Maybe the banner should be an ad for the books and tshirts, with credit for the sale being given to the message board.
Lemme kick this over to the Reader advertising guys, see what they have to say on the matter, if anything.
your humble TubaDiva
handy
November 2, 2001, 4:40pm
23
hrillennium, sure great idea.
Have you ever clicked on the banner on the top of the page, the big one? For some reason it links to the message board, not, as logic might assume, to the straight dope homepage.
Co-op
November 10, 2001, 11:14pm
24
*Originally posted by THespos *
Lynn , although Internet advertising isn’t the cash cow it once was, there are still plenty of ways to monetize the traffic here. I wouldn’t recommend joining a results-oriented network (pays on clicks or on specific actions as the result of clicking on a banner), but there are several ad networks that have been able to generate significant revenue for newspaper websites.
Two such companies just merged - Poweradz and AdOne. AdOne built their network on classified ads. Poweradz represents a huge collection of small newspapers. You should look into whatever comes out of this particular merger and see if they would be interested in repping the Straight Dope site.
You might also want to check in with the major ad networks - DoubleClick, 24/7 Media, Real Media and L90. They might be able to help as well. Their typical cut is between 40 and 50 percent, but you really don’t have to do much once you sign up with them - just install some ad tags and let them do the rest. I had a site that was a 24/7 affiliate, and they did a pretty good job of not only sending network ads my way, but selling sponsorships that would bring in some nice beer money.
I don’t see why a site that has as much traffic as the SDMB wouldn’t be able to pull in an extra $5K to $10K per month by going with one of these rep firms. That would at least cover bandwidth costs and maybe it would allow Unca Cecil or whoever is running things over there to give the mods and admins something more than a coffee mug.
E-mail me if I can be of assistance. I’ve brokered quite a few deals with ad networks, and I’d assist you for free, considering the amount of time I’ve spent amusing myself here. **
I think this is the perfect answer. Whether you can get this odd board to *accept *your help is another matter. But I applaud you for trying!