfelt plea not to change the tone of the site that way, not even temporarily for an experiment.

Carol Haynes:
My 2p - most regular users will switch them off in their profile (if they haven't already) and be annoyed if that preference is ignored.

Many others won't see them because of the use of ad blockers and other filtering technologies.

The only people who will probably see them are visitors that you want to attract to the site and my personal opinion is that a site with Google ads looks more interested in revenue raising than the quality of the site.

I know you need to raise revenue to keep the site running (and food on the table) but I would guess that regular 'events' of different sorts where people can join in and have fun would be more productive.

One of my biggest objection to Google ads is that they are pig-ugly too.

kakarukeys:
most people (including me) has developed an instinct to ignore google ads. click-through rate may not be high. To make some money, how about selling some DC T-shirts, mugs, or you could publish a book about DC?

Josh:
We have a cafe press site but mousey prices everything above normal spenders pricing because he only wants stuff given out as gifts. I would love to buy some DC Merch, but mousey refuses to ablige to my requests.

Donationcoder.com Cafepress shop

Carol Haynes:
Bit of a mad shop really. I know the main website says it is for superbig donors but anyone happening across the shop must wonder what the heck is going on when a T-shirt costs £100.

Maybe it would make sense to have some affordable products in the shop too for people who would like to buy merchandise.

Is it possible in the shop to hide the products that are used for gifts/rewards? Or at least hide the prices?

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