It seems more clickable than "YOU WON YOU WON YOU WON"... If people even click those I don't doubt it'll assrape their computer. Plus they're more lightweight. Is there a reason custo doesn't use them?
it's probly true. the particular ad server custo uses has some really raunchy ads tho - one specifically has two girls making out girls-gone-wild style. sucks that the site has to be marred by stuff like that, though that one probably does actually get some clicks.
DoorinD - when is the last time you saw that ad? It should've been gone weeks ago so if you are still seeing it there is a problem.
We've been working hard to get rid of distasteful ads, and actually only allow about 25% of ads through. Since I am in Canada though, I see a lot of different ads than you guys and in fact get Google Ads a lot of the time. So asuraci, to answer your question, we do use Google Ads, but how much you see them depends on your country.
If you do see an offensive ad, please give me a message or email. The more information you can provide the easier it will be for me to get rid of it (a screenshot + the URL location / generated source is ideal).
lamp - i saw that add about 6 hours ago (when i was at work without ad blockers), and i actually see a lot of ads for finding single girls that are geo-specific....
We use Google ads at WC and we may not stick with them in the future or at least we may reduce using them. The problem is that their CPM tends to be pretty terrible (I mean pathetically terrible). Even with decent click-thru rates, the CPM level is typically well less than 50 cents.
Just curious, how much do you guys typically get from ads per month?
Also, would a donation system be something you guys could implement? I'm sure there are plenty of people out there willing to donate a few bucks here and there if it meant the removal of some of the more obvious ads.
Maybe you could create something similar to what they have over at DA, with the subscriber thingy. Doesn't have to give any extra features to those who pay, but atleast let them get rid of the ads for a few $/month?
puer and jzatt - A subscriber feature is definitely something we are planning to do down the road so it is good to hear your interest :)
uac - Half the point of subscribing would be to get rid of ads, the other half would be to support Customize.org. This site, like any other (actually, more so.. Custo is very server intensive), does need revenue to survive, so I hope you will reconsider once we do have a subscriber feature.
lamp: Well, the problem with these ads is that most people are trained not to click them. By that, I mean the ones that say "CLICK HERE TO REDEEM YOUR $100000" and for some reason have an XP download dialog in them. Some are much more low-key, such as Verizon's, which are all I've really seen at school.
On the other end, there are Google ads, which most people know and trust enough to actually click them. Plus, they can blend into the site much more. Many big sites seem to use them, such as deviantART and Digg, to name a couple. I don't see why Custo has to be the only one with the more "ugly" advertisements.
asuraci: We do run google ads here in rotation with the image ones (if you don't see them, it's because the image ads are prioritised), but we couldn't get by with running those alone.
I actually don't think the ads we have now are that bad, they just seem like any other site to me with a few "ugly" ones thrown in. But I think the thing to remember is that once we're more established we'll be able to pick and choose the ads a lot more, and we'll also be less likely to be given those sort of ads in the first place.
suscriptions sounds fine to me, but i just hope that it doesnt go like in DA with lots of features for just members. I like how it is now: everybody has the same rights & privileges
perhaps a T-shirt for the suscribers who pay for a year could help.
ego - I agree with you... I like everyone having the same functionality. A t-shirt is a neat idea. I was also thinking subscribers could get access to certain features first (kinda like the beta testers seeing EVO first).
