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Perff
Administrator
Posts: 1677 |
Dedicated server for CSDb -> ads
Ok. I guess the secret is now out. What some of you might have seen was just a little experiment. It is not permanent in any way - yet.
Ok. Here goes: (a long text coming up.)
CSDb have up untill now been hosted for free at the place I used to work - a small hosting company. However the machine CSDb has, and currently is running on, is a test server with no backup or anything, a quite slow internet connection, and a lot of other stuff hosted on it too. Besides that I have personally no control over the machine. If it fails, or the people who owns it desides to throw it out, I can do nothing. :(
For some time now I have wanted a REAL dedicated server for CSDb which was mine to control 100%. This would give a lot of advantages which I will not list here, but I guess you can imagine. :)
I now got an opportunity to get this!
This server will be redundant, backups will be taken and everything. Also the bandwidth will be much higher resulting in much more pleasent feeling surfing on CSDb.
However, this is of course not free. I also feel like I owe the little hosting company something for hosting this site for more than 4 years now.
The bottom line is that we need some money to pay for this, and here I got an idea, which I have seen on other sites like slayradio.org, to put up some discreete ads which will ONLY be displayed for people who are not logged in. This means that all of you who are reading this now, will never see these ads (except if you hit the "log out"). Only random surfers will see these ads, which I will not let dominate the site.
The ads will be text only, and using the same colors as the rest of CSDb.
So far this idea is still in it's early stages, but before I can go all the way, I need to check if this will pay off at all, so in the near future I will put the add's online for a few days up to a week, to get an idea of how much it would bring in. Remeber that if you are logged in there will be NO ads! After that I will take the next step.
You are welcome to check the ads out, and give your oppinion about them, and perhaps come up with some ideas.
I will point out that these ads it not a way for me to try to earn a lot of $. It is only ment to pay for the hosting. If it should turn out that it would bring in a lot more than needed, we will think of a good way to spend the rest of it. :) But that will be sometime into the future.
So, any comments?
PS. It is true that people have been offering free hosting to me for CSDb, but I must admit, that I would prefer to have it under my control still. ;) Hope I don't offend anyone by saying this.
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Mason
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 461 |
I dont bother about the google ads. As long it aint flashing logos and other spyware crap and google aint that.
I know alot got offended on other c64 sites if the google ads contain selling c64 stuff, but thats possible to block in the ads-settings.
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Wanderer
Account closed
Registered: Apr 2003
Posts: 478 |
Sorry for blowing the secret :(
It's a great idea IMO; I've used Adsense before and they've paid me in US funds which is nice. I did nothing to earn it except for inserting some ASP code.
I'm all for it, and will gladly click the odd banner that interests me, if I'm offline.
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Jon
Account closed
Registered: Apr 2005
Posts: 247 |
No backup or anything? Yikes. So if this machine fails or gets tossed, that's it?
Wow. The damage would be irreversable. I'd log out just to click the ads.
-Ninj |
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Perff
Administrator
Posts: 1677 |
About the backups I might have been a little to quick there. :) It's true there is no backup of the server as it is, but I manually make a backup of CSDb from time to time, but as I can only do this manually it is not that often. :( |
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MRT
Account closed
Registered: Sep 2005
Posts: 149 |
Redundancy is good.
Backups is good.
Bandwidth is good.
Banners sux. :-)
But hey... It's for a good reason.
As long as they don't pop-up!
Oh, and ever thought of asking ppl for a small contribution? It's for a good cause, so I can probably reduct it from my income tax!!! :-) |
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Perff
Administrator
Posts: 1677 |
I have thought about asking for donations or the like, but then I would have to ask every time I get a bill, or just hope that the I will get enough donations to pay the next one. I don't find that very stable, which I hope the ads will be. |
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WVL
Registered: Mar 2002
Posts: 896 |
fine with me :D
It would be really super to have extra bandwidth for csdb :D |
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CreaMD
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 3048 |
Quote: I have thought about asking for donations or the like, but then I would have to ask every time I get a bill, or just hope that the I will get enough donations to pay the next one. I don't find that very stable, which I hope the ads will be.
you could set a value which is needed to be achieved to pay e.g. for 5 years in advance.. and make a counter for how much is already collected. ?
as far as adds are concerned, fine with me. I was also thinking about something like that for C64.sk but nobody is kicking me out of my hosting (yet). ;-)
roman |
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jailbird
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1578 |
I wouldn't mind Google ads even in the member area - it's an easy and painless way to support the CSDb admin crew with some cash.
Currently I run three sites featuring adsense, and I'm getting around $30 per month. I'm counting ~300 unique visitors and ~1000-4000 hits per day and usually I have 5-10 clicks on the ads, which means about a $1 per day.
If you'd have 20-30 or even more click on a daily basis, you'd easily reach $100-$200 per month. That should be enough to cover the expences for the standalone server.
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Wanderer
Account closed
Registered: Apr 2003
Posts: 478 |
One reason I'm content to take down my webpage is because I know CSDB is here. I no longer have to worry about having a "one source" for all of my ex-group's releases.
I know that CSDB will be up, and hope it will be up for years to come.
I'd gladly send in a donation now and again if the option was there. As a webmaster, I know that the costs can add up quickly.
Pave the way for a donation system and see who takes the detour :)
Cautionary note:
Adsense is also open to abuse, if one person is too excitable and clicks every single ad they see, it could result in termination of the service. One person gets upset at CSDB, clicks banners for an hour, Google can, and will, terminate. Donations on the other hand, you can't abuse.
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jailbird
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1578 |
Quote: One reason I'm content to take down my webpage is because I know CSDB is here. I no longer have to worry about having a "one source" for all of my ex-group's releases.
I know that CSDB will be up, and hope it will be up for years to come.
I'd gladly send in a donation now and again if the option was there. As a webmaster, I know that the costs can add up quickly.
Pave the way for a donation system and see who takes the detour :)
Cautionary note:
Adsense is also open to abuse, if one person is too excitable and clicks every single ad they see, it could result in termination of the service. One person gets upset at CSDB, clicks banners for an hour, Google can, and will, terminate. Donations on the other hand, you can't abuse.
Considering the abuse, it seems to me that Google adsense is registering only one click/IP/ad. And usually the ads don't vary so much, f.e. on a site about movies, the same 10-15 ads about movies show up over and over. I'm not absolutely sure about this, but when I try to click on my ads from the same IP address many times, only one click gets registered. |
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Wanderer
Account closed
Registered: Apr 2003
Posts: 478 |
The ads depend on the content of the site. I'd say 15 ad rotations sounds about right. Now how many possible advertisers could there be for Commodore related sales?
Google allows multiple clicks from the same IP, and they are registered as such. Now, they might make an allowance from one IP doing all of the clicking. In some cases they do, in other cases they presume the webmaster is behind it and terminate the program.
It's typical Google. Everything is behind a thick haze, you have no idea how it works, or if you're making a decent commision.
Three clicks per day may bring you 3 cents, on others days 3 clicks may bring you $1.50. Did I mention it's typical Google? :)
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Oswald
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 5086 |
wanderer, is my memory getting rusty, or you have really started a topic a ~month ago, about getting finally out your smelly disgusting ass out of here ?
you couldnt hold out more longer ? This is so pathetic. |
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Oswald
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 5086 |
you cant even hold the promises given to yourself heh ? |
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Style
Registered: Jun 2004
Posts: 498 |
funny, I was just thinking 'didnt he leave'?
sad :)
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SECRET MAN
Account closed
Registered: Jun 2004
Posts: 336 |
Quote: Considering the abuse, it seems to me that Google adsense is registering only one click/IP/ad. And usually the ads don't vary so much, f.e. on a site about movies, the same 10-15 ads about movies show up over and over. I'm not absolutely sure about this, but when I try to click on my ads from the same IP address many times, only one click gets registered.
Then i would take an IP changer.You will always have an other IP if you take the IP changer from Steganos.
Look here:
http://www.steganos.de/ |
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Wanderer
Account closed
Registered: Apr 2003
Posts: 478 |
It's not so much a matter of whose IP is used, it's a matter that it can be done and thus jeopardize any accumulated earnings. Steganos is just one of a zillion such services.
Perff can try the banner ads and see how they work, but I think a donation system would be best.
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Burglar
Registered: Dec 2004
Posts: 1085 |
I dont really understand why nobody made an offer to host csdb on a faster server... I mean, theres gotta be plenty ppl here that can offer that.
but alas, if performance will be improved, we'll just have to live with the ads.
or hey, do like I do, host at home ;) |
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TDJ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1879 |
Nothing hazy about the way Google works, in fact they have quite clear documentation on it. The only bad thing is that they tend to change that way from time to time ;) |
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CreaMD
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 3048 |
Locking this topic would be a nice idea now when everything was announced and now it's moving a bit offtopic. There can alwasy be other topic for this when it's actual.
roman |
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TDJ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 1879 |
Quote: Locking this topic would be a nice idea now when everything was announced and now it's moving a bit offtopic. There can alwasy be other topic for this when it's actual.
roman
Why? Why lock this topic? It's not like people are ragging on eachother, just a nice discussion about google-ads and possible other solutions to Perff's problem. |
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Jon
Account closed
Registered: Apr 2005
Posts: 247 |
Quote: I dont really understand why nobody made an offer to host csdb on a faster server... I mean, theres gotta be plenty ppl here that can offer that.
but alas, if performance will be improved, we'll just have to live with the ads.
or hey, do like I do, host at home ;)
Read above; he said that people have offered, but he wants the server to be under his complete control (including physical possession of the server itself).
-Ninj |
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Dishy
Registered: Mar 2002
Posts: 241 |
I´ve now been at CSDb since March 2002, and I really appreciate this site very much. Not only because of all the neat warez in here, but also because I´ve met old - and even new - sceners in here, which I thought I would never get in contact with again.
Anyway, I´d like both google-ads and a good donation-system in here. I´ve donated at other sites(not only C64 sites), which I like. And I really hope, that CSDb will be online for many many years, so if I can also support it this way, I would do it.
*****Once A Scener - Always A Scener***** |
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SIDWAVE
Account closed
Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 2238 |
Give it a try Perff!
I think it's critical to get some backups running, it would
be a catastrophe to loose CSDB. |
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Perff
Administrator
Posts: 1677 |
First ad test started. This is a kind of minimal-ad test, where the ads will be as discrete as possible.
I will probably make further tests with a bit more ads to see if there is any big difference.
Please don't log out and click on them like crasy - I would like to get a realistic test result. :) |
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Steppe
Registered: Jan 2002
Posts: 1510 |
Go for it Perff! I suggest a Paypal donation system on top of it, I for one wouldn't mind transferring the odd ebay sale profit that got payed to my Paypal account over to yours. :-)
And if it helps I also wouldn't mind banners in the registered user area. You could also make that customizable from the userpage settings. |
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CreaMD
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 3048 |
Quote: Why? Why lock this topic? It's not like people are ragging on eachother, just a nice discussion about google-ads and possible other solutions to Perff's problem.
Because it was getting offtopic (debate about how it works etc.) |
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Burglar
Registered: Dec 2004
Posts: 1085 |
Quote: Because it was getting offtopic (debate about how it works etc.)
you mean you're just triggerhappy, cause thats not offtopic.
and ninjasbane, reread what I wrote, completely, its not that hard. |
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Jon
Account closed
Registered: Apr 2005
Posts: 247 |
Quote: you mean you're just triggerhappy, cause thats not offtopic.
and ninjasbane, reread what I wrote, completely, its not that hard.
Oh, I see it now. Host it at home.
That stuff in the beginning about you being surprised that no one offered to host it was because you read Perff's post carefully and thouroghly. I understand completely now. And here I could have drifted through life thinking that you didn't understand Perff's message.
As you said, it's not that hard.
-Ninj
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yago
Registered: May 2002
Posts: 333 |
I have good Experiences with google (although its true that some nasty visitors will make google cancel the contract).
Other possibilities of income would be to sell CSDb on a CD, so that People can have an Offline-CSDb (even (cause of copyright-reasons) without the wares) or sell T-Shirts.
IMHO, thats not as stable as google but more stable then Donations.
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