Does anyone make money out of me?

[flecc]

I'm honestly blind to adverts! After almost 16,000 posts that I've made into this forum since it first opened I couldn't say offhand what adverts are in it, or even reliably where they are, I just don't see them. The advertising packages link that Caph mentions is news to me, I didn't even know one existed.

It's often the same with journals like newspapers, the ads don't exist when I read the editorial matter since I'm unaware of there being any. It's probably the effect of well over 74 years of exposure that's immunised me.

There's a comparison here with an eye condition of age called a "drifter". I have one of these, a black spot in the eye fluid that appeared in the peripheral vision and was annoying at first. An optician said don't worry, your brain will cancel it out after a while and you'll no longer be aware of it, and he was right, I have to make a large concious effort to be able to see it. It's there all the time ok, just not seen. Long exposure has probably produced a similar effect for me with most routine adverts, it takes something extraordinary like a pop-up (which I have blanked anyway) for me to be aware of one online.

As for TV, anything I want to see on commercial channels is recorded on one of two HDD recorders and viewed at another time with ads skipped.
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[tillson]

You may think that you don't see adverts, but are you a victim of subliminal advertising? Do you arrive home after a shopping trip wondering how all of those useless gadgets that you don't need ended up in your bag?

 

[rogerl]

Is there a lot of money made from this?

I'm just asking because this website is effectively just the public forums with other content being negligible, so basically the website is the sum total of the time and effort of us regular frequenters. I'm not sure I like the idea of someone making money off the back of us especially since the cost of a website like this is a couple of quid month and setup is literally a single click with most providers these days.

Maybe I'm just too socialist at heart but when I see all the community effort going on here it doesn't sit too well in my stomach to think of someone leaching off all this community spirit. I'd always thought of this place as by ebikers for ebikers.

I run some totally unrelated forums and I can assure you that nobody will be getting rich from running this forum (unless they have discovered some magical forumula that I haven't).

To run an active website on a decent and reliable server costs a lot more than a couple of quid a month (You soon get thrown off the cheaper "unlimited" packages as soon as things get busy) and then there is the licensing cost of the forum software (Check out Purchase vBulletin, the most powerful forum software available. - its not free). There is also considerably more work involved in running a successful forum like this than most people realise.

Personally, I think you should be thankful that someone has set up such an excellent resource that you can use for no charge. If they actually do make some pocket money from it, I certainly won't lose any sleep.

If it really upsets you and you think it is so easy, set up your own forum, advert free. Nothing is stopping you.

You may think that you don't see adverts, but are you a victim of subliminal advertising? Do you arrive home after a shopping trip wondering how all of those useless gadgets that you don't need ended up in your bag?

You may have a point!

 

[flecc]

You may think that you don't see adverts, but are you a victim of subliminal advertising? Do you arrive home after a shopping trip wondering how all of those useless gadgets that you don't need ended up in your bag?

I anticipated someone posting this!

The answer is no, subliminal advertsing is a grossly overrated concept which no trial has ever conclusively proved is effective, hence it rarely ever being tried.

I'm certainly not an owner or user of almost all of the products I've just checked out that are advertised in this site, the one name product I do own I've heavily criticised and subsequently modified to such the extent that it no longer qualifies as anything like the original.

I don't take any national or paid for local newspaper and only briefly scan the editorial of the local freesheets, ignoring all the many advertising pages.

And as already said, I record any wanted commercial TV programs and skip ads, so can't even see them subliminally.

Of course I am aware of some of the most heavily and widely promoted mainstream items that appear in supermarkets and multiple stores, such ads are impossible to avoid altogether, so I have a policy of avoiding buying those since I don't want to support their advertising budgets.

Where I'm concerned advertising budgets are therefore a waste of company expenditure, and the content of my home bears witness to that.
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[timidtom]

It's often the same with journals like newspapers, the ads don't exist when I read the editorial matter since I'm unaware of there being any. It's probably the effect of well over 74 years of exposure that's immunised me.

Trust me, it's one of the added advantages of being 74!
Tom

 

[Scimitar]

You may think that you don't see adverts, but are you a victim of subliminal advertising? Do you arrive home after a shopping trip wondering how all of those useless gadgets that you don't need ended up in your bag?

That IS my shopping trip...

 

[Caph]

I wasn't really making any big point. I don't really notice the ads myself. It was just when I saw the advertising packages link it got me thinking.

I'm by no means a regular poster but I know some are and they post a wealth of information. I didn't like the thought that someone might be making a load of money off the back of these people. I frequent other forums and the same thought has never crossed my mind about them. I guess it must be because I feel this forum is more of a community than most other forums. Now I think about it, it does seem odd that I'd even thought about it in the first place.

From the posts though I can see I was probably jumping to the wrong conclusion. If Russ is covering costs then that's fine by me.

 

[lessped]

Absolutely right, for eZee Torq owner Russell Scott, setting up this site was a labour of love which he had to finance from his own pocket for a long time. He couldn't even begin to live off it, depending on other employment and websites for that.

We are just the fortunate beneficiaries of his efforts, and of those of Richard who helps with the administration, so grateful thanks Russ and Richard.
.

here here..!

 

[allen-uk]

Quite so.

vBulletin (the company which sell these forums) make their money in two ways: either

1) by advertising revenue, which is largely all theirs (i.e. the person(s) running the site get virtually none of it, or

2) by a monthly fee from the person running the site, with no advertising.

When you set up a site like this you have a choice. Pay for it, or let the ads subsidise it.

I'm just happy that Russ and Richard put the hours in to set up this site, from which they will never get any substantial financial rewards.

Allen.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Caph

Knowing what we contribute to the site every month and multiplying that by the number of advertisements here I can absolutely assure you that no one is making any money!

Much like the whole electric bike industry!! (Not complaining, I love every minute!!! )

All the best

David