Side project developers dislike scam ad networks
19 posts across 6 communities in the last 60 days; 42% from r/SideProject.
“I've found for paywalled news sites pressing reader mode tends to work well. In fact even for non paywalled news sites, they tend to be chuck full of ads its impossible to read t he article anyway.”
“I came to hate on you, but others have covered that for me, saves me doing it, so moving on.... I have seen your idea already in place, it was a site for advertising webhosting. Could be 100 listed, and to increase your rank, you commit to x per week to move up. In practice, the…”
“is there a directory for directories? Like legit, how do people find all the directories to list on? The flip side is that people building directories need listings to show its valid to attract real business. So even for them to be able to get SEO people to find it, and spam it…”
One developer was burned by a scam ad network and built their own alternative. Another expresses respect for this approach, noting the low cost of text ads and acknowledging the challenges faced by developers in constrained environments like Cuba.
SOURCES (21)
“I use to have a website builder and people often made sites like that to scam people. Just letting you know lol. It was extremely frequent. [re: My first paying user might be a scammer]”
“I've found for paywalled news sites pressing reader mode tends to work well. In fact even for non paywalled news sites, they tend to be chuck full of ads its impossible to read t he article anyway.”
“I think a few years ago it went to shit when people started using it for launch etc. Sort of hacker news light. A few made a mint doing it and then made their second fortune telling people how to tap into "free marketing on Reddit". If it worked a few years back, it definitely doesn't today. But people don't let that stop them. Plus being anonymous, I reckon the same people will spam different side projects without consequence.”
aren't there already open source models like this? Like Cactus Needle.
Nah, do Laya, that's open-source and runs locally. It functions the same.
“I came to hate on you, but others have covered that for me, saves me doing it, so moving on.... I have seen your idea already in place, it was a site for advertising webhosting. Could be 100 listed, and to increase your rank, you commit to x per week to move up. In practice, the top 2 must be using bots, OR, were owned by the site itself, but would just be instantly 0.01 above everyone else, and instantly dropped when #3 dropped. Most people would play it for a week or two before quickly realisi”
“I don't know what kind of website you have, but maybe an alternative source of funding, like donations or merch, can help offset costs?”
“I know most of you are trying to make money with side projects and naturally this means that many tools are directly monetized. I'm interested in people out there who own free tools. Why did you make it free? Are you monetizing through other means like affiliate marketing or promotions for example? I know Google AdSense is a widely used option and would like to know more about it. submitted by /u/chasingfreedomm [link] [comments]”
“I know most of you are trying to make money with side projects and naturally this means that many tools are directly monetized. I'm interested in people out there who own free tools. Why did you make it free? Are you monetizing through other means like affiliate marketing or promotions for example? I know Google AdSense is a widely used option and would like to know more about it. submitted by /u/chasingfreedomm [link] [comments]”
“is there a directory for directories? Like legit, how do people find all the directories to list on? The flip side is that people building directories need listings to show its valid to attract real business. So even for them to be able to get SEO people to find it, and spam it is basically worth it. Honestly surprised you cant milk both ends of the cow. Im in a brilliant directories thread, there would be people who would pay for real listings, and for it to come through steady as long as its r”
“Oh Jeez, you're right! i thought/hoped those days are over. Well, i guess there's no end to stupidity.”
“Actually, that is a really cool idea. I didn't want to do anything "complicated" to distract from the joke, but maybe that's what people are looking for.”
“mad respect for just building the thing yourself instead of waiting around. $3/mo for text ads is basically nothing, i'd throw my side project on there if it wasnt still half broken also cool that listenbrainz shouted you out, i use that for my own scrobbles and never see anyone mention the community tools”