SFO Advertising. PLEASE READ THIS

[Mr. Krystal]

I recieved an email today and I'm posting it, in full, below:

Dear Dwight:

I am contacting you regarding a CPM campaign for Namco’s “Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation”. The game features photo-realistic detail, up to six independent and simultaneous battles, online play, and the ability to lead navel and ground combat units, as well as aerial combat units. This campaign is scheduled to run from 10/5 to 11/1.

If you are interested, we are structuring rates in the following way:

$1.75 CPM for 300x250

$2.50 CPM for 300x600

Please respond to the following questions so that we can accurately draft an insertion order:

- What unit will you place on your site?

- Where will the unit be placed (URL)? We require placement above the scroll line on a high-traffic page.

- What is the maximum amount of impressions can you deliver PER DAY for this placement? We are seeking partnerships from 5,000 to 20,000 impressions per day.

We will immediately review your response, and we will contact you on next steps. Please respond no later than 12 Noon (PST) Monday, 10-01-07. The urgency is so we can determine our buys across our network and draft the insertion orders. This will enable us to be ready to launch without any delays.

We hope to work with you on this project!

Kind regards,

Bill Hatem

HypeCouncil

http://www.hypecouncil.com

So basically, a game company wants to advertise on the site, probably on the home page. They would pay approximately $1.75 per thousand viewers of the site.

Now, I wanted to send a message immediately declining, but I thought since this site is more than just for me, but for all of you, I'd ask your opinion. I'm pretty sure I have an idea on your stance, but I'll let you have your say. Remember, if you have any strong opinion about this, you need to let it be known here before October 1st.

Working logically, we have pros and cons:

Pros:

Revenues for the site make Dwight and DZ happy.

Sends a message that our site is big enough to actually have advertisers that want to advertise on our page.

Cons:

It's an ad, which are either annoying or agrivating most of the time, added to a website that was previously ad-free.

The ad would probably be pretty big, and only slightly related to the content of the page.

Doubtful that the ad would produce any meaningful revenue, frankly, there aren't THAT many people who visit the site.

With all that said, this is the letter I am considering sending back. Please let me know if I'm missing something:

Dear Mr. Bill,

At this time, I believe it to be in interests of both the website (the membership and myself) and you that we decline your offer at this time. Thank you for the offer.

Sincerely,

Dwight House

[Four-eyed Vulpine]

The letter looks good enough.  I mean come on, there's no way we get 5,000-20,000 hits a day.

[Infinity]

At least that guy seems legit... http://www.linkedin.com/pub/3/a45/454

Well, every thousand views is not too much for a site such at this one, right? I am quite surprised more sites like this one do not have ads at all. In my view a site that can sustain itself is a site that has one less liability. If Dwight or DZ did not have he money to renew the domain and website space however that needs to be renewed that could be troublesome for maintaining SF-O. If the site could be self sustaining through ads I think that''d be wonderful. I know you aren't out to make money, but at least something like some google ads somewhere would help in the very least, right?

This is through the perspective of a business major, however, heh.

[DZComposer]

As one who despises ads, I can't really say I like this idea.

It would make us the only major english-language SF fan community with ads, which would hurt our already declining readership while simultaneously making us look like sellouts.

While yes, it would help offset server costs, it has the potential to hurt the community. Plus, I have adequate cash flow right now to fully satisfy hosting costs on my own if need arose. The only time I would consider ads would be if there were a serious cash flow issue.

Also, some of the things on the site are technically copyright infringement. Ads could increase our liability.

Plus, we are a NINTENDO fansite and this game is not coming out on a Nintendo platform.

[TakeWalker]

My first though was along those lines. The ad has nothing to do with the site, other than being a video game. I'd be more open to the idea if there was a connection, but honestly no ads is good ads. And yeah, I don't think you'd really be getting a large enough number of hits to justify the thing.

Also, you probably don't want to have "at this time" twice in the same sentence. Check that letter, yo. :shock:

[foxbird22]

Hehe, I'm not the only Grammar Nazi. 

I'm with everyone else here.  Ads are a bad idea.  Not to mention that they're paying hardly any money (they usually don't anyway).

However, Ace Combat does look like a fun game.  I may play it someday...in the far future.

[Mr. Krystal]

Ok, I'll send off the letter. Thanks for your responses.

Edit: And off it goes!

[TakeWalker]

Hehe, I'm not the only Grammar Nazi.   

When producing texts in the professional/academic/money-making register, grammar DOES matter. D:

[Mr. Krystal]

When producing texts in the professional/academic/money-making register, grammar DOES matter. D:

It was a mistake that I didn't proofread, mainly because I wasn't sending it to him yet. I fixed it before sending.

[TakeWalker]

In that regards, you may read my previous post as "FIRST". :ok:

[Mr. Krystal]

I'm locking this, because the dicussion is complete, crisis averted.