Hey Robert,
Very interesting thread indeed... thanks for posting this. I am certain it will prompt some further excellent debate which I am equally as certain will be just as interesting... I look forward to everyone's posts here.
brasscrest said:
It's an attempt by a big company to tell web designers and those of us who run free sites that we can't support ourselves by posting advertising.
I agree. Profesisonal software
should not block these supporting banners by default, it should however, point out easily to the user how banners and pop-ups can be stopped if they choose to do so.
brasscrest said:
How long would tMP be able to stay up without having sponsorship?
Now this is an interesting one...
When I set up tMP just about 18 months ago, I had no idea we would be visited so frequently, nor did I have any idea that we would become so well supported by our brilliant tMP'ers. As such, I have had to continually upgrade the server and webhosting packages I subscribe to in order to maintain and support the rapid growth in members, posts and threads.
There are also many '
hidden' costs associated with running tMP (
as anyone who runs a fairly large www site will testify) and many people on here will already know that I also take the running of tMP very,
very seriously. Most people know I insist on tMP remaining a '
family friendly' www site, and we will not tolerate inappropriate behaviour or posts etc. Period. This will not change, ever.
This, together with such wide coverage brings much responsibility. Responsibility that as I said earlier, I take very seriously.
- • Responsibility of managing fair play to all our members
• Responsibility to the parents of younger members, such that they can be happy allowing their children to peruse tMP safe in the knowledge that profanities or inappropriate material will simply not be seen
• Responsibility for tMP integrity
• Responsibility of ensuring full representation to all
I pay for expensive legal representation when required, thus ensuring continuance of all the above, and we occasionally see posts and threads etc that we need to deal with professionally with the help and advice of legal experts. There are more hidden costs also, but there's no need to go into these here... suffice to say all these costs come out of my own pocket.
If sponsorship ceased, or ad-blocker software limited my ability to display adverts from supporting sponsors, then I would have to look long and hard at the future direction of tMP. I am not saying there would be
no tMP, but I would need to convince and justify to my wife that tMP should continue to be paid for out of our account. Very often this is overlooked.
As Jen will tell anyone, apart from my kids, my passion is undoubtedly tMP... I love it and am very, very proud of it. I am not looking for a medal, but I do work long and hard ensuring tMP continues to grow and develop in line with what our members want from a brass discussion forum. We have a great team of Mods without whom, we simply couldn't continue. There are also many exciting developments coming along in the next few weeks... all this costs money.
I am absolutely
not about to make tMP a subscription only service – good God no - everything that is currently available free on tMP, will continue to be free –
forever. However, I will soon be introducing a more up-front version of what is currently available on tMP i.e. where members can donate and support tMP if they want to and if feel the site is useful to them. More on this in coming weeks.
It is all about providing and offering a service that people feel is professionally managed, well run, and offers them functionality and services they want, and indeed do, use.
So... this was a long answer to your comment. In summary.
tMP is here to stay... I just look to the members for pragmatic support if they feel what we offer here is what they enjoy using.
brasscrest said:
I wonder if the Norton blocker blocks their own ads that they buy on other sites?
I’d place a lot of money on a bet that it doesn’t…!
brasscrest said:
Ad blockers are actually a really bad idea - they are eventually going to lead to a pay-per-view model for the Internet, where each page you view has a cost attached. I have no problem with blocking pop-ups, which can be annoying, but banner and button ads are often essential to both the financial health and the design of free websites.
Totally agree with you here.
Incidentally... many thanks to you for your continued support for tMP... :tup