Ham radio websites might be my favorite genre of website. Their design is always a throwback to the internet of my youth, and they almost always have tons of interesting technical content.
It's interesting how simple advertising is as well.
> Please Support My Advertisers!
Some jpegs. No js, no moving shit, just logos, some text, some call to action in a banner format. That's it.
Also:
> A random number generator determines which company's Banner Ad will go in a particular position*. I wrote the code myself and it is very simple and foolproof.
> I do not collect page traffic or link click statistics for advertisements. Your website server statistical analysis is a much better reporter of inbound links from RF Cafe than I or anyone else can provide.
Nice.
> Banner Plan: $400/month
I count 22 advertisers, so there's obviously lots of incentives for advertisers to work with this site. Good for them, and nice to see it can still be lucrative for what I believe to be a single person operation. Quality content still matters.
This isn't stuff that I want to buy for me to putter around with at home. It is instead stuff that I can use to solve problems for clients; things that be quoted as a part of a larger-scale job.
Like the advertising that supported the trade rags of yore, there's definite function to this very deliberate style of ad placement that probably isn't worth trading for that sweet sweet analytics and some control.
These weren't random ads for dick pills, Raycon headphones, or NordVPN. It is instead all highly-targeted and industry-specific.
It's remarkable in that I saw the advertising at all since I've been blocking ads on the web for as long as we've had a web to advertise on.
But I did see these ads. I noted some of them. None were garish or distracting. I took no action to block them.
If he's trying to offer ad placement for companies who want to inform people like me of the stuff they sell, and I think that he is, then: His method completely nails it.
They're doing it though.
It has always worked this way:
1. if you can sell the ads yourself, you get better rates and better, relevant advertisers.
2. if you can’t sell ads yourself, you use ad networks and send your audience the worst of the internet.
All the major pubs do this. It’s impressive that a smaller outlet does it.
Bonus 2. If ads were like this, I wouldn't need the ad blocker to start with.
This is most definitely NOT the internet of my youth.