Make this site shyster commercial-free?

[Eric]

All -

I wonder whether you're like me and have had it up to here with the constant in-your-face omnipresence of pushy ads and commercials? It seems you can't even watch a video anymore without first being assaulted by some god-damned ad.

Meanwhile, no one's making money off these degraders of human civility - except for the big corporations (like Google) who peddle them.

So, I had a thought.

What if we could make this site a Commercial-Free Zone? No ads, no one trying to sell you anything. No space wasted.

To do it, though, we'd need to get people who come to this site to read and post to send in a couple bucks each month to support it. I'm talking about chump change here - say $4 or $5 each per month per registered user. That would cover hosting and other expenses - and as the site grows, maybe allow me to hire/pay staffers - writers and editors and graphics and tech people.

What do you think? And would you be willing to send in a few bucks each month to nix the commercials?

[swamprat]

Eric -

I like the idea. I would send in 5 bucks a month for the content offered on this site, however, I am not sure that others would. We have to think a bout a hook that would draw in people to pay versus going free.

I will think about this.

[dom]

Dude, the newspapers have been trying this for years with very poor results!

[Ken]

Originally Posted by dom

Dude, the newspapers have been trying this for years with very poor results!

As attractive as the thought of an advert free zone is, I guess I'm siding with Dom on this one. A couple of pounds (GBP) or three or four dollars (US$, NZ$, A$, etc.) may not sound much but, having seen the effect of similar increases on club memberships I would suggest it is probably a non-starter. Advertising, like it or not, is very definitely here to stay and, as far as this site goes, I have never found the limited level of advertising to be intrusive.

Just my 10C worth.

Ken.