Non-Intrusive Ads… for a Short While

[KazuyaKan]

Not sure if this was already said, but any advertisement will be seen as income by publishers, regardless of what you say the funds will be used for, and gives them the justification to stop looking the other way and come after the site. This site was already big and popular enough to come after with that mass DMCA not too long ago, so they already have eyes on the site. You're just giving them another reason to come after the site yet again.

 

[vidopnir]

The big "Become A Supporter" bar at the top of manga chapters now tells me the ads are not generating the numbers you want.

 

[BestBoy]

The big "Become A Supporter" bar at the top of manga chapters now tells me the ads are not generating the numbers you want.

Pretty sure that's been there the whole time

 

[N0Mi0]

Not to be that guy, but I would expect a big, honest and very personal post about going against the number one policy after years of openly dismissing ads to the point of April Fools' becoming a way to make fun of the very idea.

Instead of a matter-of-fact announcement like it's another Tuesday.
Sure, I probably don't mind, but still... This needs to be delivered to the readers in a very careful manner, especially when you're choosing this over donations.
I also echo the sober idea that any direct ads for such a site are a bad idea.

This reminds me of back when there was a security issue which resulted in the whole site UI being remade with little discussion on the matter (we literally didn't have comments for years).

Guess we're reaching later stages of product lifecycle huh... It was a great run of enthusiasm I guess.
Money-making time now.

Still, on the other hand I understand needing the funds, not like the servers pay for themselves.
Maybe it's really a non-issue. I'd choose ads over there being no MD in a heartbeat.
My main issue is with the delivery I guess.
Cheers.

 

[BestBoy]

Maybe it's really a non-issue.

You'd be correct, because the single banner ad has been here since October.

Also, not the first time MD has had ads.

 

[SerMonday]

Guess we're reaching later stages of product

"Product" implies that there's an exchange of value for goods/services.

MD has been literally free (i.e. no required membership or ads) for a very long time. That's not a product. This is literally the start of being a product (previous times of introducing ads excepted).

 

[tarzan1114]

ew ads

 

[PhoenixDen]

Real talk, as long as the ads are relevant to manga and anime, and aren't like...clearly virus-laden ads that at best link to like a game that was crapped out in 5 days, I'm fine with it. These ads aren't nearly as bad as some I've seen. Hell, the current Gold Gold Adventure Gold game I actually knew about already because I'm a Joshi wrestling fan and Maki Itoh provides a voice for a character. Fun little coincidence, really.

 

[Spica]

"Product" implies that there's an exchange of value for goods/services.

MD has been literally free (i.e. no required membership or ads) for a very long time. That's not a product. This is literally the start of being a product (previous times of introducing ads excepted).

There are exchanges of value in MD. Some TL group accept money (or donation) in exchange for TL services.

This mean MD is distributor of products. By that definition, MD exchange services and may be called product. Ig the words project lifecycle is better applied in this context compared to product lifecyle but its point stand

Even MD accept donation through NamiComi (you should have known since you have supporter badge) and it been going at least a year before ads


TL;DR I think @N0Mi0 points are good and logical. It's not good to disregard it because some nitpick on word choices

 

[HaikenEdge]

If the product is free, you're the product.

 

[JVick]

If the product is free, you're the product.

And if the product isn't free you're suddenly not the product ?

 

[ireadit]

And if the product isn't free you're suddenly not the product ?

You're still the product, but less so.

 

[JVick]

You're still the product, but less so.

If only you knew how much your bank is using your bank statement to send you to call centers, you'll be surprised

 

[ireadit]

If only you knew how much your bank is using your bank statement to send you to call centers, you'll be surprised

I don't know, I rarely get spam calls, and if I get them, they're the classic "your computer is infected" scams. I don't think the scammers need my bank statement to know I have a computer.

Anyway, I don't disagree with the statement that you're often the "product" as a customer, but I do think that paying money for a service makes it at least a bit less likely that the company needs to offset the cost of operation by selling my data.

 

[BestBoy]

MD is no more a "distributor of product" than your local public library. Both contain "products" that were created through the exchange of currency (writers, publishers, translators, etc.). Both offer the product for free. Both take donations.

 

[JVick]

I don't know, I rarely get spam calls, and if I get them, they're the classic "your computer is infected" scams. I don't think the scammers need my bank statement to know I have a computer.

Anyway, I don't disagree with the statement that you're often the "product" as a customer, but I do think that paying money for a service makes it at least a bit less likely that the company needs to offset the cost of operation by selling my data.

It's sometimes the opposite, since they have the money, they can pay for a full legal office so they can try to dodge every RGPD rules.

Every company is using 100% of your data, down to the number of click on each item on their website. So this is why 'if it's free you're the product' is naive, even if it's expensive, you are a product, even more so when you have the money to buy more.

 

[vidopnir]

MD is no more a "distributor of product" than your local public library. Both contain "products" that were created through the exchange of currency (writers, publishers, translators, etc.). Both offer the product for free. Both take donations.

The local library doesn't technically offer it for free at all. The local libraries generally get tax money from the city/county here in the US.

 

[BestBoy]

The local library doesn't technically offer it for free at all. The local libraries generally get tax money from the city/county here in the US.

I suppose that just makes my point more salient. MD is less of a distributor of product than a local library where the books are free and the cost of entry is pennies per year.

 

[Spica]

I suppose that just makes my point more salient. MD is less of a distributor of product than a local library where the books are free and the cost of entry is pennies per year.

I agree. Maybe not local library because they need to adhere to stricter law (need to own and pay for the books, only lend e-book as much as they had physically, etc) but more like GenLib or SciHub.

GenLib and SciHub are aggregator site for text books and scientific papers. You can say GenLib/SciHub are less than MD (since they rip raw files 1:1) or more than MD (since they are for academic purposes compared to MD's recreational ones) but both of these site lives of donation longer than MD without the need to pivot to ads or such.

I've said it and will say it again. I love MD. MD has been my most visited site beside youtube to wind off and relax but I think some critiques of ads in MD are fair.

EDIT: just crosschecked my claim and while SciHub is up and running, OG LibGen without ads is down since June citing DMCA (not revenue problem). LibGen+ clone still up but it contains popup and ads, but I think my point stands.

 

[BestBoy]

some critiques of ads in MD are fair

Sure, but I haven't seen a single legitimate critique so far outside the banner ad being too large in mobile due to a bug.