how come we get a cigalike ad banner

[tomj777]

May 14, 2014 21:42:13 GMT Chrissie said:

There has been an amazingly kind, generous gesture from a forum member - they have paid for 1,000,000 Pageviews

Wow - that's seriously generous of them.
With the exception of the profit Proboards will make, the idea of crowd-funding no-ads with voluntary micro-payments appeals.
The Proboards FAQ implies that individual members can purchase one credit for 1 USD (roughly 60 pence)

Purchase Credits: Here you'll be provided with an overview of the ad-free credits system and a drop-down menu to select the number of credits you'd like to purchase. Ad-free credit options range from 1 credit for $1 USD to 140 credits for $140 USD.



Since 7 credits is the minimum amount that can be applied during a month, you can have multiple members pitch in to reach the 7 credit minimum. For example, 7 members could each contribute 1 credit with the Click Here To Make This Board Ad-Free link found at the very bottom of the forum. Credits do not expire and will remain available until you use them.

Admittedly, when I "Click Here To Make This Board Ad-Free" I am greeted with the option buying page views (minimum 7 credits for 8 USD) rather than credits... 

Reading through the entire FAQ page, it appears that the user must purchase page views which are then stored against their account as credits and it's the credits that be given to forums (this and others) when the user feels like it. Which is a pity, because like many, I think differently about spending a little shy of £5 vs 60p (err, 95p) 

It's also a little naughty because the impression might be acquired by the reader that because credits have an unlimited lifespan, when they are converted back to pageviews by the forum administrator, the lifespan shrinks to 30 days from the date of conversion....

Does anyone happen to know if it's possible to purchase individual credits or Chrissie, you could consider setting up a paypal account for people to dump micro-payments into and then purchase credits in bulk when needed / possible? (there's risk of accusations of impropriety, which would be unpleasant if they occurred, but transparency should put pay to that) - not sure you'd want that extra responsibility, though.

Maybe add a menu item or extra banner saying "AAEC promotes informed choice. Adverts are not affiliated" instead (ensure wording is TOC friendly).

[djs]

May 14, 2014 20:55:16 GMT OneDay said:

I have to say....

When the only vv device available (other than the Provari) was the Lavatube, Apollo had the best price anywhere and a lot of people (including me) got their first taste of variable voltage vaping thanks to Apollo

I am aware of that fact. I realise the whole situation is less black and white than we would like.

[Raffles]

Whoever the generous forum member is...

[halight]

Thank you to who ever did this

[Greg]

May 14, 2014 21:42:13 GMT Chrissie said:

There has been an amazingly kind, generous gesture from a forum member - they have paid for 1,000,000 Pageviews

At the moment, I've just applied 100,000 of them - that should last almost 2 days. I just want to see what happens when the ads come back.

Interestingly, we actually had Apollo apply for membership a couple of days ago & we rejected their application.

Wow impressive 
How much does that cost Chrissie ?

[Chrissie]

Sorry for not replying to everyone on this thread - my head has been all over the place the last few days (& many days for quite a while) looking into alternatives. I have of course been conferring with the rest of the forum staff & the issue is still under discussion about where we go from here.

One of the biggest problems about migrating to another host is the fact that Proboards wont happily release the database Added to that I'm really not sure if I could start from scratch again coding a completely new platform on my own

Concerning the costs of keeping us ad free - last month we had 1,741,957 page views. To keep us add free, at the current rate of page views (bear in mind that they are increasing all the time), we would have to go for the 2,000,000 package at a cost of $173.00 month, as the lower one of 1,500,000 wouldn't be enough.

[tomj777]

Naturally, Proboards run a Hotel California policy under the guise of protecting infrastructure within the TOC's
It may be easier to live with the adverts 
I'm more concerned that TPD Article 20 item 5 may scupper the vaping boards hosted by any company subservient to laws of state (I'm thinking specifically the 11th section of the Prohibited Content part of Community Guidelines....
A hard one.

[djs]

May 15, 2014 21:51:52 GMT tomj777 said:

It may be easier to live with the adverts 

A hard one.

I wonder what sort of ads we could bear, in the overall scheme of things.

Presumably, the companies that pay Proboards must have some sort of "concerns" over advertising where they are not welcome. They'd be stupid not to.

Imagine if a "super-league" player in the cig-a-like market secured some Proboard ads - if their products were categorically rubbished on the forum threads... what then? Would/could they choose to NOT be featured again?

Would Proboards try to monitor the forum discussion?

I only ask as my last forum managed to punch a massive whole in the reputation of a brand that secured advertising on the forum (not e-cigs).

A few months later, that same company had to placate angry customers (it cost them £1.6 million in recalls). The customers got their items replaced, the company never appeared in the ads and everybody won. (more or less...)

That should be the power of the internet. (Wishful thinking? - maybe, maybe not).

I wonder if Proboards themselves really want to be targeting and selling to companies when a frosty reception is guaranteed?

??

[OneDay]

I see the Apollos are back.
Wow, 100,000 page views soon gets eaten up doesn't it

[babs]

Out of curiosity I just clicked the banner to the Apollo web site and there is a large portion that's states they are e-cigarette forum members. Obviously not this forum but do we need to make newbies more aware of this? If so how?

[djs]

May 17, 2014 15:03:23 GMT babs said:

Out of curiosity I just clicked the banner to the Apollo web site and there is a large portion that's states they are e-cigarette forum members. Obviously not this forum but do we need to make newbies more aware of this? If so how?

They are e-cig forum members. Forums that are less picky about who they take money from.

and "review" sites from people I have lost all respect for. (because they've sold out as well)...

[Deleted]

But notice now it is some variety of ego battery with clearo rather than than disgusting cigalike with unsubstantiated claims on the banner

I call that a result

[Chrissie]

Sorry everyone - off to apply another 100,000 ad free page view credits.

[Chrissie]

And another 100,000 applied.

[Bluefish]

May 14, 2014 20:55:16 GMT OneDay said:

I have to say....

When the only vv device available (other than the Provari) was the Lavatube, Apollo had the best price anywhere and a lot of people (including me) got their first taste of variable voltage vaping thanks to Apollo

I was going to say that when I got to the end of the thread, still got mine, and after 2 years it still works, so yay go Apollo. I don't see what the problem is if you don't like the advert don't buy the product, or do the people complaining complain to the tv companies and papers and roadside billboards about their adds as well?