

No more Ads on StatSheet - RobbieStats
http://statsheet.com/blog/no-more-ads

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newsio
I think sponsors and plugs for your subscription service make sense. Maybe
dial down the free content a little and beef up the subscription content to
encourage people to sign up (and pay) for your premium services.

One warning about sponsors, though: Sometimes the sponsors may expect more
than a simple display ad for their money -- they'll want "rich media", special
ad units, or interaction with your audience that may end up being more
irritating than Google AdSense.

Another suggestion: If you haven't already done so, set up an email newsletter
or alert system based on interesting stats, user-determined criteria, or
sudden spikes. That could be one of your premium services.

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RobbieStats
Interested in any other perspectives on this.

~~~
axod
It sounds like ads didn't work for you. That doesn't mean they don't work for
any other startups though.

>> "Let's face it, no one likes to see ads on websites."

Let's agree to disagree instead :) I do, lots of people do. They wouldn't
click if they didn't find them useful. If they don't click, you're doing it
wrong.

>> "There is a sad truth to web advertising. Unless you are 1) willing to put
a half dozen ad units on every page and 2) serving tens of millions of page
views per month, advertising will not help that much when it comes to paying a
startup's bills (even a lean startup like StatSheet)."

This is also not a "truth". It completely depends on your sector/niche, and
how you arrange the ads. I run a freestuff/competition site that made 4
figures a month from advertising and doesn't even register on
alexa/quantcast/compete. It's traffic is tiny - but it's the monetizable type
of traffic.

I'm not trying to say you made a bad decision here, just that your experience
isn't something others should take in isolation when deciding on revenue
streams.

I can't remember the US stance on online betting/gambling, but that would be
my choice of revenue. The affiliate commission for gambling/betting sites is
really good. Like a large payment for each new customer, and often a revenue
share for future losses. You'd only need a handful of referrals to pay server
costs etc.

For example, Paddypower (betting site): Sale: 20.00% - 25.00% GBP, £11.00 GBP
signup. 3 month EPC=£196.02 Yup, that's £196 ad revenue per hundred clicks on
average. (Stats from cj.com)

>> "Here are a few recent articles and videos about how advertising is losing
favor in the startup world:"

I know it's popular to go with the 'hype', but often it's better to go against
it. There's more money to be made than ever from online advertising.

~~~
RobbieStats
> Let's agree to disagree instead :) I do, lots of people do. > They wouldn't
> click if they didn't find them useful. If > they don't click, you're doing
> it wrong.

You are saying people like seeing ads?? They click on them because they are in
front them, not because they necessarily like seeing them. Fundamentally, I
believe ads hurt the overall user experience. You are saying it helps? Or
keeps it on par with a non-ad experience? Guess we would have to disagree with
that.

> This is also not a "truth". It completely depends on > your sector/niche,
> and how you arrange the ads. I run a > freestuff/competition site that made
> 4 figures a month > from advertising and doesn't even register on >
> alexa/quantcast/compete. It's traffic is tiny - but it's > the monetizable
> type of traffic.

You actually just agreed with my point, but I think we differ on scale. I'm
looking for more than 4 figures / month and not willing to put ads all over
the site to get "just" that.

~~~
axod
Yes, I like seeing relevant useful information, which ads are when presented
correctly.

>> "They click on them because they are in front them, not because they
necessarily like seeing them."

You really credit your users with that much intelligence eh? That given a
link, they'll click it?

This is _not_ the formula:

* Create something * slap on adsense * profit!

It's about seeing where advertising may be useful for the user. For example,
say you had a 'betting odds' page showing some stats on what odds are
available, it'd make obvious sense to have some sponsored links to betting
sites if the user wants to place a bet. That is a net win for the user, you,
and the betting site - look at expedia etc. Advertising done right is useful
for all parties. Done wrong, it's useless for all parties.

4 figures a month from negligible traffic was my point. Larger sites are
obviously making a lot more. Scaling with advertising is easy enough if you
can grow the traffic.

I'm not arguing with your reasons, I'm just saying to others, don't believe
_every_ startups experience of advertising is the same.

~~~
boundlessdreamz
Offtopic, But I would like to know your views about monetizing a site oriented
towards tech crowd. Many such sites find monetizing difficult because
apparently the more tech savy you are the less you click on ads.

