Changes to Advertising on the site

Boards.ie: Niamh

Hi guys, we are in a position of needing to improve the revenue of Boards in order to keep things running. It has been an ever changing problem over the years with advertising methods and other income streams constantly evolving and we sometimes struggle to keep up. 

For a while now we have not been seeing the results we should be based on how many people are seeing the ads/ad slots on the site. For this reason, we have engaged the services of an expert team at Snigel to help us to improve our revenue stream via Google Ads. 

In order to do this they will be implementing some changes to the ads on the site. 

One of their recommendations is to increase the different sizes of ads appearing in any given slot. The ad slots won’t change in size but the addition of some new sizes that fit within that same slot will open us up to some more advertisers and ads. 

Another recommendation was to add some new slots. The only one we will add at this time is a top ad on the mobile site which will be the same size as the current footer (bottom) ad and mirrors the fact that we have a top ad on desktop above the content. It will not be sticky like the footer ad is and it will disappear as you move down the page. 

On the desktop site the side ad will be sticky, i.e. it will stay in place as you move down the page. This will mirror (in a way) the sticky footer that we already have on mobile.

I know no one likes ads but unfortunately they are a necessary tool to keep the site alive and to cover costs which we are not doing at the moment. I’d ask all of you reaching for the ad blocker to pause and give it some time after the changes have been implemented before taking that step :)

These new changes will take effect over the coming days. 

Thanks guys!

Niamh.  

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058236731/changes-to-advertising-on-the-site

So, how many ad clicks do we need to do each day? :) I've no intention to sell my car or register with Quinnbet, but was happy to see their proposition - maybe it will have changed tomorrow.

Invasive ads just lead to people blocking them completely.

Riesen_Meal

Was getting a lot of Russian ads yesterday on board's, obviously I am googling and keeping up with the news currently, I did report the adverts to Google just because they were irrelevant as entirely in Russian...

TheChrisD

You'd be far better off starting a Patreon or something and allowing us to chip in a quid a month towards covering the costs; than to plaster even more invasive advertising over the place.

Like you've basically now just made it to where I will never browse the site on my phone again, and I will save my viewing for desktop where I have the ad blocker and site style fixer set up 🤷‍♂️

Seve OB

I don’t know what’s going on with ads on my phone but a lot of the time I’m typing in comment box and I can’t even see what I’m writing because of the bloody ad across the bottom

Shield

The problem isn’t ads, it’s a combination of ad blockers, misleading ads, and nonsensical clickbait like “7 things your sandwich says about your driving habits”. If we’re going to be spending money on a third party company, can they at least guarantee relevant ads?

Might also be worth asking users to whitelist the site so we can get ad impressions in the first place.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118764771#Comment_118764771

I like the patreon idea to be fair.

JRant

So for the mobile site there will be the Boards banner on top, an ad banner at the top also that presumably will reappear every time you scroll up, and a permanent ad banner at the bottom.

Am I reading this correctly?

If that's the case it will make the mobile site pretty much unusable. Especially when trying to type a reply which is already bad enough with the bottom ad blocking out the bottom of the text box.

Best of luck keeping users engaged with that carry-on.

You'd be better served trying some alternative revenue streams like Patreon (as already mentioned).

Atlantic Dawn

Might be better to look at an ad free version for a set annual amount that runs alongside the ad version.

mondeoman72

I flagged stupid ads previously covering the screen and was told to use the mobile version. I went with ad blockers to keep the experience.

I would pay a subscription to avoid the fecking things.

massdebater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118764771#Comment_118764771

Brave browser on your phone blocks all ads as default.

Ghost Train

I think my brain just ignores the ads at this stage, I guess at least the ad styling isnt such that the ads look like posts or threads to click on like other sites. Not really a fan of the ads that change or that are animated, they just don't look great

There are ads?

You're leaving money on the table by choosing to serve no ads if users disagree on this prompt when first visiting. Like you don't need an ad blocker on boards.ie. The block ads button is in the bottom right corner.

Why not work out how to serve ads based on the page's content if users choose Disagree? That would still protect their privacy. I have no idea how many people would choose Disagree on this site but 96% of iPhone users choose to not let apps share tracking when prompted.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766489#Comment_118766489

If you choose disagree there, does it not just show you random ads rather than targeted ones? I don't think it stops ads altogether....

Ljmscooter

Who doesn't use an adocker these days ? On desk and on phone ?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766644#Comment_118766644

It never reaches the command to create the ads.

And it seems for me, most pages on the site don't have any ads because they don't fill. Like this page of the Russia thread never shows an ad for me.

Despite my name, I know feck all about ads, so I'm not sure what's causing it, but Google does show some stuff for "ad unit did not fill".

Sleeper12

There was a time when searching on boards for information on a Triton Shower or Sony tv that the ads that popped up were related to what i'm looking for. Ads I'm seeing now today are for an online cake builder & an outdoor store. I'm not going to click on either of these because I have no interest in them. Basing ads on keywords in a thread will deliver much more clicks compared to random ads

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766757#Comment_118766757

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766811#Comment_118766811

These are two of the issues that should be addressed by the guys we have engaged to look at the ads situation on the site.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Ads blocking your keyboard was an issue that was resolved some time ago, if you are still experienving it please try clearing cookies & cache and/or logging out and back in and if it is still an issue please report to the appropriate thread in Feedback, thanks.

Boards.ie: Niamh

Much as we appreciate the idea of throwing €1 a month into a Patreon or similar, it is not a guaranteed income nor is it likley to be big enough to keep things afloat. Subscribing to the site will a) help support us and b) result in a no ads experience. However subscribing is not as straight forward as it was before the move so less people are doing it (understandably).

If you do want to subscribe, you can make a payment to boards.ie.pp@gmail.com on Paypal and send your transaction ID to me on hello@boards.ie or by PM. I'll add you as a subscriber then. We do plan to clean up the subbing process as soon as we can. Thanks guys.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766852#Comment_118766852

The keyboard on replies to threads seems to be resolved ok, but the text box for reporting posts is still an almighty mess - if you have to correct anything you're typing completely blind unless you collapse the whole thing, move your cursor, then backspace blindfolded - and if you click on the wrong place it's rinse and repeat. It's a complete pain.

ETA - sorry, apologies, just realised I shouldn't have posted that here as this thread is about advertising!

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766489#Comment_118766489

Also we'll look into this, thanks!

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766887#Comment_118766887

How much?

Can this be set up as a recurring transaction in PayPal?

Are there any subscriber benefits (apart from the possibility of a warm feeling inside 😊 ) ?

Boards.ie: Niamh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767408#Comment_118767408

Oops I meant to include the amounts and forgot, sorry!

• One month subscription €5
• Three month (quarterly) subscription €13
• One year subscription €50

Aside from the warm feeling inside (lol) you will also have no ads on the site and access to the First Class Lounge. I'll be honest, I don't know how active that is or isn't at the moment. You can also request a username change when you are a subscriber.

Hotblack Desiato

I was a subscriber before and the FCL was pretty quiet, but like anything else it is what people make of it I suppose. Remember when access to the SEX FORUM was the big incentive to subscribe?? 😁

Thanks Niamh!

Shield

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118767919#Comment_118767919

The Sex & Sexuality forum was 'subscriber only' because of its content. It was a way to try and keep adult discussions in places that only adults could access. Times have obviously changed, but that was the idea behind it being a 'subscriber only' forum.

Hotblack Desiato

Oh I know but making it subscriber only did cause some people to raise their expectations a bit too much 🤣

TheChrisD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766887#Comment_118766887

I thought the site was already at the point where you can't be a begging chooser and specifically say no to setting up a tip jar for people to contribute small amounts; and instead continue to push the full subscription. Sorry, but boards doesn't offer anywhere near enough to justify fifty quid a year compared to the likes of a year's worth of reddit premium, which is also fifty quid annually.

thesandeman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770562#Comment_118770562

In fairness the new Boards is bad but trying to read a thread on Reddit would give me a brain hemorrhage within thirty seconds.

I've tried a couple of times and nearly smashed my phone off the wall both times. Nothing seems to make sense. Maybe the paid for version has posts in order?

Tom Mann Centuria

I'm sure it was mentioned before but setting up a way of allowing mobile phone carrier billing would get a few more euro the sites way. Lots of people in Vodafone and Three still have credit they don't really know what to spend it on, there's a thread devoted to it.

lawred2

I'm not sure how targeted your ads are to be honest. I don't need sports bras from JD sports.

Pelvis Parsley

Maybe there’s a good reason why they’re dismissing Patreon as out of hand, but I would have thought they’d be delighted with ANY extra revenue.

OU812

The problem isn’t the ads, it’s the fact people have abandoned the site due to the f-up made of updating it.

A lot of people didn’t come back. It’s still a really bad user experience.

Putting more ads on it will just mean that more people use an ad blocker. It’s the equivalent of an post increasing the price of stamps because less people are posting things.

You’re not looking at ways to diversify the assets of the site (users & interests), instead looking for the cheap quick fix (which isn’t a fix at all)

Still think you should be able to "give gold" to posts for a few euro like on Reddit. Those posts could be highlighted on the homepage and the receiving user gets no ads for a month.

Apparently, my posts on Reddit have prompted enough gold to pay for an hour of server time.

Shield

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118772220#Comment_118772220

Would this be easy to implement into the new site? It's is probably one of the best ideas I've seen. Same with Patreon, ko-fi, etc. I don't think we should be ruling out any potential revenue stream, no matter how small.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766375#Comment_118766375

Adguard works great on android

I'm sorry guys, but intrusive and functionality disruptive ads will only be self defeating. For those reasons I don't see any.

If you want to raise cash, consider the Patreon idea already suggested, or offer the subscriber option again with ad free experience included.

Also, with the amount of bugs and still missing functionality on this site, loading more ads in is a bit much - cash flow issues or not.

28064212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118772285#Comment_118772285

This is the issue with pretty much all the various suggestions. It's clear that Boards don't have the resources to fix critical issues across the site, much less kick off new projects. I believe there are plenty of monetizable opportunities with Boards - however, it requires substantial investment first. The impact of the loss of so many high-level regular posters and moderators in such a short period of time cannot be overstated. The current trajectory is all downhill, and if the resource issues don't change, neither will the outcome.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118772573#Comment_118772573

I can't but agree with this.

When the changeover first happened and the site was all over the shop, I still felt that eventually things would settle down, functionality would improve and posters would return - maybe not back to the levels at the height of the previous incarnation, but enough to make it a dynamic, enjoyable forum again.

Niamh's announcement that they're going to load even more advertising onto a clunky, malfunctioning, glitchy site, and make it even harder to use (especially on mobile) prompts me to feel for the first time that actually maybe boards is going down the drain. Slowly, maybe - but the aggravation of the constantly moving and changing functionality is growing for me, and it feels like a tipping point is coming down the tracks (to mix metaphors!)

Tom Mann Centuria

Set up a boards YouTube channel, offer memberships to it. Display threads of the day on it or some such (like old school teletext used to be at night-time). Completely free, virtually zero effort, more euros in the coffers. Patreon also free, more euros in the bank. Could even monetise Twitter these days.

Users of either give office their username, and ad free experience offered.

Could also hire some consultants who are experts in the hiring of advertising consultants and add more ads. Both might work.

JayRoc

If Boards had put out a call for subscribers before the downgrade happened, explaining that the site, as it was, simply wasn't possible to maintain without more money coming in, I honestly would have been happy to spend a few bob a month to keep the place afloat.

With the best will in the world though, since the change I am spending hardly any time here and the user experience is so far from what I remember that there is no way I would spend money on it. Sorry.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118773480#Comment_118773480

This, all day long this.

The problem goes back to the usual lack of transparency and sporadic communication. We were told an upgrade was happening that would allow Boards to do more, but instead we got a much delayed, stripped out and broken shell of what the place used to be and those who have stuck around have waited 8 months now and the place isn't even stable as is, nevermind even on par with the previous site.

I have to agree that if Odhran and whoever makes up the rest of the senior team had come on here openly stating the situation - BEFORE it became apparently critical - then probably most of the users would not only have supported the need for fundraising (look at how much is raised at Christmas for charity) and change and if they had been clever about it, they could probably have pulled in (FOR FREE) the skills and expertise that is all over this site - from development to project management to finance and fundraising to stabilise not only the cash but the site itself.

Instead of that, they made promises that couldn't be kept, didn't communicate effectively and still don't understand why people still come here if this is now the best they can come up with.

There's a lesson in management and customer engagement to be learned here but I fear it's too late and probably won't be learned anyway.

Hopefully though, if and probably when things come to a head, they sell the domain on to someone/a group who will bring the place back to its roots rather than chasing trends and wasting time and resources in the process. There are still many successful fora out there so the demand is still there, especially for the USP that Boards offers the Irish community and which the current management have completely failed to capitalise on.

HBC08

If Boards is struggling and it seems to be then I don't think this is a great move by them.Money is tight so spend any you do have on consultants who come up with the idea to put more ads on a cluttered site that most use an ad blocker on.

Consultants in my experience are rarely a solution to anything.

Pelvis Parsley

I would donate to boards in the morning (and did in the past, as well as volunteering for them).

However, I have absolutely no confidence in the management of the site now, and until that changes, or I am proven wrong, there is no way I’d throw good money down the drain.

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766644#Comment_118766644

It shows no adverts. Board management don't use the site, to they failed to understand why their advert revenue is so low!

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118766887#Comment_118766887

You say Patreon isn't a stable source of income, but you reckon ads will be? Ads can be (and will be) completely disabled at the click of a button by users at any time they want....one stupid/misplaced ad too many and boom, the user has enough and nukes every ad site wide with a browser addon. I don't see this as stable or guaranteed, in any way shape or form.

Patreon is a FAR better solution here, Yes people will join/leave as patreons as time goes by, but those who actually go to the trouble of subbing, usually won't be flash in the pan subscribers. The biggest obstacle of a potential Boards Patreon, is why would a user bother? What's in it for them? Much the same as becoming a traditional subscriber...there's just very little incentive.

A Patreon tier system, with attractive rates, and actual real world benefits for users is the only viable solution here to the income problem. As for those benefits, that'd be up to you guys....im sure the people here would have plenty of suggestions. Ideally you'd roll the current subscriber system into various Patreon tiers, name changes, special user badges, increasing access to various parts of the site, hell even give higher tiers (with established track records) a direct line with relavent mods for user representation/feedback/forum growth etc (and this could even lead to identifying prospective mods etc). There's loads of possibilities.

Ignoring these options, and just sticking with "moar ads", just screams like the cheapest/easiest way to roll the dice. Such a path does NOT inspire confidence in subscribing either.

CGI_Livia_Soprano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118764771#Comment_118764771

Not as invasive as your sig, Jesus Christ almighty.

Anyway, if 5000 to 10000 people donated a euro a month for a boards Patreon, it wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to cover salaries, hosting, and so on. I think the users of this site need to just suck it up and keep Adblock off when they’re visiting. I genuinely hate most of the posters of this site but it would be a tragedy for the Irish web-space if it disappeared. I don’t use Adblock on boards.ie and I never will.

That being said I think Boards should be responsible regarding what they post in their adspace. I speak for everyone here when I say that I don’t expect or want to see ads for “hot single mothers in [my] area.”

Well you'd be aiming at 5 euros a month. There is a subscriber system already so just move it to Patreon where it's easy for everyone.

Personally I would be willing to subscribe (not quite €50) if ads could reduce to some extent. I use an ad blocker and actually see absolutely no ads, and I’m guessing quite a few others do likewise. Just slightly annoying grey spaces with a header “Advertisement”. Just my tuppence worth for your research.