Skim links on the forum

The reason I didn’t is because I wanted genuine reactions from users discovering them. I wanted to gauge just how intrusive/noticeable they really are.

I’ll be leaving the Skimwords feature on for another couple of hours so I’ll have a good chunk of revenue data by tomorrow so I can properly and objectively assess the whole package.

Sorry if they are annoying but it’s all part of an important investigation into new revenue streams as an alternative to the traditional display ad system.

Why would you need P users reactions? Assume they would never need to see them?

TBH, as long as they are a different colour from user-inserted links I don’t have a major problem. I can forsee a whole load of weird spelling coming in though, $pecialized, Planit X etc as folk try not to have their posts monetized

FWIW I’ve not seen them yet on mobile (WP8) but I’ve not checked on a proper browser yet.

I understand that advertising is a necessary evil but skimlinks are probably the least obtrusive way of doing it.

That said, they’re still gash and I dislike them intensely (especially when there’s no differentiation between normal links)

I’m offering up an option.

A poll.

Allow us to vote on whether they should be allowed or not. And if allowed, make them only available on the non P profile and in a different colour as mentioned.

I’d like to see the results. I think you would too.

I’ve read the other thread, this threads been called out specifically for conversations around this topic, so makes the other thread redundant. All comments, on this topic should be in here.

I’m sooooo not bothered about the industry of Adv revenue, not bothered at all. You can offer up all you like bout “it’s what the industry is offering in the face of decreasing advertising” or some other targeting marketing bollocks.

Protecting what you have here I agree with, but it’s clear we all hate advertising and the proliferation of it on websites we visit all over the internet.

What exactly are you chasing? Are you trying to keep up with trends? or are you interested in keeping members? or are you “loosing out” on lost revenue that you think will flow in if we accidentally click on them?

I’m going to offer up you close down Grit.CX as thats all but dead, that’ll save a whole load of wasted cash on someones idea of it being the next big thing and squeezed a business case around “we’ll get 1bn hits a week, and sell the Adv space to Tudor Watches or Bra/underwear chains” which seems to be your advertisers of choice these days.

Well done for chasing your tails, trying new trends based around accidental User clicks in threads that make the User think the poster has added a link to a product they’re commenting on. Nice. Nice blokes you seem to be, clearly we’re just a paying commodity who support your forum and mag.

It’s pretty much fraudulent, enticing unsuspecting Users and visitors who use the site into thinking Posters are recommending Brands when clearly we’re Not.

Ever thought of selling PPi in here too?

As is, I’m really quite annoyed by this shift in Your attitudes to us. You are treating us as recommenders of products we don’t have control over and trying to put the onus on Us as though We are doing Your advertising for You.

Nope, sorry folks but thats just not on.

I’m changing my “auto subscription” off.

^ my opinion on the links not what BB said (which I tend to agree with).

They’re getting right on my tits, plus it’s further developing my suspicious chip.

Why would you need P users reactions? Assume they would never need to see them

To see their views on them too. Everyone has a right to have an opinion.

To see their views on them too. Everyone has a right to have an opinion.

They also had the right to be informed that a service they are paying for will temporarily be suspended to a degree.

I’m going to offer up you close down Grit.CX as thats all but dead, that’ll save a whole load of wasted cash on someones idea of it being the next big thing and squeezed a business case around “we’ll get 1bn hits a week, and sell the Adv space to Tudor Watches or Bra/underwear chains” which seems to be your advertisers of choice these days.

Not seen any. Yet. Can’t say I agree with them, but if they are needed to keep the forum going then I guess they will have to stay.

How do you generate revenue, from clicks on the Skimlinks presumably? Correct me if I’m wrong Mark, but you’re not getting objective feedback from revenue because people are clicking on them unknowingly as the forum is now full of genuine links along with these spam embedded links. If you want objective feedback you need to make them more obvious. As is people are all being tricked into clicking them.

It’s a massive no from me. I actively avoid clicking them on other sites, to not be able to do so here is stupid.

To the people not seeing them, there’s one in this thread! The MacBook SSD reference above, i presumed it’d be a link to the thread, it’s not, it’s a (broken) John Lewis link.

Edit: there you go, there it is again.

Seems like you forum customers are pretty low on the list,just under MONEY MONEY MONEY 🙂

It’s a difficult job in what is a crowded market where everyone is fighting for a slice of the cake. Whoever find a reasonable solution is going to be a very rich person. On a personal level i feel that any site that feels it has to force revenue streams onto users/customers hasn’t thought too hard about the problem.
As a case study I think the Bond movies is a good marker. There was a huge furore recently about product placement, but it has been going on for years, just look at a few Roger Moore era films. Connery on the other hand promoted product in a far more subtle way and made Rolex into the watch that people wanted.
Customers/users are not stupid and shouldn’t be treated so, money making isn’t easy. Quality in a crowded market where price is key isn’t easy.
Good luck.

Well I’ve jumped in a created a poll to judge the reaction.
Feel free to contribute.

Thumbs down from me. Though I can’t really get as worked up about it as some have, seems to me the linking is so damn clumsy it’s usually pretty obvious when its machine inserted (based on what I see on other sites, not seen many here). So it just looks s***.

Can it be configured to add what it considers to be relevant links underneath a post so it is clear they are ads, and doesn’t disrupt the flow of the post?

i presumed it’d be a link to the thread, it’s not, it’s a (broken) John Lewis link.

I nearly made it a link to the thread, but laziness got the better of me. However the thought occurs that it can’t add a link to something that’s already a link, so is the solution to link-ify entire posts? I can mention macbook SSDs as much as I like then… 🙂

Well I’ve jumped in a created a poll to judge the reaction.
Feel free to contribute.

I can see nothing wrong with a poll that allows multiple votes.

Maybe use strawpoll.me[/url] instead?

The other side, of course, is that it could stop lazy linking when you’re forced to make it clear that you’re directing readers to a linked page.

Nope still not seen here 🙂 It must be my naughty extensions causing it 😀

Allow us to vote on whether they should be allowed or not. And if allowed, make them only available on the non P profile and in a different colour as mentioned.

Oh dear, people seem to be getting their P in a twist. It’s almost as if the high and mighty think a little letter gives them a rights or ownership of the site.

To be fair though, I pay a sub that goes towards paying for the upkeep of the site, as I find it a useful site so believe in assisting it. I’ve paid my cash, so why should I have to subsidise it further for you freeloaders 😉 ?

Not a fan at all, already been caught out a couple of times this morning before I spotted this thread. Thought the first was random, after the 2nd I started checking antivirus and chrome extensions.

Can understand looking to get revenue from non-subscribers, but surely “P” users shouldn’t also be getting stung?

As an aside the two I clicked were both broken links, which only makes the whole thing even more annoying!

To be fair though, I pay a sub that goes towards paying for the upkeep of the site, as I find it a useful site so believe in assisting it. I’ve paid my cash

+1

It’s almost as if the high and mighty think a little letter gives them a rights or ownership of the site.

Can someone show this impertinent oik the door?

😀

Stato…Shhhh! You’ll get all us non-Ps thrown out of the executive lounge!

Stato…Shhhh! You’ll get all us non-Ps thrown out of the executive lounge!

To the outhouse you oiks!!!!

I’m no fan of skimlinks even on ad funded sites. They’re just plain annoying and don’t make me buy anything from said linked site, though I guess you make money from the click anyway.

However if for non ‘P’ folk it’s seen as required either to generate money from the links or to push them into a sub, then I can live with that.

As a ‘P’… no! I’m paying for no ads. Risk losing subscriptions with these forced on premier folk.

Just encountered my first one of these cunningly ‘hidden’ in a thread with a load of genuine links.

Irritating on a practical level and definitely detracts from the user experience.

And really don’t like it on an ethical level. Treating users as a commodity is one thing, rubbing our noses in it is quite another.

You know you can just run a plug in and never see a skim link (unless you’re on Android, in which case you sold your soul to the Advertising Devil a long time ago).

They make the place feel a bit cheap, tbh.
And it feels deceitful.

Happy to contribute with the ‘P’, it’s a great deal, but this is really off-putting.

How many skim link clicks = 1 subscription?

I’m going to offer up you close down Grit.CX as thats all but dead, that’ll save a whole load of wasted cash on someones idea of it being the next big thing and squeezed a business case around “we’ll get 1bn hits a week, and sell the Adv space to Tudor Watches or Bra/underwear chains” which seems to be your advertisers of choice these days.

Ain’t that the truth!
I’ve just had a look on the Grit site and as much as I liked the couple of magazines I’ve read I can’t bring myself to subscribe to it as I can’t see it being around much longer.
Someone really ought to put that site out of it’s misery and close it down.

Mark – I doubt 48 hours is sufficient to get a full idea of the “click revenue”:

1. Once people start to realise there are “spam” links everywhere they will stop clicking them.
2. Once people get p-d off at the imposition of these links in their posts they will use the forum less.
3. If you impose these on P members they are less likely to renew = lower revenue.
4. If you put enough in visitors may actually fall, and so other ad revenue will fall too.

FWIW experimenting on your content generators is not great form.

I thought I wasn’t seeing skimlinks and that the M@cb00k S5D link above was a failed attempt by the poster to link to that thread, but it seems that I am.

From what I’ve seen here they’re incredibly annoying and I’ll either be obscuring brand names or not posting at all while they’re switched on.

It’s butchered the classifieds. 😀

I’m changing my “auto subscription” off.

I still haven’t seen any auto links on here.

They seem to have everyone riled up! Where the hell are they ?

I’ve clicked on a few already, some accidentally, some to see if they were what I thought. A few hours test will give a massively distorted impression of the long term revenue – I for one would just stop clicking all links. I also think it makes the site seem like a cheapass spamfest, and don’t believe that it can possibly be a good idea overall. I doubt I’d cancel my subscription or flounce off, but I would think “bunch of cock” quite often.

Seems as though this isn’t going down too well!

Knowing the folks at STW, they’ll no doubt take our feedback into account. The idea that they’re money-grabbing is a bit much though, TBH. Comments like this one, for example:

Seems like you forum customers are pretty low on the list,just under MONEY MONEY MONEY

Firstly many of the forum users aren’t “customers” as they don’t pay STW anything (Premier folk and subscribers obviously an exception here).

Secondly I’m pretty sure that the STW team, one and all, could earn far more money doing other things, if that’s what they were into. But they’re also not a charity and they’re perfectly entitled to try to make their business (more) profitable.

There seem to be a huge number of posts on here about things being money-grabbing or overpriced (whether that’s labour charges in bike shops, or this, or other examples) and then similarly a lot of posts about employment or contractual stuff where people feel they’re being underpaid, or that others should demand more. Does anyone see that there might be a link?

Another thumbs down – as others have said it is dishonest, making me look like I endorse something I don’t endorse.

Firstly many of the forum users aren’t “customers” as they don’t pay STW anything

Not this again? Forum users are product sold to advertisers, not customers or consumers.

I’m a P. I don’t like it. Even if it was obvious, double underline or different colour, it’d still be annoying.