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The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

  • No ad networks!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • Bertfish

    Throw bread on me
    Mar 13, 2013
    17,608
    White Marsh, MD
    Ads running on this site this big is inevitable. I am personally very impressed that it has been online so long, and able to not have ads.

    Don't get me wrong., I hate the idea of ads on this site. I would vote against them at all cost. Folks should be proud that this site has been member / IP supported for so long.

    Problem is that member donations come and go. I have also seen IP's come and go. I don't personally know the dollar figures, but I imagine the IP program is not enough by itself to support all of the expenses associated with this site.

    Ads provide a steady income the site owner(s) can count on. They provide financial stability for the site, rather than having to have a financial "call to arms" every 6-12 months.

    I would personally prefer a membership fee with extended benefits / privileges, rather than ads.

    Suggestions:

    1. Listing classified ads is for paying members only.

    2. Certain sub - forums (water cooler?) for paying members only. This would also be good for sensitive stuff we talk about.

    3. Special title / avatar / icon distinguishing folks as a subscription member.

    More to follow gotta think about it.

    My objections:

    At least for me as soon as a caste system is created I'm out. We're all part of the same community and are equals. The IPs paying for the ability to advertise on the site is a different story. All of us non-IPs aren't here to socialize AND make money as the IPs are.

    A paying membership to gain access to the water coolers wouldn't serve as a way to keep conversations private. Think Spinny Vinny wouldn't drop $50 to know all we say and think? I know that isn't the primary purpose of the paying membership but I don't see it as even a side-effect benefit of having them.

    Don't get me wrong, I understand the purpose of ads. I understand that the site needs money to stay online. I wouldn't be particularly bothered by static ads placed on the site. I would be bothered by the giant flashy ads which I see on some of the diesel truck sites I frequent; they get annoying and really do drag the computer to a halt.
     

    Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,856
    People.....pay attention. No one who is a current member is going to see any ads other than those that will appear on the homepage where there is already a sidebar that is running ads on a very limited basis.

    We're not going to a tiered membership system. Thats not happening so just put it aside.

    Static ads on the homepage are hardly any competition for IP'S who have unlimited access to the membership through their own forums. Those IP'S who have successfully used this platform to advance their businesses will continue to do so.

    And remember.....for the vast number of users, you will never see any ads unless you are hanging out on the homepage
     

    clandestine

    AR-15 Savant
    Oct 13, 2008
    37,031
    Elkton, MD
    People.....pay attention. No one who is a current member is going to see any ads other than those that will appear on the homepage where there is already a sidebar that is running ads on a very limited basis.

    We're not going to a tiered membership system. Thats not happening so just put it aside.

    Static ads on the homepage are hardly any competition for IP'S who have unlimited access to the membership through their own forums. Those IP'S who have successfully used this platform to advance their businesses will continue to do so.

    And remember.....for the vast number of users, you will never see any ads unless you are hanging out on the homepage

    But Norton, I want to shake my fist!

    :D
     

    Hawkeye

    The Leatherstocking
    Jan 29, 2009
    3,971
    I just left my position administering what was at one time the largest forum community in the world. When I left, we had just short of 900,000 members. We were on vBul as well, and we had many, many, many discussions about advertising.

    We had a similar scheme to here, with specific advertisers paying to post commercially on the forums. We also ran a banner ad at the top of each page and one at the bottom of each page. The banners pulled in most of the money to pay for hosting and bandwidth, and the paid advertisers paid our staffing costs.

    Our absolute golden rule was no ads in the area of the page that contained the posts. We did end up turning on in-thread ads for non-registered readers, (a banner in the first post and viglink link inserts in the text) but members never saw them. We had to eventually go away from Google's network because they wanted to censor our forum to their rules in order to run their ads.

    I think that ads can be done on a forum just fine, if they're done right. Nothing will make me stop using a forum faster than in-thread ads of any kind - banners, inserted links, any of it. If you keep the ads out of the main content area of the forum, keep the layout clean and easy to read, it'll go a long way toward keeping users around.

    The important thing in my decision was this sites history and the support it received from so many members. Also not plastering tons of ads all over the site from various ad networks like many places do. So in order to keep things as they were as much as possible, the decision I think best to try is to not show ads to current members.

    I do want to try local ads, something the size of what’s seen in the sidebar on the homepage already, like 150x150. That would be the only ads shown to members.

    And it sounds like that's exactly what you're doing, so I'm fine with it.

    just dont sell to verticlescope.....................

    Yeah, this.

    But don't worry. Our new ownership is NOT VerticalScope.

    People.....pay attention. No one who is a current member is going to see any ads other than those that will appear on the homepage where there is already a sidebar that is running ads on a very limited basis.

    We're not going to a tiered membership system. Thats not happening so just put it aside.

    Static ads on the homepage are hardly any competition for IP'S who have unlimited access to the membership through their own forums. Those IP'S who have successfully used this platform to advance their businesses will continue to do so.

    And remember.....for the vast number of users, you will never see any ads unless you are hanging out on the homepage

    This.
     

    texkev

    Administrator
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    Jan 19, 2016
    804
    North Texas
    hey all, again thanks for the feedback. It helps getting me to think about things more. I am going to run some numbers. Ponder how i think this will work and go from there. I have some ideas, had a good chat with a member or 2. No promises just let me concentrate on the numbers and see what happens :) Some of the recent above feedback was great as well. This is a great place, large and steady. So let me see what I can do....
     

    ironpony

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2013
    7,192
    Davidsonville
    If it means anything: everything said sounds fine with me, I have donated a couple times.

    Google - MDS posts show up high in the searches and I see that as good so maybe appeal to them as they wish.
    IP's - Good point was brought up, these are business' directly related to what the forum is so maybe a Non-Industry but P section.
    Big Box Store - have a MDS coupon code requirement?? like Sootch?
    Local ads - I for one would like to know of local business' that would advertise on gun forum, pro 2A.
    Executive Water Cooler - Higher post count/more stringent . Just a thought.

    Whatever it takes to keep the site out of the hands of the corporations that would not ask for opinions (like this thread) as to ads.
    Keep up the good work!
     

    Alea Jacta Est

    Extinguished member
    MDS Supporter
    Sooner or later

    Welcome to the Information Age and capitalism.

    Any site with the activity ours has was bound to draw attention sooner or later.

    We love it for what it is. Most of us love it for how it is.

    Change sucks... At least that's how I feel as I age. Mostly, that's based on my own shortcomings of memory and skill.

    I'm pragmatic though. At least that's what I have been and hope to continue to be.

    It costs money to run this thing. I've certainly donated before when the call went out. I get that donations are not a reliable income source in a business model. I get that volunteers can only do so much (thanks mods for all you do---->I mean it this time:lol:). I absolutely get that our IPs are in business and that many are small businesses with little margin. We should protect them at almost any cost IMO. I'd pay for a subscription if it came to it.

    Modest, low key ads are not wholly objectionable. I wonder if the nature of the ad and its effect on our various screens/interfaces is known or considered... I'm not a techie but I can tell you that my IPad is my main interface and I get the net via microwave so any content that isn't easy to load, kills my ability to interface and or enjoy. That's just me and tHats my problem not anyone else's. But I cannot help but wonder if some data involving community members/users and their preferred platforms might not help inform the decision regarding what and how to implement ads of any sort. That's just my mental process...I'm an old guy.

    In the end, they're gonna do what they think is best. The fact that they're at least asking for and valuing input is a good thing. While I'm a member, I'm not really a customer or even a guest since I don't pay (more than once...but it was three figures...).

    Sometimes, change is for the good. I do know that I'm just along for the ride as a non paying member and not a customer.

    Thanks for asking. Thanks for listening. Y'all do what you need to do.

    If I don't like it or can't get used to it or it's too hard relative to the enjoyment I derive...I'll just move along. That'd be because sh1t happens and how you deal with it is a measure of your character. I'll just find a(nother) damn twelve step program to get over this addiction.:lol2::lol2::sad20:

    PS. Selling my personal information would be VERY BAD AND COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE FWIMBW.
     
    Last edited:

    Tomcat

    Formerly Known As HITWTOM
    May 7, 2012
    5,568
    St.Mary's County
    I kind of like Ironpony's idea of Non Industry Partners. Bars/resturants, florists, barber shops, hardware stores, butchers..... I'm sure others can make suggestions. That being said I don't know what kind of prices IP's are paying and how much is involved setting things up.
     

    texkev

    Administrator
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    Jan 19, 2016
    804
    North Texas
    Ads to guests up for now. thinking through it, with my already minimalist approach I now need to see if I can take this more local which is totally possible. The only way to see how this will all go is to test it. No sidebar up for guests yet, working that all out and how sponsored ads will work. Some sites do really well with sponsored only ads. Let me now decide how the sponsored stuff will work then go from there. FYI. Will post updates here.
     

    Threeband

    The M1 Does My Talking
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 30, 2006
    25,234
    Carroll County
    So what is this sidebar column that suddenly infected my MDS display 5 minutes ago?

    Is that how you intend to harass me with advertisements?


    I for one do NOT grovel before our new spamming overlord.
     

    Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,856
    So what is this sidebar column that suddenly infected my MDS display 5 minutes ago?

    Is that how you intend to harass me with advertisements?


    I for one do NOT grovel before our new spamming overlord.

    Is this what you are talking about?

    And perhaps you could tone down the rhetoric while you're at it.
     

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    ccarson

    I'm old school
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 28, 2013
    773
    Montgomery County
    Priority #1 keep the site up and running. Do what it takes we will support the decision
    I do not think I frequent any sites that do not have some form of advertising (unless I am a paid premium member where I pay money to skip the ads)

    Love the site, need the site, thank you for the site!
     

    Sticky

    Beware of Dog
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 16, 2013
    4,501
    AA Co
    Priority #1 keep the site up and running. Do what it takes we will support the decision
    I do not think I frequent any sites that do not have some form of advertising (unless I am a paid premium member where I pay money to skip the ads)

    Love the site, need the site, thank you for the site!
    I totally agree! :beer: :mdpatriot
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    Priority #1 keep the site up and running. Do what it takes we will support the decision
    I do not think I frequent any sites that do not have some form of advertising (unless I am a paid premium member where I pay money to skip the ads)

    Love the site, need the site, thank you for the site!

    And herein ^^^ lies the big picture view.

    Thrilled or otherwise with changes, the change we thankfully haven't seen to date is a blank screen. A screen that would quickly in hindsight represent a community that's clearly never been needed more, now but a memory.

    Let's help these guys to get us most of what we want, with an eye on keeping all of what we most need.
     

    DivingDriver

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 14, 2016
    1,514
    Nanjemoy MD
    Life is life, things change and nothing is for free. I for one am appreciative of all the work that goes on to keep this site running. It's my go to every day. I don't post a lot but do read every day. I would be more than willing to donate if requested but to make it a paid membership to use the forum in my opinion would lead to a drop in members that would produce the exact result that we are trying to avoid.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     

    Norton

    NRA Endowment Member, Rifleman
    Staff member
    Admin
    Moderator
    May 22, 2005
    122,856
    Life is life, things change and nothing is for free. I for one am appreciative of all the work that goes on to keep this site running. It's my go to every day. I don't post a lot but do read every day. I would be more than willing to donate if requested but to make it a paid membership to use the forum in my opinion would lead to a drop in members that would produce the exact result that we are trying to avoid.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

    There is no move for a paid membership. I don't know where people are getting that.

    Further, anyone who has an account should not be seeing any new ads at all.

    Even switching to my other browser and being logged out, I don't see anything.

    I can go to the wife's computer that has never had me logged into the site and if I open it up as a totally unregistered members, I can see a banner at the top of the page. There's nothing in the content of the forums that i can see.

    This is about as low an intervention as is humanly possible for registered users.
     

    DivingDriver

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 14, 2016
    1,514
    Nanjemoy MD
    Well as you can tell I'm on tapatalk and I'm not seeing any ads here either. However all I was trying to put forth is that we all know it costs to run this site and if there is a need to run some ads that wouldn't interfere with our browsing through the site ie: the screaming pop ups that say tap here, I for one would have no problem.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     

    ironpony

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2013
    7,192
    Davidsonville
    I just saw the ad bar, small on top and unobtrusive, I actually watched the cabelas cooler fill up with sodas a couple times. iPad - not signed in. Keep up the good work.
     

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