Some fundamental decisions

Hey everyone,

I'll try to keep this one short.

Most of you have probably seem the posts I have made about how ad-blockers are literally eating away at the revenue we get from Google Ads, to the point where I may need to face the decision to sell the site to a media company. That is an absolute last resort, but I might be facing that decision relatively soon.

For many years I had been receiving inquiries by several media companies such as Internet Brands, Vertical Scope, and others with offers to purchase the site. I had and have some very tempting offers that are sizeable, but I turned them down because once any media company takes ownership of any sites, they use their own advertising and monetization networks, and that could mean a huge price increase for Supporting Vendors here, which I absolutely do not want to happen here. The additional advertising that these media companies deploy on their owned sites can become extremely invasive.

Those media companies have their own ad networks, and most of the forums that were acquired by these companies will use ad-blocker countermeasures, such as pop-up messages that permit the user of the site only if the ad-blocker is disabled. That is another thing I said I would not allow to happen here. I could very easily increase our Google ad revenue by implementing very annoying ads, which I will never do.

Most internet browsers now include ad-blockers that are automatically enabled. and when used here deprive the site of its Google ad revenue. It is hurting the site more and more as its traffic has been increasing a great deal, but the use of ad-blockers has also been increasing. This is not an issue particular to S&F - it is a big issue for most magazine-type websites that depend on ad revenue.

I will not make any decisions on the site without discussing it here with you all. The only thing I ask is, if you are using an ad-blocker, please consider whitelisting this site. All ad-blockers easily allow sites to be whitelisted. I better stop here before I write a novel.

Thank you for reading everybody, and most of all, thank you for all of your support.

Greg

no blockers for me here ever..hope this doesn't happen.................

Greg I don't use any kind of ad blocker & don't mind having to close out a pop up. Personally I say do whatever you need to do to keep the site & pay for it. I will also keep donating yearly. RR

Thank-you Greg, It has been a Great Ride. :thumbsup:

Greg, you’ve been a wonderful host and always been straight up with any changes you have been forced to, or just needed to make on this site to be better for us. Time to make a decision on what is also right for you. We are grateful to have been a part of this “ride” with you. Thank you so much.

If selling this site helps you to retire and live well, I say do it. Everyone would understand and support you.

Greg--a note from the ignoratti--I use Chrome to see S&F. It is on a license, so I assume it is updated regularly. I have no idea whether it has ad blockers automatically enabled or not--I do see ads, and I did see the banners, but a post describing how to whitelist S&F may be useful for us Luddites. And thanks for all you do--I hate to see the notes above that seem to be saying good-bye.

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Originally Posted by XstreamVking

If selling this site helps you to retire and live well, I say do it. Everyone would understand and support you.

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I really do appreciate what you said. The offer that IB gave me years ago would definitely have set me up for life if invested responsibly. At the time IB went on a buying spree and they now own just about all of the large, well-known forums. As tempting as the offer was, I am 100% honest when I say that I didn't even consider selling it. If I sold the site, I would feel like I was betraying people here. That sounds a little dramatic, but that's how I felt. There are Supporting Vendors here that depend on serving members here, and if I sold the site, that media company would have restructured the site's advertising, using their ad network and in the process, either dramatically increasing the fee for being a Supporting Vendor or eliminating them altogether to use the advertising spaces for their partner ads. I know this based on conversations with former owners of some of the sites they purchased. The fee for being a Supporting Vendor here has actually never increased since getting our first vendor back in 2001, which was Tony Brucato. There were a number of reasons why I didn't consider selling it, and right next to preserving the Supporting Vendors here as they are, but of course all of you who visit here every day for tech help, finding or selling boats and parts, and good ole goofing around sometimes :).

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Originally Posted by Li'l Toy

Greg--a note from the ignoratti--I use Chrome to see S&F. It is on a license, so I assume it is updated regularly. I have no idea whether it has ad blockers automatically enabled or not--I do see ads, and I did see the banners, but a post describing how to whitelist S&F may be useful for us Luddites. And thanks for all you do--I hate to see the notes above that seem to be saying good-bye.

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I haven't used Chrome in some time, but I'll check on how it works on that browser. From what I remember of Chrome, by default it will have many or most of the Google ads whitelisted, which of course makes sense, after all Google doesn't want their browser blocking their own ads. :) The Supporting Vendor banners here are hard-coded so they are immune to ad-blockers, whereas the Google ads are database-driven so they can be blocked relatively easily. Many sites now use a sort of gatekeeper method, whereby the site could only be viewed once it has been whitelisted on an ad-blocker. That is something I can implement, but I won't.

I completely understand why ad-blockers have become so popular. There are so many invasive and annoying ads on many sites that end up making some sites unusable. These advertising companies did it to themselves by pushing the boundaries of what people are willing to tolerate with website ads. Google is constantly trying to steer me into using overlay ads and other extremely annoying methods to serve ads, which I will not implement. As it stands now I wish I didn't have Google ads at all, but they pay a great deal of this site's very expensive operating costs, which is significant. I want Google ads to be the least intrusive as possible.

Selling the site would be an absolutely rock-bottom last resort, and I would do all I can to keep the site owned by all of us, not by some faceless media company.

You have all supported this site for a very long time, and I don't think I could thank all of you enough for it. I am always very grateful to you all.

Do you have a boat? :cheers: :leaving:.......;)

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Originally Posted by Scream And Fly

I really do appreciate what you said. The offer that IB gave me years ago would definitely have set me up for life if invested responsibly. At the time IB went on a buying spree and they now own just about all of the large, well-known forums. As tempting as the offer was, I am 100% honest when I say that I didn't even consider selling it. If I sold the site, I would feel like I was betraying people here. That sounds a little dramatic, but that's how I felt. There are Supporting Vendors here that depend on serving members here, and if I sold the site, that media company would have restructured the site's advertising, using their ad network and in the process, either dramatically increasing the fee for being a Supporting Vendor or eliminating them altogether to use the advertising spaces for their partner ads. I know this based on conversations with former owners of some of the sites they purchased. The fee for being a Supporting Vendor here has actually never increased since getting our first vendor back in 2001, which was Tony Brucato. There were a number of reasons why I didn't consider selling it, and right next to preserving the Supporting Vendors here as they are, but of course all of you who visit here every day for tech help, finding or selling boats and parts, and good ole goofing around sometimes :).




I haven't used Chrome in some time, but I'll check on how it works on that browser. From what I remember of Chrome, by default it will have many or most of the Google ads whitelisted, which of course makes sense, after all Google doesn't want their browser blocking their own ads. :) The Supporting Vendor banners here are hard-coded so they are immune to ad-blockers, whereas the Google ads are database-driven so they can be blocked relatively easily. Many sites now use a sort of gatekeeper method, whereby the site could only be viewed once it has been whitelisted on an ad-blocker. That is something I can implement, but I won't.

I completely understand why ad-blockers have become so popular. There are so many invasive and annoying ads on many sites that end up making some sites unusable. These advertising companies did it to themselves by pushing the boundaries of what people are willing to tolerate with website ads. Google is constantly trying to steer me into using overlay ads and other extremely annoying methods to serve ads, which I will not implement. As it stands now I wish I didn't have Google ads at all, but they pay a great deal of this site's very expensive operating costs, which is significant. I want Google ads to be the least intrusive as possible.

Selling the site would be an absolutely rock-bottom last resort, and I would do all I can to keep the site owned by all of us, not by some faceless media company.

You have all supported this site for a very long time, and I don't think I could thank all of you enough for it. I am always very grateful to you all.

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Greg, you have gone beyond some of our wildest dreams, and provided a home for peeps that couldn't afford one because of their boating habit.
I have been trying to un-google myself and my computers for almost 2 months now, I had no clue how entwined with all this stuff as they are, under the guise of doing it for us. Scary peeps live in Google Land, run by the Chrome Princess. I am rather proud of how fast and clean my computer runs without them in my life. Be Well my Friend. :thumbsup:

I don't use ad blockers for this site.
Do you know if Firefox has ad blockers? I went through setting and didn't see anything.

I've enjoyed this site since the beginning and am happy to pay for it with an annual membership - maybe change things so you need to be a member to use the Buy & Sell forums or to post questions? I think some other forums do that - reading is free, more active costs money.

Matt

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Originally Posted by MattGreen

I've enjoyed this site since the beginning and am happy to pay for it with an annual membership - maybe change things so you need to be a member to use the Buy & Sell forums or to post questions? I think some other forums do that - reading is free, more active costs money.

Matt

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That would be my suggestion... anybody can read, learn, search; but only paid members can post.

But, on a more personal note... if you can sell for the kind of money you're talking about... you would be crazy not to. In two years if this AI crap takes over... there may be no value left here. I think I finally registered here in 2004 after lurking for a few years... and I would sell if I was in your position.

Would you have to sign a non-compete clause?

I thought Facebook was the thing.?

Everything is constantly changing.

This started as an HP one-motor OB site.

Now It's an offshore twin motor, in some cases over $500,000.00 rigs.

From a $50,000. Rig to 10 times as much +

Yes, times have changed.

Have to become a Realtor to make that

Easy Money

Memberships to post works for me if that's what it takes. Nothing is ever free & to the best of my knowledge anything I ever had or was a part of that was worth a crap I paid for. RR

If more revenue is what is required, I wouldn't mind a fee. The information on this site is so vast.

I wanted to bring this up to the top again just to reiterate the importance of this issue, more than ever. Ad blockers are now denying this site very much needed revenue and that issue continues to become compounded by increased site traffic that cannot be paid for when those banners are being blocked. To be blunt, the data lines and two servers that this site runs on costs a crapload of money and it has to come from somewhere. In a perfect world I would prefer no Google banners at all, and as it stands I heavily restrict them to keep them as small a distraction as possible.

With that said, the site depends more than ever on your support - our Team Members and Supporting Members and Vendors.

I do not know anything about the cost of operating a website but I do consider this the best site around for anyone wanting boating info. I would have no objections for a fee and I think most on here, minus a select few, would agree. Also would help eliminate some of the garbage posts that get made by certain individuals that have nothing to do with boating but instead just to annoy. Whatever it takes for this place to survive under your leadership, I'm in.

Rock