Ads Update

[navychop]

Kinda did that already.

 

[savarese04]

i think the issue with ads is 100% placement. When i'm on desktop, which is about 50% of the time, I would be 100% okay with ads. They're easy to ignore, especially sidebar ones (I would encourage these to be added, as I don't think there are any).

However, when I'm on mobile, the ads make the site unusable. Between the popups and the lower banners, at least half the screen real estate is taken up. Unforunately, most users are probably on mobile these days and I'm thankful my pub membership turns them off whenever I'm on mobile.

i feel like there's gotta be a happy compromise here!

 

[b4pjoe]

Why do you not accept credit cards for the Pub Membership? I would subscribe if you did.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Why do you not accept credit cards for the Pub Membership? I would subscribe if you did.

You can pay with a credit card via Paypal..

 

[b4pjoe]

You can pay with a credit card via Paypal..

I do not have a Paypal account and will not be getting one.

 

[TRG]

Why do you not accept credit cards for the Pub Membership? I would subscribe if you did.

Donate to SatelliteGuys

Help support SatelliteGuys by donating or sharing with your friends.

www.paypal.com

 

[comfortably_numb]

I do not have a Paypal account and will not be getting one.

You don't need an account.

 

[b4pjoe]

You don't need an account.

OK thanks. On the page explaining the Pub Memberships I didn't see the notice where you don't have to have Paypal:

If you pay by Credit Card you get all the benefits of your pub membership INSTANTLY!

PLEASE NOTE - We use PayPal as our Credit Card Processing Company. YOU DO NOT need to be a PayPal member to use this service!

I guess my next question is how do you pay by Credit Card through Paypal without a Paypal account?

 

[primestar31]

I do not have a Paypal account and will not be getting one.

You don't need an account to pay by credit or debit card. Just try it, and you'll see.

 

[primestar31]

how do you pay by Credit Card through Paypal without a Paypal account?

"Guest checkout"...

 

[b4pjoe]

Yeah I was able to do it as a guest. Thanks for the information.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Well here are the stats from the new ad company for the last month.

Not good. I do know if I should switch back to what we had before or wait. As these guys are working with me trying to improve things

Not asking for money. Just giving an update.

 

[meStevo]

Sign of the times too, sadly. A larger forum I moderate went through a not great forum upgrade and it just accelerated the already obvious decline in traffic and participation. Like this one it predated much of social media and some areas were languishing as the conversations naturally moved to more modern / real-time discussion on social media and more recently Discord over the last several years. Gradual at first, and then it accelerated. They went through almost the same posting decline patterns we've had in our sports section, from numerous threads each NFL Sunday just trickles of activity on occasion in a single thread that covers the entire season.

Can't say there's really a 'fix' when the obvious seems so inevitable. You could start a Discord server but that's not revenue generating unless there's some form of new membership you could generate from it - and if so, what would that be? The core audience of the site is still the satellite business/customers, a business that has rapidly atrophied over the last few years as we're all well aware. I suspect many of those who have posted for so long wouldn't be interested in newer solutions like that, either, creating a new hole to dig out of. At the same time, there is the balance of not pushing people away with the type and volume of ads to keep the site viable, people who have so many more options now than to create an account and keep coming back to a traditional forum when they've grown up with all these other more readily available options.

 

[navychop]

Your post disturbs me. Surely sites can move with the times. This may be a "satellite" site, but it is much more. I believe I read and post more on non satellite topics. For example, EVs- Tesla and otherwise.

There are some posts / threads discussing streaming and streaming equipment.

We dabble a bit on Cooking, Cruising, Humor, Gardening and the proper approach to take regarding bamboo (couldn't resist).

I think the common denominator here is that we have developed friendships, share some common interests and maybe we can keep our group together by investigating other options.

 

[Foxbat]

I think the common denominator here is that we have developed friendships, share some common interests and maybe we can keep our group together by investigating other options.

And that is why we have the people that we do, but it isn't a model for adding more members. We're an island in the seas of Social Media. The main driver of traffic to our site would be folks searching for Satellite TV solutions, but that ship has sailed.

 

[navychop]

This could be THE site for discussing robotics, such as Optimus, as that field develops. Including Neuroscience.

 

[osu1991]

Your post disturbs me. Surely sites can move with the times. This may be a "satellite" site, but it is much more. I believe I read and post more on non satellite topics. For example, EVs- Tesla and otherwise.

There are some posts / threads discussing streaming and streaming equipment.

We dabble a bit on Cooking, Cruising, Humor, Gardening and the proper approach to take regarding bamboo (couldn't resist).

I think the common denominator here is that we have developed friendships, share some common interests and maybe we can keep our group together by investigating other options.

Most posting appears to happen privately in the Pub. I've made posts about various things and get replies that there is already a topic in the pub and to join the pub or they get a few views and no replies. Made the post about my EV9, thinking there might be some other EV owners and not a single reply.

 

[navychop]

I suppose one thing we really must do, is post more outside of the Pub. So there is content that can be searched and discovered by newcomers.

So what are people looking for in the general Internet World? Can we identify that and service the need?

Can we use AI (UGH!) to assist us in this conundrum? Artificial Idiocy.

Can we get a volunteer to get a neuralink implanted and directly connected to a supercomputer and Optimus? Fun to watch?


On Edit: I see osu beat me to it.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I have wanted to move the EV forum to be public, but a few people were against it, so it has remained here.

It is one of our more popular forums here. So much so that I had to get an EV this year just to participate.

 

[Bruce]

Your post disturbs me. Surely sites can move with the times. This may be a "satellite" site, but it is much more. I believe I read and post more on non satellite topics. For example, EVs- Tesla and otherwise.

There are some posts / threads discussing streaming and streaming equipment.

We dabble a bit on Cooking, Cruising, Humor, Gardening and the proper approach to take regarding bamboo (couldn't resist).

While true, there are other subjects, the problem is, younger people have moved on from this type of format, prefer Reddit, Discord, etc.

Also does not help that the main draw here is still Satellite TV, where total subscribers are now under 12 Million, combined Dish and DirecTV, who had over 36 Million around 2014.

That is about a 67% drop in subscribers, I wonder what the percentage is here in comparison, 2014 vs today's traffic.

I think the common denominator here is that we have developed friendships, share some common interests and maybe we can keep our group together by investigating other options.

I still prefer this format, hate Discord, but I am almost 60 years old.