# Server upgrade and advertising



## shaunj66 (Sep 20, 2009)

First let me make this clear: this decision is the result of lengthy discussions between the three admins and all staff.

Secondly, yes, as of today there are a few Google AdSense placements on the portal, but before reading any further please take into account that these adverts *WILL ONLY BE VISIBLE TO GUESTS.* If you are logged in to your GBAtemp account which you get by registering for free, you will NOT _ever_ see any adverts except our affiliated partners which have been with us for years. Let me guarantee to you that our treasured community of members will never be the ones made to suffer.

Anyway, as you may have noticed, lately GBAtemp has been suffering from minor and major slow downs right down to being completely offline. This happens not only during high traffic periods such as popular game releases, but even during non-peak times. Quite frankly, we don't think this is fair on our members. GBAtemp is an information resource and when we're not there for you, we're failing at what we do and not bringing in the new members that could contribute to our site.

In order to cope with the constant increase in visitors, registrations, posts and server hammering "F5'ers"; we've had to upgrade the server hardware and hosting plan countless times. In the last 3 years we've had over 6 different server and hosting set-ups, each considerably more powerful and expensive. 

You may have recently noticed a massive increase in the speed at which the site runs, this is due to a number of optimisations and further hardware upgrades. But this all comes at a cost, and being a non-profit site we're unable to pay for all of it from the little money GBAtemp makes. Myself, Costello and Ace Gunman would love to be able to pay for the upgrades from our own pockets, but the truth is we're all financially unstable, and have normal full-time jobs to attend to and a number of bills to pay. The staff spend countless hours and days of our free time working on GBAtemp in order to better serve you.

We're currently _trialling_ AdSense to see if it is a worthwhile investment. It may prove to be a complete failure in which case we'll either go back to how we were, or look into alternatives.

What will we do with the money if AdSense pays off? Besides paying off bills, and getting a new secondary server, we're looking into a number of things for our future and we already have a few exciting changes coming soon, and a large number of ideas in the pipeline. We're always looking to expand and reward our community and staff who work so hard.

I'll update this post with any answers to questions you have, and any more information if I've missed anything...

But please remember, as long as you are a registered member on our site, you will not be affected by *anything*. These changes are only  being made to people who visit our site, hammer it and leave without contributing a thing to our community. We will make it clearer to guests that the adverts will be gone once they register an account.

We hope you've noticed the increased speeds over the last two days, and will stay tuned for further improvements once we get our new server and projects complete 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Thanks for your understanding.

PS. Please don't think clicking the links for us is a good idea, it's done by unique clicks so any more than once is asking for trouble as Google are quite severe on sites who encourage their users to click the ads, and we may end up getting them taken down.


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## Primenay13 (Sep 20, 2009)

Even if you do put some advertising on here it wouldn't bother me that much. But thanks for giving us members some benifits with the ads!


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## jgu1994 (Sep 20, 2009)

I'm fine with the ads because it's paying for the new server. GBAtemp speeds are finally back to what they were and I'll take ads for that. Also, it's only guests so I'm not complaining. Besides, who wouldn't want to register for this site?


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## rockstar99 (Sep 20, 2009)

people are gonna make accounts just so that they dont see ads and their never gonna post


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## shaunj66 (Sep 20, 2009)

rockstar99 said:
			
		

> people are gonna make accounts just so that they dont see ads and their never gonna post


So what if they do? Then nothing changes except they don't get to see the ads 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 That's fine. More members doesn't equal slow-down at all. Plus they'll get a number of other benefits the site offers to registered members. Everyone's happy.


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## luke_c (Sep 20, 2009)

I don't care, i'm a member, it won't affect me, the site's faster, that's all's we could ask for.


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## moodswinger (Sep 20, 2009)

It's all good!  Most of us here understand what the cost of maintaining a site like this so I don't think anyone would complain.


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## Guild McCommunist (Sep 20, 2009)

Sounds good. The advertising won't matter to registered users and the server upgrade was really needed, especially with the flood of big releases.

Good call good decisions.


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## Deleted User (Sep 20, 2009)

This really is a good way to try covering the costs of hosting the site. Guests will still be able to read any topic they want and displaying the ads means they're giving something back, without being bothered (since all I saw were text ads, which don't use a lot of bandwidth). Also, if they decide to register the ads will be gone and they can contribute to the site in other ways. In my opinion everyone wins!


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## Law (Sep 20, 2009)

Next you just need to move all the GBAtemp videos onto a hosting site that actually pays you money when you get views (I mean holy shit most of your youtube videos have a crapload of views, so even an annotation with a link in the youtube video to the hosting site that pays (Blip.tv, etc. just claim it's for a higher quality video or some other shit) and then embedded the blip.tv video on the front page would probably get you quite a bit of money).

I'm sure most of those views probably come from GBAtemp and not Youtube anyway.


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## Deleted-119707 (Sep 20, 2009)

maybe try to get more affiliates to support gbatemp? or a donation button? im sure you will get quite a bit from donations here.
exactly how much does it cost to run this site? or is it confidential?


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## HaniKazmi (Sep 20, 2009)

I wouldn't really care even if members had to see ads, as long as the website remains. I totally understand the need for this.


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## p1ngpong (Sep 20, 2009)

I never though I would see the day when my beloved temp would sell out to big business.

How could you Shaun?


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## shaunj66 (Sep 20, 2009)

nicky041192 said:
			
		

> maybe try to get more affiliates to support gbatemp? or a donation button? im sure you will get quite a bit from donations here.
> exactly how much does it cost to run this site? or is it confidential?


As we said, we don't want the members to have to pay/suffer for the service we provide - we'll remain that way. And although donations are voluntary, if we can survive without taking your money, we'll do it. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




The site costs more a month to run than my monthly wage packet


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## Deleted-119707 (Sep 20, 2009)

i just logged out and checked. it doesnt get in the way of anything.

well, if its voluntary, and people WANT to help, its ok right?
im only 16, what can i do XD


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## Santee (Sep 20, 2009)

Well I'm a member so it doesn't affect me but I wouldn't wind some ads for members as long as there in places like the affiliate sites since there seems to be two big empty columns in the portal after the shoutbox and the birthday list.


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## Primenay13 (Sep 20, 2009)

IchigoSJ said:
			
		

> Well I'm a member so it doesn't affect me but I wouldn't wind some ads for members as long as there in places like the affiliate sites since there seems to be two big empty columns in the portal after the shoutbox and the birthday list.




Agreed, as long as they are not annoying or in weird places.


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## Salamantis (Sep 20, 2009)

I find this decision is long overdue, and hopefully it pays off now.
Also open donations, don't tell people to donate, just make a small button somewhere.

Will log out and click once, make you like a penny lol

If that doesn't work, porn ads always work


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## Anakir (Sep 20, 2009)

Yes. Please do open a donation button. This site's been running for so long and never asked the people to help financially. As for an ad, it'd be good if people are willing to take the minute to log out and click the advertisement and then log back in each day.

Hope all goes well.


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## TrolleyDave (Sep 20, 2009)

Anakir said:
			
		

> Yes. Please do open a donation button. This site's been running for so long and never asked the people to help financially. As for an ad, it'd be good if people are willing to take the minute to log out and click the advertisement and then log back in each day.
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> Hope all goes well.



Yep, fully agree with this statement!  

I don't see anything wrong with having ads, specially when they're only there for non-registered users.  Just look at the difference between the number of registered users browsing and the number of guests when stuff like Kingdom Hearts, Pokemon and BIS came out.  If it keeps this great community alive I'm all for it!


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## Law (Sep 20, 2009)

shaunj66 said:
			
		

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Some guys who play video games for the internet recently raised $2300, which they're spending on more video games and audio equipment (and hookers and blow). That was $2300 in a week. If you open donations on GBAtemp I can probably say you'll get about $3000 in a month.


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## Domination (Sep 20, 2009)

I don't mind too, I can surf the forum regardless 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




And is the ROMs link in the ad really ok?


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## Satangel (Sep 20, 2009)

I'll log out and click on it 1 time. If it helps GBAtemp stay online and it makes it go faster, I'm more then happy to see this development.
Hopefully it pays off!


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## tj_cool (Sep 20, 2009)

Why not open a poll to ask members if donations are a good idea?


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## shaunj66 (Sep 20, 2009)

Thanks for your enthusiasm about donating, but really we want to at least see where this current plan leads before we do anything else 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Cheers guys.


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## Deleted User (Sep 20, 2009)

I would be more than happy to donate to the website


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## Salamantis (Sep 20, 2009)

Ireland 1 said:
			
		

> I would be more than happy to donate to the website


Same here. Just open up the donations already xD


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## Sterling (Sep 20, 2009)

Very long overdue, and though I haven't been here that long I am still supprised that they weren't already here! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I support whole heartedly, and what's a few dollars between site and users


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## NeSchn (Sep 20, 2009)

I agree, I would totally donate whats left in my PayPal instead of seeing ad's


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## Canonbeat234 (Sep 20, 2009)

Wow I seriously didn't know that this website had a few ups and downs...in all you mods and admins have made it your first priority despite your RL tenancies to keep this website running no matter the sacrifice. 
Talk is cheap from my own words but seriously I won't forget about this website when I go to bootcamp next year.


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## tj_cool (Sep 20, 2009)

Canonbeat234 said:
			
		

> Wow I seriously didn't know that this website had a few ups and downs...in all you mods and admins have made it your first priority despite your RL tenancies to keep this website running no matter the sacrifice.
> Talk is cheap from my own words but seriously I won't forget about this website when I go to bootcamp next year.


This site has _major_ slowdowns sometimes
Thats when people flood the board to get roms or something else
The online users average is high too

edit: wow theres many staff online now


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## adgloride (Sep 20, 2009)

This is long overdue.  When the board has crashed or is going so slow, you can see why when the 2000+ guests are online.  Hopefully they'll sign up to a proper account.


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## dinofan01 (Sep 20, 2009)

Sounds good to me. All I see is benefits for everyone. The slow downs do get annoying so if this helps I will be very grateful. Hopefully this can get the temp enough cash before kingdom hearts english release. You know we're going down that day?


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## Overlord Nadrian (Sep 20, 2009)

Didn't this already exist in the past? Or am I mistaken?


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## Satangel (Sep 20, 2009)

Overlord Nadrian said:
			
		

> Didn't this already exist in the past? Or am I mistaken?



There were no ads on GBAtemp ever, only the GBAtemp affiliates banners. Nothing more.


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## Hadrian (Sep 20, 2009)

tj_cool said:
			
		

> edit: wow theres many staff online now


We have incentives now.


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## TrolleyDave (Sep 20, 2009)

Hadrian said:
			
		

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The ad money is being used to pay for high class prostitutes?


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## Hadrian (Sep 20, 2009)

TrolleyDave said:
			
		

> The ad money is being used to pay for high class prostitutes?


We've had them for quite some time, we just needed some lube because the sizes of our epenises are so huge in width.


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## Law (Sep 20, 2009)

Hookers and blow, guys. Hookers and blow.


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## CrimsoniteX (Sep 20, 2009)

If you ask me, it was a good decisions for everyone. Bravo guys


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## TrolleyDave (Sep 20, 2009)

Hadrian said:
			
		

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Damn you, make me a mod! I want free hookers too! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  I'll even donate lube. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




edit : And now there's blow too!  I can supply some at very reasonable rates!


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## da_head (Sep 20, 2009)

awesome idea 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



and i'm glad the site's back up to speed


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## Deleted User (Sep 20, 2009)

This reminds me of MAD Magazine and how they finally decided to accept ads because the costs were rising. Before that, they were only doing ad parodies! 

Hopefully we can get glossy paper here too! I like shiny things :]  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




As long as they're not animated ads, its cool. When the site gets real slow, I think you guys should definitely open up donations.


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## Synchromatic (Sep 20, 2009)

This old forum I used to mod racked in quite a bit of money from ads because it had a lot of members/guests who were kids. And you know kids, they click on anything.

Just an idea, but would it be possible to set up a donation based system, where members who donated get certain perks?


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## Law (Sep 20, 2009)

Reru said:
			
		

> This old forum I used to mod racked in quite a bit of money from ads because it had a lot of members/guests who were kids. And you know kids, they click on anything.
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> Just an idea, but would it be possible to set up a donation based system, *where members who donated get certain perks?*



Terrible idea, there's enough elitism here as there is.


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## p1ngpong (Sep 20, 2009)

Law said:
			
		

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Seriously all donations, if they ever have them, should be completely anonymous and perk free.

Last thing we need is people saying "I donated I should be entitled to this blah blah blah"


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## Synchromatic (Sep 20, 2009)

p1ngpong said:
			
		

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I suppose that the perk-idea wouldn't quite work on GBAtemp because of the different atmosphere. :\ But still, a donation-system?


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## TrolleyDave (Sep 20, 2009)

I don't see why anyone would have a problem with donations if they use the site alot, I'd donate a couple of quid a month if it was necessary.  Don't agree with the perks thing tho, but then what kind of perks would you get?  There's no download limit on here, no posting limit, there's like no limitations here at all so they can't actually grant you more so to speak.


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## Law (Sep 20, 2009)

TrolleyDave said:
			
		

> I don't see why anyone would have a problem with donations if they use the site alot, I'd donate a couple of quid a month if it was necessary.  Don't agree with the perks thing tho, but then what kind of perks would you get?  There's no download limit on here, no posting limit, there's like no limitations here at all so they can't actually grant you more so to speak.



You get a pretty pink name, a -10% warn, a friendly PM from a member of staff whose name is chosen out of a hat, and the nearest Admin will take you out for ice cream.


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## TrolleyDave (Sep 20, 2009)

Law said:
			
		

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Hmmmm, you raise a very good point.  Do we get to pick our own ice cream?


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## Law (Sep 20, 2009)

TrolleyDave said:
			
		

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If your donation ends in a multiple of 2 you'll get vanilla, if it's a multiple of 3 you get chocolate, if it's a prime number you get strawberry, if it ends in a 0 you get mint, if it ends in a decimal (e.g. £3.27, £5.38, £0.54) you get rum and raisin. If you want to know about any other flavors feel free to ask and I'll look up the details.


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## tj_cool (Sep 20, 2009)

bigger PM box?


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## p1ngpong (Sep 20, 2009)

tj_cool said:
			
		

> bigger PM box?



If I had a say I would be against even something like that.


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## tj_cool (Sep 20, 2009)

p1ngpong said:
			
		

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Yeah maybe your right, would take more space
Was just a quick thought too
And staff has bigger PM box already


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## adgloride (Sep 20, 2009)

tj_cool said:
			
		

> bigger PM box?



With the number of PMs I've got in all the time I've been with GBATemp.  I could easily deal with having a PM box with only 10 allowed.


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## TrolleyDave (Sep 20, 2009)

Law said:
			
		

> If your donation ends in a multiple of 2 you'll get vanilla, if it's a multiple of 3 you get chocolate, if it's a prime number you get strawberry, if it ends in a 0 you get mint, if it ends in a decimal (e.g. £3.27, £5.38, £0.54) you get rum and raisin. If you want to know about any other flavors feel free to ask and I'll look up the details.



Well what happens if our donation is a multiple of 6?  Do we get twice as much as we do with 3?  Because you know, even though it's a multiple of 3 it's still twice as big innit?  And what multiple do I need to donate if I want the patch for M&L3 for the R4?  Cos I is needzing it NAO!  And what about making that iPlayer emu work on the R4, how much do I need to donate then?


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## Law (Sep 20, 2009)

TrolleyDave said:
			
		

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If it's a multiple of six you get a mixture of vanilla and chocolate.

*That wasn't part of the donation contract.*


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## TrolleyDave (Sep 20, 2009)

Well if that's no part of the donation contract then I'm not donating anything you tight bastard.  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I know you have it and told everyone that I did just to stop them PMing you.


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## Law (Sep 20, 2009)

TrolleyDave said:
			
		

> Well if that's no part of the donation contract then I'm not donating anything you tight bastard.
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Oh please, the only PMs I ever get are from people asking me to apologise to them.


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## Veho (Sep 20, 2009)

Perks, you say? How about a GBATEMP mail account?  

[email protected] 

It has a nice ring to it.


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## Santee (Sep 20, 2009)

Veho said:
			
		

> Perks, you say? How about a GBATEMP mail account?
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It does have a nice ring but wouldn't that just cause the sever more stress when there are plenty of free email sites and I think that contests that need you to have a certain post count are good enough perks already.


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## TrolleyDave (Sep 20, 2009)

Law said:
			
		

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Seriously? People send you PMs asking you to apologise? lol


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## Holaitsme (Sep 20, 2009)

IchigoSJ said:
			
		

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They can use google for it.
http://www.google.com/a/cpanel/domain/new


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## Deleted-119707 (Sep 20, 2009)

meh, no need for perks...
hope everything works out.


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## Salamantis (Sep 21, 2009)

I'd say perks are not needed.
If a user chooses to donate, it's to show appreciation to the staff for running the site. Not to get extra bonus features.

...altho we're not responsible for things that happen outside of GBAtemp, so you might have a night in bed with an admin if you donate $100 xD


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## Synchromatic (Sep 21, 2009)

Oh my, look at the monster I've created by suggesting the idea of perks. I just suggested it because other sites and organizations usually have something to go along with donation.


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## DeMoN (Sep 21, 2009)

Silly idea:  Put up fake ROM download links that instead redirect the guest to an advertiser's website.


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## dice (Sep 21, 2009)

PharaohsVizier said:
			
		

> I had the same dilemma a while back for my own website, implemented Google Adsense as well in the end, and honestly it doesn't seem to affect users much, and I mean even a small site such as mine gets decent money.  I once saw $5 in one day, whereas usually it is considerably lower.  With GBATemp, I can imagine that it would rake in quite a bit more.
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And I'm pretty certain that his job pays more than minimum wage.


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## Sonicslasher (Sep 21, 2009)

For all those who are suggesting donations, it's not gonna happen. The last thing the admins want is to get shit from members who've donated and expect something for their money's worth.


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## Satangel (Sep 21, 2009)

dice said:
			
		

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That's amazing! I never knew this site costs that much! I always thought something along the lines of 200 USD would be the price to run this baby, and I even thought that was a lot!


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## Anakir (Sep 21, 2009)

DeMoN said:
			
		

> Silly idea:  Put up fake ROM download links that instead redirect the guest to an advertiser's website.



I like this idea. I'm serious. So many nublets come here expecting game downloads. Just give them a link to the advertisement. But then we'd be flooded with "why link no works???? ??"


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## Satangel (Sep 23, 2009)

Sonicslasher said:
			
		

> For all those who are suggesting donations, it's not gonna happen. The last thing the admins want is to get shit from members who've donated and expect something for their money's worth.



Can't we just give them an extra medal under their avatar or so? Or a custom group, Site Supporter or so.
Else I don't see why you wouldn't do it.

Also, can it be made that if the server is getting overloaded, that the sigs and avatars are automatically not loaded anymore?


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## yuyuyup (Sep 23, 2009)

I think ads for guests is a great idea, although I would recommend a way for them to somehow still POST and PARTICIPATE if you want them to stay and keep clicking, it sounds like a decent tradeoff no annoying registration/e-mail verification for some ads, just add one of those random code generators to prevent spam etc


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## wchill (Sep 23, 2009)

What about an option to enable/disable ads for members? So members can choose whether they have the ads or not - seems like a good compromise for those who don't mind the ads and will probably click them anyway.


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## shakirmoledina (Sep 24, 2009)

well there isnt too much trouble in ads and i can understand how loaded the servers get esp after seeing ds-scene
maybe something like amazon products adverts or earning from ads by just it's placement and not clicking is more worthy IMO

Quote - If someone's deeds lower his position, his pedigree cannot elevate it.


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## Jdbye (Sep 24, 2009)

I don't mind this at all.

In fact, I think it's a great idea - there are always more guests than members on the site, this should motivate them to register


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## Satangel (Oct 3, 2009)

NVM


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## Blazikun (Jun 19, 2010)

people could just use AdBlock for Safari/chrome/firefox/IE, though.


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## tj_cool (Jun 19, 2010)

People could also not bump topics ...


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