Ads on RangerForum.net (Let's Talk)

We just added ads to the site. Yes, ads stink but they are also needed to keep this site running. That being said though I wanted to give you guys an opportunity to ask questions and for us to try and explain exactly why we have to do this.


We want this site to be as fast as possible so you have the best experience while your here. We also need server admins to help us with some of the technical stuff. Here is the break down on how that looks.

Server $410/month. This is a bit of overkill on the server and we might downgrade if needed but we want the site to be fast so that's the bill for now.
Server Management $75/month. We can't get around this. We need the help when members have trouble accessing the site or if the site goes down in the middle of the night, etc...

So, right there that's $485/month in money we have to raise. But that's not the end of it. We really want to add more features to the site. For example, we want to build out a dedicated garage function, create a dedicated mobile app, and provide prizes for Truck of the Month winners. This all costs money and that is why ads are needed.

So, what kind of ads will we show? For the most part we will run Google Adsense ads which are very common throughout the internet. These ads target the topic of a site, the topic of a particular thread, and even your browsing history to know what ads to display.

Some people use ad blockers and we know this happens. I'd simply ask you to consider allowing ads on this site to help us out. Even if you don't click on ads the ad impressions you see do make a big difference.




Jon and I are willing to pitch in and fund this site as long as needed until it can stand on it's own two legs and we aren't asking for sympathy here. I just want people to understand why we are adding ads and I hope it makes sense.

Thanks.

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate you understanding the need. We will never have any pop ups or annoying ads. We may add some placements for guests but we will keep the ads for members as few as possible.

 

No, but let me explain why.
Our goal long term is to bring you extremely targeted ads from companies that advertise with us direct instead of with Google. These advertisers come to us because they want to get their message across to our members. If we cut members (even paying members) off from advertisements it's less likely that they will be interested in advertising with us at all. That's one of a few reasons.

We do plan to add more and more features to the contributing members status though.