Ad revenue from ROM downloads

by **Sellbars** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 5:06 am

Hey everyone,

I want to mention that Theoldcomputer would benefit massively if all the ROM or VGM links went through a ad-based five second screen using AdFly. If all the files were redirected as such, server payments would ease up and donations would not be urgent as it is now. Difficulty is non-existent for setting up, except that you need to do it for every file in the database, so discussions are welcome.

P.S. Sorry for my absence, hopefully I will become active on the forums again

by **silent sniper** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 7:37 am

i dont think members will like that,especially on systems with a lot of roms.

maybe for free members,maybe on mega packs and not single roms or on big roms instead of small ones.

by **Hot Trout** » Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:15 am

It would make a lot of money but would also make the user experience very crappy. I personally hate sites that bombard me with adverts, popup crap over ever word you move the mouse on and also play videos when you dont ask for them. We are getting by without adverts and the users love the site for it.

by **Sellbars** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:27 am

Hot Trout wrote:It would make a lot of money but would also make the user experience very crappy. I personally hate sites that bombard me with adverts, popup crap over ever word you move the mouse on and also play videos when you dont ask for them. We are getting by without adverts and the users love the site for it.

I understand, but to argue against those points, AdFly does not do any of the experiences you mention. I do agree that it makes the user experience less appealing. However, five seconds of waiting is far more generous then, for example, file hosting sites, where lengths increase dramatically up to two minutes (depending on your selection). As well, all generated ads mentioned are not based on installing software or survey completions, so the loss of appeal is not severe, rather, pleasantly tolerable.

Would captchas generate revenue? If they do, that is a far more appealing choice, especially if the specific captcha is relatively easy to finish. You could also place the files on hosting sites so then you do not have to store them on the servers you use. Mediafire has no delay for downloading files, so there is no waiting for download links or anything. As far as I am aware, the download speeds are not capped either, so I would believe the user experience would be more positive. However I am not sure if you support this stance.

by **silent sniper** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 8:43 am

if i want to download some system roms and that system has let's say 600 roms.

multiply 600 roms by 5 seconds per each rom and you get 50 minutes of extra waiting and clicking,no thanks.

by **Sellbars** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:26 am

silent sniper wrote:if i want to download some system roms and that system has let's say 600 roms.

multiply 600 roms by 5 seconds per each rom and you get 50 minutes of extra waiting and clicking,no thanks.

That is if you download each system rom individually, one at a time, and waiting for the download link to appear, which is some 70s worst case scenario. As far as I am aware, no one has never done that to any system. There are mass download zip files for systems too, further reducing all that time to five seconds. As well, you can have multiple tabs open, which means you can ideally wait five seconds to download all of them in parallel (limited by, of course, Theoldcomputer).

I do not know about you, but I do not think anyone in the world has truly downloaded and played all the roms in any system, further reducing the chance of anyone doing such an action. If they have not accepted any browser past Netscape, that could justify your reason, since they have to wait all those minutes.

Once again to mention, there are mass download zip files. As well, if the individual does not have an unlimited account, it further provides the incentive to donate to Theoldcomputer if they seriously want to download all 600 roms from here and here only.

by **silent sniper** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:01 am

it's not about only playing them it's also about collecting them.

retro fans download everything related to the system they love,learn how big some tosec sets are and then will talk.

trying to push this thing is a negative thing,people don't like it for a reason.

feel free to open a blog/thread of you're own and do it there.

no one likes adfly and etc,besides owners and affiliates..

Website · by **Kherr** » Sun Jan 05, 2014 12:20 am

Actually, I'm not all that against AdFly. I have AdBlock plus installed at all times, so I don't ever see an ad with AdFly. Heck, most people use AdBlock Plus now - it's almost a requirement for most people. However, if we're getting along just fine without the ads, then that's just a bonus. We don't need AdFly at that point then. Not to mention setting up over 400k links to redirect back to us with AdFly for each individual file to download would be a right pain in the ass. It just doesn't sound feasible at this point. It's not a really bad idea, but it is at the exact same time...

I do appreciate the input and suggestion. :hi: