35 replies to this topic

[Grumpy]

I'm hoping to get some public opinion on ads because I want to change them.

 

Problem:

1. Because people view a LOT of pages, the ad network actually runs out of ads to give you. So they pass it onto another ad network partner and repeat until it has one with decreasing price each time. Problem is that doing this a lot increases probability of a bad partner showing up significantly. This is the source of significant majority of our bad ad reports. They're also worth almost nothing at this point, so I'm making nuisance for pretty much nothing in return.
    
2. I want to roll out a new reader. If this is a surprise news to you... well, it probably is. Since I never told anyone other than staff. xD You can see it on beta, if it allows you... It's not open to general members. The banner ads not only take space, it's not going to load enough of them (it will only load one and once) by that method. I could refresh the ads with javascript, but it goes back to problem #1 and it's against the ToS on some ad networks.
    
3. Loading time. The page load time includes banner ads. Sometimes because of the ad, page don't load as quick.

 

Solution:

Different type of ads!

 

I might make a poll with the same topic later, want to get words first.

 

Unfortunately, I'm talking about more annoying ads. BUT! with lot less frequency. Because I've never had any other type of ads than banner ads on batoto, I don't know how much it'll actually make per view. I can only roughly guess.

 

• Interstitial ads - I'm talking about this stuff. Stuff that takes the entire page. BUT you'll only see them once an hour an that'll be the only ad on the entire site. If it turns out to bring better revenue than I thought, might reduce it more to like once a day.
   
• Pop up ads - Yeah... even more annoying. BUT it would mean even less frequency than interstitial.
   
• Redirect ads with timer........ LIke adf.ly....... I'm sure you're seeing the trend. The more annoying it gets less frequency you see them. If adf.ly is as good as they advertise (and they're not...), you might only see an ad once a week. Waiting 5 seconds once a week doesn't sound too bad.

Note: I will NOT be putting these ad scripts on the front page. So, the ad won't be the first thing you see when you come to batoto.

 

My goal with the ad frequency is to match the server costs as always. If it makes more, reduce the ads. If it makes less, increase the ads.

Second goal is to reduce the number of ads you see in order to avoid ad networks passing to the next; reducing unintended ads.

 

What do you think? Which would you prefer? Would you prefer to stick with banners?

[Yan Q]

I'm down with either...

1. Sticking to the banner ads (because I've never encountered an annoying one yet. With sound or bad content.)
2. Going the whole way and just doing the adf.ly one because once a week is nothing and I'm assuming that's if you stay logged in, otherwise once every time you close-reopen the browser? (Plus, I think that's less annoying than the first two options)

That's my opinion. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's thoughts.

[Grumpy]

I'm assuming that's if you stay logged in, otherwise once every time you close-reopen the browser?

I'll probably make it remember by cookie. Then you can close browser, log out, etc and still remember. That way it works for guests too.

[Yan Q]

I'll probably make it remember by cookie. Then you can close browser, log out, etc and still remember. That way it works for guests too.

Even better! And it'll pop up when we enter bato.to or when we view a manga?

I think it'll be fine. At least we can expect it.

[Grumpy]

Even better! And it'll pop up when we enter bato.to or when we view a manga?

I think it'll be fine. At least we can expect it.

Haven't decided where yet. Something like adf.ly is more tricky because I need to change URLs. Just know it's not front page.

[Kannade]

How often are you allowed to switch up the types of ads you can display on the site? Maybe itd be better if you did trial runs of the interstitial, pop up, and redirect ads, and then after the trials you'll know how much you'll make and everyone can properly voice their opinions on what they liked/didn't like.

[brajt]

I think each option is better for me as an user than banners. Banners are flashy (in the meaning of stealing the attention, not being in flash technology) and as much as I don't have anything against seeing ads on a website I frequenty use, it's not comfortable to read my favorite manga, especially the drama ones where I want to focus on the content.

 

I don't know how I'd react clicking to see the very important next page during f.e. love confession and seeing ad instead of the page, but it's still better imho.

[101010]

Wouldn't it be better for this thread to be in Announcements or at least to be displayed in the Announcement section on the front page? Surely that will increase the amount of non-donators who see the thread and potentially post in it.

[mhh]

I don't know how I'd react clicking to see the very important next page during f.e. love confession and seeing ad instead of the page, but it's still better imho.

I'm pretty sure those pop could be placed where they don't disrupt the flow of reading. Like at the beginning or end of the chapter or when opening a comic page.

[Grumpy]

Wouldn't it be better for this thread to be in Announcements or at least to be displayed in the Announcement section on the front page? Surely that will increase the amount of non-donators who see the thread and potentially post in it.

I'm kinda considering this as preliminary gather of opinions. I might make another poll later for a final one.

[Agnir]

  every first page of the chapter is an add kinda like the part of the chapter itself you can easily skip it by pressing the next button http://i.imgur.com/gKWTgAV.jpg

[Nepenthe]

Oh, it would work to have them between chapters. We're already used to having the actual chapters disrupted by credit pages (sometimes more than one), which I personally don't really mind. 

 

I don't know how well popups would really work? If you mean the normal kind of popups... most browsers have automatic blockers. And it's a little more difficult to disable your browser's blocker than to disable Adblock for the site.

I think redirect ads would annoy me, though if it's only once a week, or even twice a week, I can get over it. Supporting Batoto is more important than a few seconds of annoyance.

Interstitial ads are what I'd mind the least, I think? Though the ones that follow you as you scroll down are mildly infuriating.

[Yan Q]

Interstitial ads are what I'd mind the least, I think? Though the ones that follow you as you scroll down are mildly infuriating.

The problem though is that sometimes on mobile devices, the little (x) on the corner isn't shown especially if it follows your scrolling.

But honestly, once a week > once an hour for me... the few seconds of annoyance are still there, except one is about 10sec/wk, the other is about 4sec/day.

every first page of the chapter is an add kinda like the part of the chapter itself you can easily skip it by pressing the next button http://i.imgur.com/gKWTgAV.jpg

That could also work too. It would be like an extension of the credits page and wouldn't take up the entire screen. Not sure what coding would be involved with this, though.

[brajt]

The problem I see right now is also when I make my browser window smaller, so I can fit other applications on the screen. The left banner ruins the experience sadly. That would be solved by the new system.

[Grumpy]

How often are you allowed to switch up the types of ads you can display on the site?

There isn't a limit to switching up or something like that. Just that I need to get new ad contracts.

[2hot4you]

well, how about testing it out for a week then? or using that batoto test manga for that purpose, if thats possible

 

 

notice me senpai

Edited by 2hot4you, 31 March 2015 - 09:03 PM.

[Doonge]

1°) Unfortunately I think asking opinions is worthless in this case, as I think people aren't likely (knowingly or unknowingly) to accurately portray how they will take your changes. Especially if the sample is simply the biased people who browse this forum and decide to address publicly this topic.

 

2°) As I can't believe you are stupid, I sense some trickery in the way you are presenting the situation.

 

3°) As general guideline, the more invasive your ads, the less people will see them (all else being equal). Either they will stop using your service, either they will use adblock. I can't help but see a snowball effect if your algorithm raises the amount of ads when times are dire. It's a recipe for insta death. Surplus in good times are what help you in dire time.

 

4°) You can balance the frequency of the ads relatively to their efficiency per view (which is correlated to their nastiness I guess). I have no opinion to offer. However, as you mention adfly, how do you envision adfly will integrate with your website? As far as I know, adfly is a service that is used to obfuscate the real URL of desirable content (and make it shorter as side benefit). In order for adfly-like stuff to really work with Batoto (assuming bypasser scripts do not exist), you'd need to obfuscate Batoto's URLs (not hard, but that's still work). And even with obfuscating, how do you prevent people from just navigating "back" then "forward" again to reload the page without adfly?  Adfly works wonder with external URLs, I suppose, but with non-systematic internal ones???

[Nepenthe]

2°) As I can't believe you are stupid, I sense some trickery in the way you are presenting the situation.

Why would he be tricking you? Grumpy is, if you're not aware, the owner of this website. He's not running it for profit, either.

[Socrates]

1°) Unfortunately I think asking opinions is worthless in this case, as I think people aren't likely (knowingly or unknowingly) to accurately portray how they will take your changes. Especially if the sample is simply the biased people who browse this forum and decide to address publicly this topic.

 

If Grumpy tries out each ad type, as 2hot suggested, then opinions would be worth a lot. There is a reason why there exists test studies for products and advertisements to determine whether or not something will be successful, when aimed a particular demographic. Also, statistics would disagree with your sentiment on bias.

 

2°) As I can't believe you are stupid, I sense some trickery in the way you are presenting the situation.

 

Why do you believe this?

 

3°) As general guideline, the more invasive your ads, the less people will see them (all else being equal). Either they will stop using your service, either they will use adblock. I can't help but see a snowball effect if your algorithm raises the amount of ads when times are dire. It's a recipe for insta death. Surplus in good times are what help you in dire time.

 

I believe you are generally only looking at the solutions in relation to problem 1 and not considering problems 2 and 3. 

[Yan Q]

well, how about testing it out for a week then? or using that batoto test manga for that purpose, if thats possible
notice me senpai

lol just noticed your notice me senpai thing

But that would involve a lot of coding changes on Gramps' part. Especially for only one or two weeks each.
//sigh wish there was an easier way for him )':