Apolyton Revenue

[PLATO]

Well after seeing some of the venomous comments and Mark's comments on ad blockers I thought I would throw this out to see if we can get some kind of definitive answer on this situation.

1.) Will ad blocking result in your account being suspended?

2.) Will Apolyton provide instructions on how to allow ads from this site while still blocking ads from other sites? (i.e. browser settings.)

3.) Will the administration offer a fee based ad free membership? And if so, when will it be available?

4.) Could a system be put in place to track members contributions from other revenue sources (i.e. Apolyton store, links from Apolyton to other sites, etc...) that would enable us to maintain ad blocking?

These are just a few questions that come to mind and seem to be the general questions that the myraid of threads and posts seem to be leading to. I'm sure other questions will come to light in this thread, but I would really appreciate it if an admin could address these issues.

Thanks!

[Venom]

I was just trying to offer a helpful suggestion on how the whores can make themselves richer and take of the evil posters, and they lock my thread. That's the last thing I ever try and do for them.

[alva]

2.) Will Apolyton provide instructions on how to allow ads from this site while still blocking ads from other sites? (i.e. browser settings.)

-

[MarkG]

Re: Apolyton Revenue

Originally posted by PLATO
1.) Will ad blocking result in your account being suspended?

no way am i spending my time chasing people with ad blockers. i'm just saying that it is possible to build a system where ad blocking would automatically lead to some form of inability to use part or whole of the site

2.) Will Apolyton provide instructions on how to allow ads from this site while still blocking ads from other sites? (i.e. browser settings.)

that is an interesting idea, although i believe it's more or less quite easy for anyone to understand how to do it, if he knows how to install an ad blocker in the first place

3.) Will the administration offer a fee based ad free membership? And if so, when will it be available?

no comment

4.) Could a system be put in place to track members contributions from other revenue sources (i.e. Apolyton store, links from Apolyton to other sites, etc...) that would enable us to maintain ad blocking?

possible, but it would of course make more sense if there was an anti-ad-blocking system. without it, the issue would remain on an ethical base...

thanks for the support and the ideas, Dan and i are doing our best in the ammount of time that we currently have to keep the site both free and as enjoyable as it can be.

[Alex]

no comment on the fee based membership? oh my...

[PLATO]

no way am i spending my time chasing people with ad blockers. i'm just saying that it is possible to build a system where ad blocking would automatically lead to some form of inability to use part or whole of the site

Good to know that. I would imagine that the breakeven point on devising such a system would make it a measure of last resort.

that is an interesting idea, although i believe it's more or less quite easy for anyone to understand how to do it, if he knows how to install an ad blocker in the first place

Mine just has a button to turn it on or off. Maybe someone with some technical expertise could give us some instruction here. (The system I use is Norton in case anybody cares )

no comment

Aww! C'mon. Dan had alludded to such a thing several months ago when the idea of donating to Apolyton was being discussed. IIRC, his criteria was that some service needed to be performed in order to get revenue for tax reasons. This seems like a reasonable idea to offer this type membership. The only draw back I can see is that it could hurt your negotiating power with potential advertisers, but this may not be a problem due to the current use of ad blockers.

thanks for the support and the ideas, Dan and i are doing our best in the ammount of time that we currently have to keep the site both free and as enjoyable as it can be.

Thanks to you and Dan for providing the number one site on the internet! Your efforts are appreciated and enjoyed!!

[DrSpike]

Re: Re: Apolyton Revenue

Originally posted by MarkG

3.) Will the administration offer a fee based ad free membership? And if so, when will it be available?

no comment

When it is no longer true that you have such limited time for 'Poly would such an option be considered?

[Jamski]

i'm just saying that it is possible to build a system where ad blocking would automatically lead to some form of inability to use part or whole of the site

This already kinda exists. Try using any of the links with ad-blocking....

-Jam

[Gatekeeper]

I don't and wouldn't block ads, but neither am I keen towards a pay-based site.

[Skanky Burns]

If there is a choice (pay for ad-free or accept ads as you do now) then I don't see any problem.

if he knows how to install an ad blocker in the first place

Most browsers have this enabled by default, so even the most technically challenged would be blocking ads regardless of their desire to do so or not.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
If there is a choice (pay for ad-free or accept ads as you do now) then I don't see any problem.

Amen..........'cept it could be a pig to set up, and Mark doesn't have time now. Hopefully he will soon though!

[Agathon]

A fee based membership would be problematic if people were getting banned at the current rate and the current policy of "this is a dictatorship" remained.

If Poly does include optional pay membership, I'd make the mild suggestion of massively updating the FAQ on what is allowed and not allowed, since if people are paying they are going to get plenty mad at being banned for something they didn't know about.

Moreover, if someone pays, do they obtain membership rights? Commonly, when one pays to belong to a club or similar organization a person gains a collection of rights concerning what the owners or bosses of the club can do to them.

If Poly wants help at formulating such policies I'll help for free and I'm sure there are other posters who have experience in law, ethics and policy writing who would do the same.

[Agathon]

BTW spammers, don't spam up this thread as I think there are serious issues to be argued here.

[Ben Kenobi]

One suggestion has been put forth, anonymous donations to the site, which would circumvent many of the ethical concerns.

The problem is how to implement such a system, so that the donations are truly anonymous.

[Agathon]

You can already make donations to Poly if you wish, with reasonable hope of anonymity - you can send Markos or Dan a cheque. I doubt that they would automatically be biased towards posters who gave them twenty bucks.

Presumably you could use something like PayPal if you really wanted anonymous donations.

However, if money is sought in exchange for certain privileges, then certain legal and ethical obligations accrue to those who charge the fee.

Moreover, there is the problem of creating a two tier system. Many people who post on Apolyton are students, youths or other people with limited means. If it turned out that people who paid were given favourable treatment with respect to bans and other such things, then I think it would create great resentment and do the community no service. So if a paid membership system is instituted, not only do the members gain certain rights (however minimal), but other users ought also to receive at least the right not to be discriminated against because they haven't paid. There is no legal obligation to do that, but it would be wise policy.