Isn't the whole model of modern internet advertising so fucked up?

TechS

TechS

Memento mori
Nov 29, 2011
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USA
If you think about it, it's as if you have two masters when running content sites. If your primary monetization is through banner ads and the like, what are your really trying to do?
Do you want a good website, or a site just good enough to keep a visitor interested until the next big shiny object catches their eye 10 seconds later?

So what is the goal of the whole game?
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The whole goal of running a content website, is.. to get people to click your ads and LEAVE your site?
This isn't ideal because the interests aren't aligned. What's good for your user isn't what is good for you as an operator. God Damn are youtube ads annoying.
I need to get out of this crooked game and start selling the cock pills.
 
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I don't really feel very conflicted. Mainly because I don't try very hard for people to click away from my site. I just create the best content I can do, and then place a few links to my affiliate offers. People buy, it works, I move on to another site.
 
Not everyone follows the same model you're referring to. I don't serve any outside advertising on the vast majority of my sites, preferring instead to get my visitors in my own funnel.

Adsense = nonsense and the CPA industry as a whole is a schizophrenic mess. I'm not trusting my ability to pay the mortgage on the whims of an Adsense reviewer that had a bad day or a CPA network executive that overextended his shitty company.

Fuck that.

I sell to my visitors again and again and again so if my traffic shit the bed tomorrow, I'd have at least 6 good months' marketing out of almost all of my lists before severe attrition kicked in and response severely declined. This has been proven through multiple tests where I intentionally "burned" small sample lists of both leads and buyers just to see what they'd bear (hint: it's a lot more than most people think).

Don't fall into the trap of just trying to get people to click away. Keep those fuckers in your loop - in your little world - for as long as you can so you can sell to them today, tomorrow, and months from now.

Cool story, bro.
 
ryanjm said:
I don't really feel very conflicted. Mainly because I don't try very hard for people to click away from my site. I just create the best content I can do, and then place a few links to my affiliate offers. People buy, it works, I move on to another site.
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Alright, but the majority of people trying to make money aren't like you. I ran a weightloss site. Want to know something funny and sad?

At first my site was super legit, trying to help people lose weight the right way, good tips etc, and I was an affiliate for legit awesome products. I made like zero money. Apparently people don't want legit advice and good products they want a magical pill. So I gave it to them. I put up shitty rebill products, gave crappy advice "lose 300 pounds in 2 weeks! (Yeah cuz this shit is possible). I made more money in 1 month then I made all year pushing legit stuff. Moral of the story people are fucking idiots.
 
Somebody needs to shake the industry up for sure. It's one of Y Combinator's "ideas we'd like to fund" - advertising that doesn't piss users off. We need a Win-Win-Win idea.
 
I am so fed up with the whole idea of internet marketing nowadays. I often see sites loaded with shitty ads.

Getting a site up for the sake of adsense is stupid. Its better to get affiliate links in it and quality content. It garners better money and not peanuts.

Heart
 
There doesn't have to be a conflict and it can be an "everybody wins" scenario.
Give users content they're interested in and want to read, and advertise products that they will want/need but either didn't know existed, weren't sure which brand was right for them or just never got round to buying it
 
That's the rules of the game. It's not just internet media, its media in general, and not just media. Want to have a good website, go for it, nobody is holding you. If the big shiny object catches their eye, then they must be interested in it.
I'd rather be known as a guy who has the shiny objects on the website than the guy who sells the cock pills.
 
Izaya said:
Alright, but the majority of people trying to make money aren't like you. I ran a weightloss site. Want to know something funny and sad?

At first my site was super legit, trying to help people lose weight the right way, good tips etc, and I was an affiliate for legit awesome products. I made like zero money. Apparently people don't want legit advice and good products they want a magical pill. So I gave it to them. I put up shitty rebill products, gave crappy advice "lose 300 pounds in 2 weeks! (Yeah cuz this shit is possible). I made more money in 1 month then I made all year pushing legit stuff. Moral of the story people are fucking idiots.
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Actually the moral of the story here is sell your customers what they want, not some garbage they don't want.
 
Your list is were the cash is at. My sites are where they come for the information I provide. I don't monetize them at all. People are getting savvy. They don't want to be sold to. They don't want ads all over where they hangout. They want an active, dynamic relationships with the site owners and each other. If you can provide them all this, no selling is involved. They will buy what you offer because they trust and like you.
 
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chatmasta said:
Somebody needs to shake the industry up for sure. It's one of Y Combinator's "ideas we'd like to fund" - advertising that doesn't piss users off. We need a Win-Win-Win idea.
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isn't the answer to this just extremely well targeted advertisements?

and also for stuff that is actually useful, and not stupid motherfucking IQ tests
 
Izaya said:
That's true, and that's what I did. But selling users garbage isn't really helping them, only you. That makes your objectives completely opposite from theirs.
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Actually it does help them. It doesn't solve the original problem they were coming to solve, but the fact that they didn't buy all your "healthy living" text means they don't want to solve the problem the right way. They want to take a pill and wake up a week later 300lbs lighter. Now they ALL know that no pill on earth can do that, but they bought it anyway. When you gave them what they wanted (the miracle), you got rich, and they got what they wanted (hope). Even if it was just for a short time.

I learned this from slangin' bizopps in my early days. Most people honestly don't want a "business system." They want to be filthy rich and not do shit all day ... you know like the stars they see on TV. Just playing all day. So when you tell them that with 40 hours a week, and 5-10 years they can be that rich they back off. They want no part of that. But when you tell them they'll wake up rich tomorrow just by pushing a button they are all over it. They aren't buying the product, they're buying hope. I sold a shit-ton of bizopps in my days and only a small percentage requested a refund after they found out there was work involved. The others shelved it and went on looking for the next bit of hope.
 
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We're all doing this to make money (I assume) and people can't stay on any one website indefinitely. Eventually, they are going to leave your site and go to another one correct? So would you rather they just go back to Google for another search, or would you like them to click on an advertisement on your site so you can get paid?

If you want to blog your ass off and have no monetization on your site that's fine. You'll have tons of great content which people will read and then move on. Seems like a waste to me.
 
efeezy said:
If you want to blog your ass off and have no monetization on your site that's fine.
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I don't think anyone here necessarily said that. I certainly didn't. I hate blogging/writing content, etc. Sure, I have some displayed for free but not very much, that's for sure. Most of my content is pay only. It increases the perception of value and I'm not so dependent on other companies (mostly just payment processors like Paypal, 2CO, Clickbank, etc.)

Do what works for you but IMO relying/depending on anything (incl. traffic & monetization) is just asking to get butt-fucked. Relying on affiliate networks is probably even worse (where's Kongrell to dispute this? Oh yeah...)

I've made those mistakes before and won't again.
 
Truth. I have gotten very cynical - trying to help friends make a little money on the Internet the old fashioned way - by working at a decent concept. They come back 3 weeks later with some advertsiement about how they can make 4 gazillion dollars sitting on the beach, if they only sign up ten of their best friends, and ask me if I want in. Arugh.

cheshire said:
Actually it does help them. It doesn't solve the original problem they were coming to solve, but the fact that they didn't buy all your "healthy living" text means they don't want to solve the problem the right way. They want to take a pill and wake up a week later 300lbs lighter. Now they ALL know that no pill on earth can do that, but they bought it anyway. When you gave them what they wanted (the miracle), you got rich, and they got what they wanted (hope). Even if it was just for a short time.

I learned this from slangin' bizopps in my early days. Most people honestly don't want a "business system." They want to be filthy rich and not do shit all day ... you know like the stars they see on TV. Just playing all day. So when you tell them that with 40 hours a week, and 5-10 years they can be that rich they back off. They want no part of that. But when you tell them they'll wake up rich tomorrow just by pushing a button they are all over it. They aren't buying the product, they're buying hope. I sold a shit-ton of bizopps in my days and only a small percentage requested a refund after they found out there was work involved. The others shelved it and went on looking for the next bit of hope.
Click to expand...
 
Beach Affiliate said:
Not everyone follows the same model you're referring to. I don't serve any outside advertising on the vast majority of my sites, preferring instead to get my visitors in my own funnel.

Adsense = nonsense and the CPA industry as a whole is a schizophrenic mess. I'm not trusting my ability to pay the mortgage on the whims of an Adsense reviewer that had a bad day or a CPA network executive that overextended his shitty company.

Fuck that.

I sell to my visitors again and again and again so if my traffic shit the bed tomorrow, I'd have at least 6 good months' marketing out of almost all of my lists before severe attrition kicked in and response severely declined. This has been proven through multiple tests where I intentionally "burned" small sample lists of both leads and buyers just to see what they'd bear (hint: it's a lot more than most people think).

Don't fall into the trap of just trying to get people to click away. Keep those fuckers in your loop - in your little world - for as long as you can so you can sell to them today, tomorrow, and months from now.

Cool story, bro.
Click to expand...

This is the voice of reason.
 
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