Why Revenue Sharing Needs to Go

Take a look at almost any thread in the forum, regardless of section. Chances are that you'll find that 90% of the replies consist of either "PM Me" or "PM Sent" or some permutation thereof. These posts are worthless.

There's a few reason why people request that they be private messaged. Some of the reasons are legitimate, such as maintaining confidentiality or hiding information from a search engine, while the vast majority are not. I posit that the primary reason people create so many worthless posts is to increase the number of replies and consequently the likelihood of their ad showing in a thread, and therefore increase the likelihood that they will receive a click and therefore receive compensation.

In reality, revenue sharing brings in almost no revenue to the visitors (in both absolute and relative terms), while depriving DP of money that it clearly needs to fix the crippling lack of resources evidenced by how slow the forum is. Cutting revenue sharing would indeed lower the number of posts (and the number of ad impressions), but it would also greatly reduce the load on the server while simultaneously enhancing the average post quality. Since DP would be receiving 100% of the revenues, this would mitigate the loss of revenue caused by the reduction in post volume.

What do you guys think?

 

Posts in a thread do not effect rev sharing as far as I know. Only the original posts/threads can earn anything. Of course I guess that should not be spread around... heh, we'll have a bunch of pointless threads started.

oops, too late.​

 

Its not hurting anything, not doing any affect to us

 

The clickthrough rate for this website is incredibly low. The only way anyone makes any money is from pay-per-view ads that some times crop up.

 

I think the CTR would go up... I used to actually click on the header ads till they vanished in favor of the coop ads I now see...

I ignore the text link units completely. I've yet to find one to actually be useful (here or anywhere).

 

People don't post more the revenue sharing because the earnings are so low. I agree that revenue sharing should be stopped. Individually, you won't make more then a few dollars a year but combined would mean a large amount for Shawn. I think Shawn should keep all the money and maybe invest in a faster server.

 

I'd donate the $2.50 I earned last year for that cause...

 

This is true, but it's also part of the problem. Right now, certain threads are 80% "PM Please", with the remaining 20% (an optimistic figure) being discussion of the actual material. The reason that many of the thread starters require people to PM them is to increase the number of posts in a thread, and consequently the chance that someone will click on an advertisement.

I think another major source of spam is people who feel the need to reach the magic "50 post" figure, without ever contributing anything worthwhile. A good interim step is to make it so that posts in the B/S/T forums do not count towards a user's postcount, forcing people to make 50 posts of at least passable quality in other sections of the site.

A decision has to be made. If the goal of the forum is to encourage the spread of knowledge, changes need to be made. If the goal is to maximize the number of ad impressions, the current approach will succeed in the short-term, until those posters who make this forum worthwhile (read: not those who simply post "PM") get tired of wading through page after page of useless response and begin to seek alternatives.

 

"PM sent" == Post count. That is for sure, but it's less about Adsense and more about Sig sales, at least for many... Most of the "PM" posts are in BST after all...

There is also the misconception that one needs to post in a thread to trade itrader.

 

Think about this, Trekster - there are artificial barriers imposed from the top down in order to keep the whole posting thing alive and running smoothly so that DP can continually attract people from the entire internet spectrum and have it remain a viable proposition economically for its' owners and advertisers (surely you don't think this is done PURELY for the love, do you? It's one helluva pain in the ass to get a forum started and then grow it to the proportions to which DP exists with an internet wide reputation and members bringing others in.). As a new member, it's not MY idea to have to complete 25 posts in order to qualify to be able to sell my products/services in the BST section. But I understand that nothing in this life is free and if you want to make something of value, you have to work at it and for it. Most beginning forum owners initially have to pay to get posters to attract other posters (you know, kinda like the 'empty restaurant theory' where noone is willing to go into a place that's dead as the cemetary) so that they attract an audience that is augmented in time by word of mouth, good ad placement, and the development of a solid reputation (sic). As I'm a member of several other forums than this one, I have an automatic value-adding mentality that allows me to inject quantity and quality in all the posts I do. I rather like the fact that
I have to work a bit in order to achieve my goals without resorting to laziness (ie -"PM Sent")and I feel that those doing that are only hurting themselves in the long run since noone is going to really benefit from chasing a goal without injecting just the tiniest bit more effort which would help them be noticed a bit more. And as far as that abolishment of Adsense revenue sharing goes. I ALREADY knew that if you start a thread, you're the one who gets the payoff from it, and I won't go that way because it just defeats the purpose of being in a community that's supposed to be about growth through learning. Don't the mods have the responsibility of handing out the infractions for lame posts like that? Let them do their jobs and I'm sure in time, they'll winnow down the number of pointless posts of those only looking to bullet to the "Magic 50". As a new member, I think that the ad revenue sharing is a completely democratic way of helping the community feel that it is appreciated for the work it does to make the forum what it is. Of course, I feel like people who post JUST to get the count are defeating the purpose, but everything is able to be seen in regards to quality and you just can't compare someone like yourself, who takes the time to make intelligent, articulate posts of substance to the post count fiends looking to get (artificially-imposed) number out of the way. You just can't do it. Besides, that subculture probably doesn't give a hoot for taking the time to contribute, and don't feed their egos anymore by wasting your breath on recalcitrancy, when you could've been giving me the benefit of your knowledge and experience instead as a brand new member of this forum. Because that's what I came for. I'm searching out the skilled veterans so I can become one down the line.

 

Anyone who posts 'PM sent' will receive an infraction - it serves no purpose other than to bump threads unnecessarily.

 

I highly doubt the revenue sharing option is going to be removed. Thanks for the suggestion.