*6/17/2004
Update!
By now, I'm sure you've noticed the various banner ads already on the site. This week, I decided to try out Google's ad service as an experiment.
I think the ads are relatively unobtrusive, and I can choose text-only if I want. You can bet that the first time I see flashing "you have won free groceries" or any flashing ad, I'll do that. But Google looks to serve up pretty tasteful ads. And they should be relevant to tinwhistles, so hopefully it'll be stuff someone is actually looking for.
Why am I adding ads after all this time? Well, I hinted it at it a little in my comments before, but I lost my job shortly after 9/11. I was a computer programmer living in Houston, at the time all of the Enron, HP/Compaq, and other layoffs happened in the tech sector in my city. Out of the next 40 months, I worked about 16 of them. Needless to say, we were broke al the time. I still managed to scrape up the money for the site when payments came due..often by selling something I owned on Ebay.
That's not a complaint. I felt the site was important, and still do. It was worth sacrificing for. I did put up a "please donate to me" Paypal link for a while and mentioned it here. I think I got $25.00 total on that deal (Thanks again Tom!)
Ultimately, I've only been working for 9 months now since the long bout of unemployment. I'm still pretty broke all the time, playing catch up with credit card folks. I owe 'em over ten thousand dollars, and I'd like to try to pay them off as quick as I can.
So, I'd just like to see the thing pay for itself, is all. I don't expect to ever make a profit. Heck, I don't even expect to break even. But it sure would be nice if the ads could help defray the cost a bit. Anything I make in profit (not that I think It's likely), I expect I'll spend in whistles, which will then get reviewed for the site, so the site will see some benefit from it.
Keep in mind, this is a test run. Ultimately, it's about whistles and music, and keeping a site up for everyone to enjoy. As long as the ads stay non-obnoxious, and as long as Google sticks by their "don't be evil" company motto, I'm sure things will be fine. But if things go South, I'll pull those ads off in a heartbeat--you can count on it
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