mALX Posted February 14, 2015 Author Posted February 14, 2015 Avast works very well. I get no ads on this site on my laptop using it. Hmm, I had Avast before the laptop crash too, so maybe it was that Avast blocking the ads and not the Google toolbar? I don't know, only that I've never seen the ads until the last few times I've been on here. The chronological order of events: I had Avast and the Google toolbar. Never saw any ads coming to this site, never knew you had ads. Then last month I got a computer virus that overtook my registry, which crashed the laptop, which is why I ended up going with Trend Micro and their toolbar instead of what I had been using. Then Trend Micro blocked me from this site because of the images; which I had never seen before now. I removed the block and saw these ads for the first time. I don't know how much money we are talking about here, as far as the cost of making the site independent of these style ads, but if there are alternatives to them, can we open up that dialogue? And is there an amount willing members might join together and pay to bring us to the point that we don't need these ads for revenue? @ Pinky6225 - we already do have to sign on a membership to download and try mods; the site does not allow downloads except to members. I do agree that asking for a paid membership may scare off prospective downloaders; but I think having an option to donate to this site with payment options set up and handy on every download page and registration sign in may perk some response; especially if a person finds here what one person wrote earlier in this discussion - a haven where they can openly discuss and explore. People may be more than willing to donate a reasonable amount to keep this haven active without the need to make an enforced fee. That is the sense I have gotten from this community from the minute I spoke, that the members here can and will draw together to ensure this haven stays afloat. I'll admit I don't know how it works or how much it costs; but I do know a tight knit community when I see one, and this site is most definitely a tight knit community. So I'm asking if there is anything we can do collectively to keep this site a haven for these creative adult artists without allowing this site to be clumped with the dregs on the internet, surely we can't want that for this site, for these genius modders, or for ourselves. Truthfully, I don't like my name being displayed on a page with those ads. Everyone who ever Googles my profile name will find me here, and until I saw those ads I was proud of being a part of this community, even if it was just to download the mods your geniuses have produced. After my mother became ill in 2012 she spent the last year of her life on the computer; and she liked to look up my name and see what sites I was on, read whatever I posted, etc. She died in 2013 - were these ads on there then? It makes me wonder what my mother must have thought of me if she saw that! Do you see/understand where I'm coming from on this? I have never known till now that these ads existed; but for years my name may have been associated with them. I have been a member of the Chorrol site for half a decade, and even requested the administration there to be allowed to have paid memberships to contribute and defray the cost; they have refused to allow paid memberships so far there, have nothing set up for donations to that site, and yet they do not have any ads. I would love to know how they are able to do that; what the difference is. I would love it if we could be independent of this type of advertising here.
gregathit Posted February 14, 2015 Posted February 14, 2015 Bandwidth usage, file server size, hosting backups and on and on are more than likely the difference between the costs to maintain the two sites.
wulfgear09 Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I am kinda taking offense to the fact you simply just do not understand what a treasure we have here, complete freedom of ideas, fetishes etc... and the best you have to say is i don't like the adds ,or have any idea what an add blocker is ... If you don't like what you see it can be turned off ,with a simple click . Or you try maintaining a server for 300k people and soon you will see glancing at some chick giving a blow job aint so bad. would be interested to see your load order I have a great appreciation for this site, for the modders on here - just don't appreciate the ads. Where is this ad blocker simple click? I've checked over my settings, there isn't one. Any advice would be helpful. you clicked a button they came on ...maybe another one will fix it . Sorry if i come across as an ass cause I am . I understand your point on not wanting them on , I didn't understand not knowing why . Good luck keeping the little ones out of Daddies dirty secrets . I know I have a hard time with mine . funny how your Trend Micro browser thing you mentioned seems to be geared at child safety features yet it lets adds with betty on the pipe pop up.
mALX Posted February 15, 2015 Author Posted February 15, 2015 I am kinda taking offense to the fact you simply just do not understand what a treasure we have here, complete freedom of ideas, fetishes etc... and the best you have to say is i don't like the adds ,or have any idea what an add blocker is ... If you don't like what you see it can be turned off ,with a simple click . Or you try maintaining a server for 300k people and soon you will see glancing at some chick giving a blow job aint so bad. would be interested to see your load order I have a great appreciation for this site, for the modders on here - just don't appreciate the ads. Where is this ad blocker simple click? I've checked over my settings, there isn't one. Any advice would be helpful. you clicked a button they came on ...maybe another one will fix it . Sorry if i come across as an ass cause I am . I understand your point on not wanting them on , I didn't understand not knowing why . Good luck keeping the little ones out of Daddies dirty secrets . I know I have a hard time with mine . funny how your Trend Micro browser thing you mentioned seems to be geared at child safety features yet it lets adds with betty on the pipe pop up. Yes, I also have children that can pop up and be standing looking over my shoulder at any given time as well. If these ads were only attached to the pages with adult mods on them, I could avoid going to those pages easily enough - but they are on the entire site, including the general (non-adult) mods. The Trend Micro blocked me from getting on the site completely, I had to remove the block to access your site. That is when I saw the images around the page, and at the time the page I was opening was in your general (non-adult) section (Eires Ohmes Raht) - and I was here to look up mods of children, another mod I would not expect to see porn advertised on. I didn't click any button to turn these ads on, they have obviously been here for some time according to your administration - I just did not know it till now due to either my Google toolbar or my Avast (not sure which, I had both and never saw ads on here till the Avast and Google toolbar were removed and I changed over to the Trend Micro for better protection of my laptop against viruses). Since I got a virus that crashed my laptop with the Avast installed, I am not returning to using it to protect my computer - it obviously did not do its job in that respect; although it or the Google toolbar did an excellent job of hiding these ads, because I never knew they existed till those programs were removed. Bandwidth usage, file server size, hosting backups and on and on are more than likely the difference between the costs to maintain the two sites. That bandwidth probably does explain it, the mods aren't directly loaded up onto that site; but downloaded off it via direct links to either the person's web page or their account on a site like Nexus. Thank you for your explanation, I have learned almost everything I know about how these things work right here in these three pages - so most def appreciate the help. Thank you.
wulfgear09 Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Thank you for your prompt response, I appreciate it - and your explanation makes sense. I think the difference is probably that previously I was using the Google toolbar which automatically blocks ads, so never saw them until after recently installing Trend Micro and changing over to their toolbar, which will not block the ads (instead it just blocks me from entering this site, so I had to turn the image block off). Thats what i meant by clicking the button . I see things in a simple form. Cheers! and all good things for you and yours!
Cynical Misanthrope Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Ohh yes! LL T-shirt naow! I would wear it proudly. True story.
Ashal Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I have absolutely zero interest in wearing a "LoversLab T-Shirt" in public, unless it's REALLY subtle. And I can't imagine such a shirt being wildly popular by any means. I also have absolutely zero idea what any sort of t-shirt would look like, but If somebody good at designing shirts wants to come up with one and send it to me, setting up a t-shirt sale is incredibly simple these days and a decent way to directly benefit both the creator and provide something worthwhile to the user.
...0... Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 This is normal forum for me zero ADS i don't even know how it looked like with ADS seriously, i don't see the problem. And im no contributer so whats problem with ads then there are NONE;) So many ways to avoid this kind of problems he he.
Cynical Misanthrope Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I also have absolutely zero idea what any sort of t-shirt would look like You disappoint me young porno-man. Titties, cock, rape and bestilality (all in one) are a given print ofc.
prideslayer Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Ashal, Ads and T-Shirts aren't the only thing you can do on the road from turning the site towards more of a business. Two things pop out at me immediately that might start bringing in some cash to offset costs at least somewhat. First is the ever-present paid access level stuff. Another forum I visit regularly has tiered membership from free up to some rather expensive options, and I've been a paying member for years. Some things you can offer to paid members. - Increases in PM mailbox size. - @LL email address (webmail/pop/imap whatever) - Access to 'members only' content. I and many others would happily move our beta releases behind a 'paywall' for example. - Throttle free members download rates, as nexus does. The second is t-shirt related, somewhat: branded swag. Register LL as a trademark if you haven't already, just for protection. You can offer tshirts (and bud, who gives a shit what YOU would wear? You don't have to sample all your own product. ) and more. It's pretty easy to setup shop @ cafepress for simpler things like shirts/hoodies/underwear and I think you can do the same with hats @ lids. But clothing is really just the tip of the iceberg. This is LL, so selling rebranded adult toys doesn't seem out of the question, made in china or wherever or even made by members -- I used to make leather bondage gear and could be convinced to do so again. USB keys, coffee mugs, mousepads. Anything you can put a few different logos & slogans on is fair game. The margins on this stuff are not high, but if you net $1 on a coffee mug, how many thousands of adviews does that equal?
prideslayer Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Oh I also wanted to say, on behalf of all of us "contributors"(*), you need to just shut your whore mouth. Sure, without us the site wouldn't really "be here" but what's that mean? You wouldn't have this thankless money sink driving you to madness and bankruptcy? Thanks, us! But seriously, if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have a place to put all this shit to begin with. Nowhere else will allow it, outside of some wretched hive of scum and villainy like hongfire. We'd all have to do what everyone else does -- setup our own private wordpress 'blog' or twitter or whatever, use one of those craptastic download sites to host the stuff, and hope to be discovered by potential users/players. So.. yeah. On balance it's still us that owe you. (*)I know it's impolite to speak on behalf of others without asking them first, but if anyone disgrees with the sentiment, they're free to take it up with me personally. I won't be kind.
BruceWayne Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I used to make leather bondage gear and could be convinced to do so again. The more you know...
prideslayer Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I used to make leather bondage gear and could be convinced to do so again. The more you know... Had a girlfriend years ago that was into that sort of thing. I was pretty into punkrock culture at the time, so I already had a bunch of spikes, d-rings, and leather working tools for working on leather jackets. I put them to use making collars, straps, cuffs, etc. for a time.
DoctaSax Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I used to make leather bondage gear and could be convinced would submit to do so again. Fixed that fer ya.
Lifty Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 - Access to 'members only' content. I and many others would happily move our beta releases behind a 'paywall' for example. - Throttle free members download rates, as nexus does. Just no.
prideslayer Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 - Access to 'members only' content. I and many others would happily move our beta releases behind a 'paywall' for example. - Throttle free members download rates, as nexus does. Just no. Care to expand on why? Is it because you deserve everything for free thanks to your own numerous contributions?
BruceWayne Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Before this gets out of hand, I'd like to chime in. I think any and all mod content should remain free. D/L speed, rate, volume is all a matter of debate, but I wouldn't be in favor of gated content either. This would potentially do way more harm, than it would do any good in terms of revenue and if we look at all the mod sites that went this way, we can see that they either don't exist anymore, or worse, are only shallow husks of their former selves. But I still like the idea of having forum specific benefits, like private members-only forums, more pms, badges, t-shirts, etc. You should want to pay because you want to be part of the community, not because it's the only way to get the newest mods. Edit: This is of course my own opinion.
Loogie Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Oh I also wanted to say, on behalf of all of us "contributors"(*), you need to just shut your whore mouth. Sure, without us the site wouldn't really "be here" but what's that mean? You wouldn't have this thankless money sink driving you to madness and bankruptcy? Thanks, us! But seriously, if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have a place to put all this shit to begin with. Nowhere else will allow it, outside of some wretched hive of scum and villainy like hongfire. Srsly. For the kind of depraved and horrific content I make, there's no decent home anywhere else for it. What other website can I make an encounter where you ask an insane woman if you can have one of her puppies from a recent litter and her response is to command her eight dogs to run a rape train on you in an effort to cause cross-species impregnation?
DoctaSax Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I'd say nay against gated content too, seems like a cause for drama. Besides, not the betas! Who's gonna test my new shit? Not me!
prideslayer Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Before this gets out of hand, I'd like to chime in. I think any and all mod content should remain free. D/L speed, rate, volume is all a matter of debate, but I wouldn't be in favor of gated content either. This would potentially do way more harm, than it would do any good in terms of revenue and if we look at all the mod sites that went this way, we can see that they either don't exist anymore, or worse, are only shallow husks of their former selves. I'm not suggesting that any content be pay-only, more of paid "early access." The initial thought was that beta releases and such could be available to paid members only, maybe with an automatic time limit of a week or two before they are made available to the general public. Online advertising tldr Online advertising (especially adult advertising) as a way to support the full cost of a popular site has been dying for quite a while. Advertisers pay for impressions (views) because the alternative, paying by commission/lead, is too easily broken, defrauded, or gamed and site owners simply won't go for it. The percentage of people who see the ads (thanks to ad-blockers) is small. The percentage that notice them is even smaller. Then you have the people that click them. Finally, those that click them and then actually buy the advertised product. Think about that in the context of normal ads, and then think of how much worse it is for adult ads. Less views to start with, a higher percentage of people using ad blockers, and a lower percentage willing to click. That tiny fraction of people is the sole source of net funding to the advertiser that they pay to their ad network to distribute the ads, and the distributors rates aren't cheap either. What's left over for *that* is what goes to the site owners actually showing the ads. They will typically pay more for this advertising than it directly nets them, in the hopes that even those who don't buy or click may do so later (buying brand recognition), but they have to believe that the advertising is generating more sales than it costs. The rates they pay are the direct result of that calculation.
movomo Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I was just imagining a plain dark blue t-shirt, that has the LL mark (the one you see on the browser title bar) on it. Then again I'm not much of a designer... But, anyways, I have to say I'm opposed to the opinion that making a 'paywall' to restrict the level of downloadable content. Maybe restrict the download speed, but not further. It's opposite to the points why I love LL. It somehow gives me a feeling that I become a 'more equal animal' by paying some cheap money. I don't think I'd be too happy with that. I'm not suggesting that any content be pay-only, more of paid "early access."ninja'd I didn't see this one.
prideslayer Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 The betas was just an example. If there are any paid-members-only discussion areas(*) and the attachment system doesn't change, anything *could* be attached to threads there. Personally I'd experiment with putting betas there or maybe even releases for the first week or two that they're out just to see how it went. I'd also give preferential treatment to tech support issues posted in a paid tech support area, over the free one, for example. (*)This itself is really the idea. Some of the off-topic/general forums could be moved here, as well as a section where politics/religion/whatever can be discussed by the "more mature" folks not willing to risk their paid subscription by being complete assbags.
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