As those of you who have been coming to the Cove for a while know, from when the site went live in January of 1996, until 22 December 2003 - almost 8 years - there was no advertising on the site. For about the first 6 years everything here was free.

Over the years a lot has changed. More recently it has taken a lot more of my time to keep the site up and running. I have been through several servers, a major software upgrade and other events.

With some regret, I have decided to take 'non-irritating' advertising. No bells, no blinking or distracting ads, but none the less they do take space. I had hoped to better cover costs by taking Contributions in exchange for access to download attachments in threads, but so far only 124 people have helped out in this respect. So.....

I started this thread to advise folks of the change, although I'm sure it comes as no surprise as I have already inserted several ads.

Feel free to discuss in this thread, but be nice. Eight years without advertising is a long time in internet time.

If you, or your company, are interested in 'tastefully' advertising here, see http://elsmar.com/advertising.html

I think it's cool. Stuck over on the side it doesn't bother you and it doesn't distract either.

Press on Marc.

Press on Marc.
I agree. Besides, considering all the energy and money you devote to this site, I don't think anybody could possibly blaim you for letting some discreet ads in.
:thanx:

As always, thank you for your effort.

/Claes

Very tastefully done, not intrusive, nor offensive. :cool:

Thanks for this wonderful resource, and please do whatever you feel is necessary to keep in going. :bigwave:

I agree, they are very tasteful. Thanks for all of your efforts to keep this site going. It is a great resource.

I don't mind it at all, Marc. I go to a few different type boards, and they all have advertising of some type. The way you've set it up is one of the best I've seen. Thanks for not doing pop-ups.

On another note, how are contributors notified when their year of access is up?

Joe

No problemo here. I'm thankful they aren't pop-ups -- I hate those things.

I take it you have fallen short of your 1 Million contributors at $25 each. Actually, I'm surprised at the relevance of the Google ads. And as others pointed out, the ads are not distracting, nor distasteful.

I take it you have fallen short of your 1 Million contributors at $25 each.
I think you first mentioned 1 million, didn't you? But yes - a bit short...

As an FYI, my estimate is the current ads will bring in between US$100 and US$500 a month. Not a great deal, but every bit helps.

I don't mind it at all, Marc. I go to a few different type boards, and they all have advertising of some type. The way you've set it up is one of the best I've seen. Thanks for not doing pop-ups.

On another note, how are contributors notified when their year of access is up?
No folks, no popups or flashing gifs and I have no intention of going that way. I hate them myself.

There is supposed to be an e-mail sent when Contributor Access is expiring, but it'll be a few months before that starts happening. I haven't looked at that yet - I'm not sure this version even has it. I think it's set for the RC1 release.

Marc,
Thanks for no popups. Usually I have a pop-up stopper active but Elsmar navigation makes it impractical. I am surprised that you have only 124 contributors.

Listen everybody: The access to download attachments is well worth the price!

Finally, I use Amazon.com all the time. I'll make sure to come through the Cove on the way!

Looks great Marc - I didn't even see them until I looked for them. Even content oriented - NICE!!! :bigwave: