4 ms·

I have couple of small side projects that which are monetised through ads. Portfolio of those web apps are 7 years old and traffic is growing linearly. The prob

by dejv 9y ago

I have couple of small side projects that which are monetised through ads. Portfolio of those web apps are 7 years old and traffic is growing linearly. The problem is revenue, which is basically cutting in half every 12 - 18 months: both CTR and revenue is going down. There are a lot of people with adblock these days, but also mobile traffic is not that profitable and people learned to ignore the ads as a noise. I am also using just one small rectangle per page and not going for more aggressive tactics. During those 7 years I am down from "these apps are paying my rent" to "I can have a one meal in a nice restaurant each month". The point is: it is getting much harder to make money by having ads in your app. Also make sure that all the information are recent and comes from your market sector as is changing real quick.

notadoc 9y ago
> There are a lot of people with adblock these days And it is soon to be built into web browsers, you have to wonder the impact that will have.
- paulpauper 9y ago
  isn't ad block easy to thwart? Sites like forbes and fortune do
  - dejv 9y ago
    Yes, I can do it, but I respect choice of my users.
  - always_good 9y ago
    Not every site is as big as forbes and fortune. Being big allows you more fuck-you potential.
  - quadrangle 9y ago
    I read Forbes articles some rare times and still have adblocking working.
  - an27 9y ago
    That's how you end up in hosts files. Besides, filter lists move pretty fast and are usually self-update.
  - lunchables 9y ago
    How is Fortune blocking it? I'm using uBlock Origin and fortune loads fine with no errors or in page css popups?
nitramm 9y ago
Do you think that it's more related to adblock usage or rather people ignoring ads completely?
- dejv 9y ago
  Hard to say. I guess it is combination of different things. I also suspect remarketing campaigns plays role in lower CTR, but I haven't really investigate it.

by dejv 9y ago

notadoc 9y ago

> There are a lot of people with adblock these days And it is soon to be built into web browsers, you have to wonder the impact that will have.

paulpauper 9y ago
isn't ad block easy to thwart? Sites like forbes and fortune do
- dejv 9y ago
  Yes, I can do it, but I respect choice of my users.
- always_good 9y ago
  Not every site is as big as forbes and fortune. Being big allows you more fuck-you potential.
- quadrangle 9y ago
  I read Forbes articles some rare times and still have adblocking working.
- an27 9y ago
  That's how you end up in hosts files. Besides, filter lists move pretty fast and are usually self-update.
- lunchables 9y ago
  How is Fortune blocking it? I'm using uBlock Origin and fortune loads fine with no errors or in page css popups?

nitramm 9y ago

Do you think that it's more related to adblock usage or rather people ignoring ads completely?

dejv 9y ago
Hard to say. I guess it is combination of different things. I also suspect remarketing campaigns plays role in lower CTR, but I haven't really investigate it.