The ads!

[Priscellie]

I never thought I'd say this, but... the new ads look great, Fred!  Very understated and out of the way and harmonious with the layout, not to mention actually topical.  Hopefully they'll bring in a little cash to offset the cost of running the second domain!  It boggles my mind that as successful as Jim is, you're still having to cover his site expenses out of pocket.  Pony up already, ROC!

[Mickey Finn]

Once upon there was a little site for entertainment news called CHUD.com.
Nick, the guy behind CHUD, *hated* site ads. Said they'd never be on his site.
Problem is, the site got really popular, and he couldn't afford not to do ads, so he started using them. The companies he used, though, while targeted, were exceedingly obnoxious and if they didn't crash your browser, would take over huge parts of the screen (and often overlap what you were trying to click on). It's still a great site, but most of my friends won't go there because of the ads.

Thank you for not going down that road, Fred.

[Helen™]

After careful searching, I finally figured out what ads you were talking about.  Yeah, I'm glad we're not being bombarded.  It's really well done.  Thanks.

[iago]

Google's been pretty good at providing solid targeted ads.

And don't worry about Roc not paying me.  With the Cafe Press T-Shirts, the Google Ads, and especially the Amazon referrals from the store part of jim-butcher.com, I'm actually making a small profit from running the site.  Which is a good thing -- it gave me the freedom to consider things like this site-split upgrade and helps take the sting out of the fact that I'm self-employed.

[Shecky]

Out of curiosity, how much more would it cost to run the site ad-free?

[ToddM326]

Out of curiousity, does this mean that because I'm a registered user on the board, I'm going to start getting junk email from these Google ads?

[Priscellie]

Out of curiousity, does this mean that because I'm a registered user on the board, I'm going to start getting junk email from these Google ads?

Certainly not!  You will never receive junk email from this or any jim-butcher.com-affiliated site.

[Mickey Finn]

(Stops mailing Todd.)

[Murphy's Stunt Double]

Gotta say, I concur. The ads are well done and not obtrustive in the least. One question... When the time comes, where're ya gonna put the Countdown Calendar now?

[Priscellie]

Gotta say, I concur. The ads are well done and not obtrustive in the least. One question... When the time comes, where're ya gonna put the Countdown Calendar now?

True.  Only 14 days until "My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon," after all!

[Amber]

Everyone could make the countdown their sig file so that it follows you everywhere you go.

[Murphy's Stunt Double]

I'd miss Priscillie's Sig line... I love it!

I want one! Well, maybe not, cause then it wouldn't be so precious. It's Unique!

[ToddM326]

(Stops mailing Todd.)

Mickey - are you the one sending me those emails???

I don't mind the emails, I just hate junk mail.

[Elanel]

Yeah, good placements. I was very anti-adverts for years until I upgraded to a new dedicated server in July, then I suddenly really wanted them    They're very subtle as well and in theme with the site. We've had a few odd adverts creep through like dating agency sites, which we've filtered out (for the kids... ya see). We actually make it so the ads disappear when people log in. As we get more guests to the site than members, it's actually proven quite good. I've been able to save between $70-150 per month on the server costs, which is more than enough.

[Helen™]

Yeah, it's interesting.  I was in my football poll thread earlier today and there was an ad for some sports thing.