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The Video Section Is All About MONEY

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ryano
Posts: 4465 - Karma: 1,535
seriously. every time i go to watch a video there i have to wait for a stupid ad to play. its worse than youtube, and i dont even think vimeo has ads..

i think the reason they're pushing the video section SOO much is because its just money in their pocket with all the ads they stream through there..

which is the main reason i dont use it..every time i watch a video i have to sit through a damn tommy walnuts north face ad.

/endrant

inb4hate
inb4karmarape
Feb 9 2012 1:03PM
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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22708 - Karma: 76,635
I'll agree that we need to work on a better balance of ads to videos. The quality and balance has been improving dramatically over the last two years as we dial this in more.

Are ads about money? Absolutely they are. That is how we keep this site running smooth and continue to offer a quality ski-only website for you. Vimeo and YouTube are increasing their amounts of ads as they need to make more money, and trust me in a short period of time there's going to be tonnes of ads there too.

The real thing to remember is that when you sit through that ad here on Newschoolers, not only are you supporting NS - you're supporting skiing. Our recent pushes with video have not been to line only our own pocked with our content, rather the opposite. We've been slowly adding people to our gold-level 'producer program' where they make a hefty share of the revenue we get from videos.

So when you're watching an ad on Newschoolers, not only are you supporting the site and skiing... you're supporting the next wave of media producers and challenging the mould and hold that traditional media sources have over who is successful and popular.

Do we have too many ads? Yes. However... our too many ads is building an entirely new ecosystem and giving exposure to people that never before had a chance to get it.

If you want to continue to watch YouTube and put more gas in Larry and Sergey's google jet then by all means. Vimeo is cool, but you're paying for its upload usage and I'd bet my left testicle that ads are only a matter of time (read losing their venture capital or corporate funding) away.

Stick with us, and tolerate that ad as much as you can. We'll keep 'em interesting, contextual, and ever work towards better quality. We're here to support skiing, and we want to do it with balance as much as we can.


Feb 9 2012 1:39PM
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ryano
Posts: 4465 - Karma: 1,535
i know advertisement is needed to generate revenue for the site. but the amount of it is what gets irritating..

i was legitly trying to give the video section a chance and every time i wanted to check one out, i had to wait. its just a bit excessive.
Feb 9 2012 2:14PM
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LivingColour
Posts: 1134 - Karma: 21
TBH, I completely agreed with your wall of text; however, the ads we get for the videos......well let me correct THE ad we get videos is always the same. I love watching skiing ads, but when it's the same ad for weeks at a time I just zone out.
Feb 9 2012 2:27PM
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skithecanada
Posts: 638 - Karma: 56
I just watched 6 videos and only got an ad for one.
Feb 9 2012 2:48PM
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Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,404
not really, the ad's piss me off (being a baller donator, i shouldn't have to watch them in the first place) which makes me annoyed with ns, and they make me hate the brands after seeing the same shitty clip a billion times. None of them make me want to buy any product at all, in fact they discourage me from it.
Feb 9 2012 2:50PM
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DIX~
Posts: 4695 - Karma: 6,502
What? You donated 50$ + without reading there is no benefit? It's purely for supporting the site, shouldn't have bought it if you wanted something in return... Also why even watch the ads, you have nothing better to do with 25 seconds? Jut check your email, check facebook quickly, respond to a text, or set a new record for fastest fap and the ad will be done...
Feb 9 2012 3:08PM
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MacMahoooon
Posts: 9009 - Karma: 3,305
Up until now we haven't looked at an ad free subscription to the site. Donations are simply that, a contribution to the site because you wish to support what we are doing, with perks of access to some more exclusive areas of the site. Would you truely rather pay a monthly fee to use the site ad free?
Feb 9 2012 3:11PM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,232
monthly? no, probably not. maybe a small yearly fee or have donations go towards ad removal
Feb 9 2012 3:29PM
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schmuck
Posts: 1974 - Karma: 53,161
The problem with that is that in order for the site to continue to run how it does and be as cool as it is, for there to be no ads in the video section...it wouldn't be a small fee.

Thanks for your continued support of us everyone, because like Doug said, it's an absolutely amazing feeling to be able to share it with up-and-coming producers who create incredible content for all of us to enjoy.



Feb 9 2012 4:42PM
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812
Posts: 477 - Karma: 19
i always do something like that during an ad. it doesnt bother me at all
Feb 9 2012 6:52PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Do you have any plan like this for the journalism/article side?

I know it used to be counted in NS Swag in the Days That Be, but I'm just asking.

I'm happy to contribute what I can to such a large website and get my work shown here, but if there's an incentive for it, people might be even more proficient towards creating content.
Feb 9 2012 7:33PM
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2_fadez
Posts: 7780 - Karma: 4,183
Me personally, I love the new influx of ski video series. It's is really fun to watch, and a nice alternative to edits.

What about putting in a rule where there aren't any ads for videos under 30 seconds or a minute?
Feb 9 2012 9:25PM
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skitheWest.
Posts: 2304 - Karma: 1,276
A donation is a donation. You are DONATING money to the site in order to keep it going and help improve it. Just because you donate doesn't mean that you should get special privileges like not having ads, because if you did, it wouldn't be a donation... more of a purchase. If you get what I mean...
Feb 9 2012 9:45PM
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LivingColour
Posts: 1134 - Karma: 21
they're just trying to make it a better place, that's all
Feb 10 2012 1:52AM
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SkierX
Posts: 16253 - Karma: 538
It's an interesting phenomenon that started with content being available online with little to no ads. People got used to this and as businesses (yes, that's what websites, including NS are) have introduced video ads into the mix to keep up with the bills and operate profitably (this is a goal of all businesses, remember), people have gotten upset.

Nothing is truly free in this world. Just remember that this site costs you, the user, nothing more than time.
Feb 10 2012 10:55AM
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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22708 - Karma: 76,635
Donation is a one-time thing though - and we REALLY appreciate it - but it is not recurring revenue. When we've tried to give things in return for donating, people have gotten angry.

Subscription would be the only way to go that would be a balance of recurring revenue and loss of money from ads.


Feb 10 2012 12:41PM
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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22708 - Karma: 76,635
I'm not saying yes or no right now. :)


Feb 10 2012 12:42PM
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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22708 - Karma: 76,635
You're 100% spot on. It happened because all these big sites were injected with crazy amounts of venture capitol, or bought up by gigantic companies that to be competitive kept losing money. Now the reaper is coming and monetization is necessary.

We always had to run NS like a business because we lived off of it. When it got sold, we never changed that model because running a solid business that generates money to keep itself active is long-lasting and stable.

We are able to update things so much because we have budget to do so, and we have budget because we have money. Money is a necessity in life, its not evil. You can do a lot of good with money.

I REALLY agree though that we need to make some tweaks to the ad serving. Its not perfect by any means yet... but just like we always do, we'll get this figured out.


Feb 10 2012 12:48PM
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SkierX
Posts: 16253 - Karma: 538
*High fives all-around*

It ain't perfect, but it ain't a travesty by any means either.
Feb 10 2012 12:51PM
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.Hugo.
Posts: 17360 - Karma: 28,485
I like this. I'm fine with ads but its annoying when the ads are longer than the video im trying to watch.
Feb 10 2012 3:36PM
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Mr.Bishop
Posts: 22708 - Karma: 76,635
Fair enough. Right now it plays you one ad per 4 30 second videos you watch. I'll have Paul remove this so it does not play ads on videos under 30 seconds.

Also, we have restricted ad length to 15 seconds. I'm pushing companies to go with 7-8 seconds wherever possible.

I think we've made a lot of improvements to the system, and the ads are much higher quality.

Ideally, where I want to get (but the system doesn't yet work like this) is where you watch one ad per 5-10 minutes of video that you watch. Instead of done by video loads, it just remembers it by time.

Not interrupting in the middle of a video though. That would be annoying. I'd also think it could be cool to have a skip feature like in Youtube, where you watch the first 5 seconds of the ad guaranteed, but can jump over it if you're not interest.

Really ideally I'd love to get to the point where you guys can give companies feedback on their ads. Good ads are rad, but stagnant, stale and stupid ads are really tiresome. That is the same of advertising everywhere though. Its like on TV... if all ads were like the superbowl ones (or European ads from what I can tell) it would be awesome to watch advertising.

All in all though, even if you're tired of what you're seeing, remember that we're creating an ecosystem to support the sport. So if you watch ads, you're supporting NS, who is supporting up-and-coming content creators, who are giving exposure to up-and-coming athletes, and using this content to sell ads to companies who want you to watch their ads and buy their products.

Its a perfect circle.


Feb 11 2012 11:40AM
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danbrown
Posts: 11939 - Karma: 21,826
you're in luck, starting at the beginning of the second quarter, newschoolers is going to cancel all accounts and require all members to pay a 9.99 registration fee to reactivate them. no more ads!
Feb 11 2012 9:03PM
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PJS.
Posts: 11943 - Karma: 895
While we're on the subject, so
Feb 12 2012 1:52AM
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PJS.
Posts: 11943 - Karma: 895
metimes when i click on a time i want to go to, i wont go there, whereas with vimeo it never does that.
Feb 12 2012 1:54AM
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eheath
Posts: 61603 - Karma: 123,069
This. OP, shut up. Your computer has a mute button for a reason. Are you really THAT upset because a 15 second clip plays before the video you want to watch? Is your attention span really that terrible?

I'm so fucking sick of kids on NS bitching about ads, 90% of the time they're stupid little kids who have no idea how the real world works. The ads support this site, they support skiing, they support the media. If you're gonna sit here and bitch about ads maybe you should just stop coming on NS.


And Thomas, are you kidding me? your 50 bucks (and my like 30ish bucks) we donated, oh i dunno, 4-5 years ago, is long gone. Ad companies cover all of the donations (COUGH DONATIONS/CONTRIBUTIONS) from every member on this site with one decent video posted on this site, just saying, your money is pocket change.
Feb 12 2012 2:12AM
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.Roockley.
Posts: 3864 - Karma: 4,078
could you have a remove button next to the ad that when clicked brings up a question of why you dont want it

(like facebook)

and yeah, a variety of ads would definitely would be better
Feb 12 2012 8:23AM
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.RYAN66
Posts: 5381 - Karma: 235
Heath pretty much said it all. And I would love to see a better way for people to upload articles and work like the video section for journalists. :
Feb 12 2012 1:58PM
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JStrathern
Posts: 8747 - Karma: 1,536
This is good. Not that it happens often, but when I click on a video and I see a 30 second ad pop up, I automatically just exit the page. 15 seconds or less is a great rule.
Feb 12 2012 4:08PM
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yeahno
Posts: 4008 - Karma: 3,414
Like someone above said, the same ad over and over is annoying, but i think the worst part is that delay of about 4 or 5 seconds before the ad plays. I click on a video, and the thumbnail comes up with the play button, and I think: "No ad, woohoo!" then click play, and it redirects me to northface, or whatever currrent ad is playing, then i still have to watch that annoying dubstep tom wallisch north face ad

Click for larger image
Feb 12 2012 4:21PM
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Justin.B
Posts: 2257 - Karma: 721
This is one of the many reasons I love this site. Even though you guys have been bought out and over the past few years have expanded immensely, we are still able to maintain that community feel and I think that's a huge part of NS.

The simple fact someone was able to post in this thread and express that they don't think they should be watching ads longer than the video they're watching, and than have Doug reply and change that exact thing we just complained about makes me satisfied and pulls me in to stick around. At the end of the day, as long as a majority wants the change and it's nothing that's out of the mod's/admins hands it can usually get changed, theres really not many other sites like that. That simple, warm, community feeling even though theres so many of us is what keeps me coming back.

Respect guys, keep up the great work!
Feb 12 2012 5:54PM
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