Poll: Should you run ads from day 1? | Hacker News Reader

Poll: Should you run ads from day 1?

13 pointsvaksel16 comments

Early on adsense, will make you a couple of bucks...maybe. Do you think it's worth running adsense from the start, or do you think it's better to wait to grow the audience and then monetize them.

View on HN

It doesn't matter: no one is visiting your site. Deal with that problem first.

Split test it and measure the actual impact. Don't guess.

First, don't conflate adsense with advertising in general. If you want to run ads then you can set up redirects so that ad sense is your remnant provider, but you'll get higher eCPMs if you can into an ad network. If you do want to run ads then you should be thinking more about what demographics you want to target, and how valuable those demographics are.

Second, lots of sites have made the switch from ad-less to running ads. Has there ever been a noteworthy rebellion?

Links are valuable no matter whether you have 1 visitor a day or 1 million. Ads are not. Ads trade off with linkability. This does not make the decision hard for when you'd have ad revenues which couldn't buy a cup of cocoa.

AdSense is a pretty ugly way to make money, especially when traffic is low. If you can afford it, focus on building your audience. You may discover alternative, more lucrative, and more 'prestigious' revenue streams than AdSense along the way.

For instance, you may find sponsorships, contests, and affiliate sales to be better, and better in keeping with what your audience wants from you. People actually do like advertising if it a) improves their experience, b) makes it easier to buy a good product, or c) enhances the social status of the brands they buy.

YES. This is a daft mistake if you don't - Ad buyers want to see impressions and placements before they buy. You need to determine their value. So if you want to sell ads, you need to have ads.

If you don't like adsense, make house ads. Even if they don't earn anything you need to see which ad products perform best.

Designers hate ads. Developers hate ads. They're ugly, they get in the way, they don't match, you need to install cumbersome systems to manage them, they create performance problems. But if they're a part of the business model then you better get used to them whether you like it or not.

And no, users really don't care as much as you think they do. They only care if you put them awkwardly in places they weren't designed to go...

An alternative between Yes and No is to build the site with the intention of running ads but instead reserve the space strictly for website announcements, to help with conversion, or as way-finders for directing user-flow. This way you set a precedent with the user and should the time come that you need to turn on 3rd party ads, then it should be significantly less disruptive.

I still caution anyone from overloading their new site with ads, it will definitely turn off a lot of users... especially if advertising revenue (specifically banner ads) are not a big portion of your model.

I agree. Either run ads or reserve the space for ad-like self promotion. It's better to set realistic expectations than to to end up with users who would no longer use your site once it's reached its "real" form.

if you want to sell the site and can afford not to run ads, don't. if you do run ads, your site will be worth n times your revenues. if you don't, it could be worth anything you make up - look at twitter! ;-)

This sounds kind of unscientific. Is this actually true for small time sales, on stuff like flippa?

If your primary revenue stream will be ads (and I hope it isn't) then you should probably run them as soon as possible. I think you should launch with ads and make a concerted effort to find a new revenue model as soon as possible.

an off-the-cuff (and probably bad) metaphor: It would be insane for new restaurant to give away excellent food (a useful, ad-free site) for its first few months, and then once it had a strong clientele, start charging for a product that is not as good (same site, loaded down with ads).

No. Never run ads right from the start.

Advertisements hinder user experience. Startups with the best user experience (and value) to visitors will succeed. A startup who works on implementation and user experience before monetizing the site has a better chance of success.

This is not to say you shouldn't think about how to monetize in the future.

you can always use the space you will stick adverts into in the future to put up graphics and stuff that promote your own site/brand if you don't want to run with them from day one.

I would think the real question here is, "do I start charging for my product from day 1?" whether it be through ads, subscriptions, or purchases.

The answer is, "it depends". I say yes, charge for your product immediately.

If you are going to be running ad's eventually, it's better to start off right from the beginning. At the least, you will be making some cash (however meager).

I'd just say be very careful. Use them to your advantage, but don't expect a dime. So def. don't overwhelm the user. Just fill a little space if you must.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com