MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > A Message From Jim about Ads

A Message From Jim about Ads

posted 8 years ago by Moderator1 (767)
38 replies | jump to latest

For those of you wondering about the advertisements and avatars...

"[I am] currently testing out a bunch of different ad networks to see what's best, so during this testing process, there may be some questionable and/or laggy ads. Obviously anything that deteriorates user experience on the site won't make the final cut, but testing all the options out there is an important process.

The reason I'm hesitant about allowing avatars its twofold: (1) lag, as you mentioned, but perhaps more importantly (2) allowing users to upload any picture they want could be a moderation headache. Users could upload NSFW images and it would be hard for moderators to detect before many users see it. Perhaps one day we'll have them if we can find a solution to this issue.

Lastly, I know there were some questions around why there are ads, how much it costs to run the site, etc., ... As people probably know, there are server and hosting fees which run a few hundred bucks per month for a site of our size and traffic. Then there are email notification fees (for example, whenever someone registers a new account, we pay a small fee to have a verification email sent to the user), DDoS prevention and security fees, and other small fees for miscellaneous things. Point is, there are a lot of fees that come with running a site of our size that most people don't realize. Aside from these fees, there are expenses related to trying to grow the site. In addition to spending money out of my pocket on marketing, any left over money we have from ads/contributions will go to trying to grow the site via various marketing channels (Facebook, Google Search, etc.). Needless to say, I personally make $0 from the site. The current focus is growing the site and making it as active as possible."

[–] sslssg (34249) 8 years ago

I haven't had any issues with the ads at all.

[–] [email protected] (1357) 8 years ago

Thanks for all you and Jim do.

[–] Strannger (2007) 8 years ago

I agree. If Jim has to it's ok in my book.

[–] MissMargoChanning (6630) 8 years ago

Thank you for the update. I pretty much expected ads. The bills have to be paid!
I am just grateful for the site. I also appreciate the work that has been put into it.

[–] AtomicReturns (1252) 8 years ago

Thanks Jim for the explanation. I had no idea there were so many other fees involved when running a website. I thought it was the basic 1-2-3 per month deal and you're done, but it turns out there's 10-15 other things to worry about as well. 😲

As for Avatars, I like some of the ideas presented in this thread. I get what Jim is saying when he's worried about NSFW content being uploaded. The whole Ben/BenCaesar/Punky situation was a nightmare. Troll attacks could come at any time and they could abuse the avatar system as they did with the Trending section.

I don't need avatars, but, as you said, we all would like to see MovieChat grow. And I do think avatars help attract outside users here (not the sole attraction but one of them). When people have it on Facebook and other movie-related forums, they may feel like MC is "missing" something compared to where they are currently posting at. Everyone having unique avatars can give users a better sense of identity/personality (and maybe even...pride?), and give the overall boards a better feeling of community. It becomes much easier to identify people when someone has a cool Princess Leia, Cary Grant, Hitchcock, Ripley, or Guardians of Galaxy raccoon next to their username.

- I like the idea of having a current or new moderator to help "screen" all Avatars. That could be one way to prevent NSFW content (and currently, there really is no way to stop that now in the Profile section, as April mentions)
- Or don't allow the changing of Avatars for 30/60 days...or similar rules restricting Trolls from going crazy with Avatar abuse.
- Or have a set of pre-made/pre-approved Avatars.

ex. TheForce.net (the most-visited Star Wars forum) doesn't allow users to upload their own avatars....at least that's how it was when I was there. There's simply too many users there to monitor every single one. So the admins created a set of Avatars to choose from (lets say 20-30 to begin with). That's still plenty of options for users

[–] AtomicReturns (1252) 8 years ago

I just realized MC might have a character limit when posting. I couldn't type anymore and it made me think my keyboard went haywire. No biggie.

Just wanted to add that, with MC, you could have pre-made Avatars based around themes (and slowly add more if you wanted):

Movie Symbols: director's chair, film projector, roll of film, megaphone, a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star, silhouette of actor/actress, Oscar statuette, etc

Sci-Fi: a few Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien and other popular franchises/films

Drama: a few from classic and contemporary films....and Angela Lansbury. Always needed, by default.

Comedy: 1930s screwball comedies, Will Farrell movies, etc....