Ads on Top

[Astro14]

I find ALL banner ads distracting due to animations. They suck at the top, too. I guess if donating didn't do it I may consider bailing. The ads are incredibly annoying and distracting no matter where they are.

While I genuinely appreciate you donating, I think you grossly underestimate the cost of running the site.

Your donation, while generous, still amounts to substantially less than 1% of the hosting, cloudflare virus protection, and software maintenance.

With those efforts, all from Wayne by the way, this forum is faster, cleaner, and more secure than any other. That costs money. Far more money than folks who post here realize. Donating helps. But the sum total of donations didn't come close to the cut in revenue when our principal sponsor cut back.

Wayne might be able to give us percentages, or he might chose not to for privacy reasons, but the cost of running this site far outstrips the revenue from all the donations, and all the sponsors.

Ad revenue was required to make up the shortfall.

Wayne has done a remarkable job in keeping this site enjoyable, fast and secure.

I think a thank you to Wayne is in order.

 

[Hall]

Your donation, while generous, still amounts to substantially less than 1% of the hosting, cloudflare virus protection, and software maintenance.

To clarify, you mean everyone's donations amount - donations from all members that send $ - to that % or thereabouts ?

 

[DBMaster]

I had a private conversation with Wayne and made clear my appreciation several days ago. I thought enough folks would donate to cover the costs, but boy was I wrong. The cost he told me was quite eye opening. You won't be hearing any more complaints from me.

 

[Astro14]

To clarify, you mean everyone's donations amount - donations from all members that send $ - to that % or thereabouts ?

Wayne has the exact numbers. I’m going off our conversation- so I hope he jumps in and corrects my memory.

The sum total of all donations from every member is less than a quarter of the annual operating budget. It sure helps.

But it’s nowhere close to paying the bill.

So, for one who might say, “I donated, but there are still ads”, while I remain grateful, their individual contribution was a very small percentage of annual budget. I don’t think any single donor crossed the 1% threshold.

 

[Hall]

Donations cover no more than 25% of the costs ? That sounds "better". I thought you meant donations only covered 1%.

 

[Astro14]

Donations cover no more than 25% of the costs ? That sounds "better". I thought you meant donations only covered 1%.

Yes. It’s that rough magnitude. I’m not involved in the operations part, I support with my time as an admin/mod.

As an aside, my donation history (I’ve given every year) is motivated by the amount of time I spend here, and the value I derive. I wish donations were enough to cover the entire site cost.

I read/belong to a lot of forums. BITOG has the least intrusive ads, the best (most knowledgeable, across a remarkable variety of fields) members, the most polite/adult discussion, and it runs and loads fast.

And all of the credit belongs to Wayne.

 

[wwillson]

And all of the credit belongs to Wayne.

No way. Many people contribute a ton to this site to make it great.