On Monaco, there's a frikkin' Ad Banner at the top of the page. That's fine, people see it. Start putting it -in- content, then things get ugly.
Re-design, so Ads display where the Search bar is, pushing down the menu. That's much less intrusive. On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 12:10 AM, Havac <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 09:11:29 -0700 >> From: "Danny Horn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Subject: Re: [Wikia-l] Wikia new style >> To: "Central Wikia Mailing List" <[email protected]> >> Message-ID: >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >> >> The ads won't actually break tables like the one on that Yu-Gi-Oh page. If >> the 300x250 ad would break a table at the top of the page, then you'll see >> a >> banner ad under the edit bar instead of a square ad. Essentially, the edit >> bar and the banner ad that you currently see on Monaco will switch places, >> with the edit bar on top and the banner underneath. >> >> This change is a huge deal. It's not something that we're taking lightly >> at >> all. What you're seeing right now is the result of months of >> conversations, >> tests and compromises. We looked at a lot of different options, including >> most of the ones that people are asking about. You're seeing the end >> result >> of that long process -- the best balance that we've been able to come up >> with so far. >> >> We have to change things in order to make Wikia financially stable. It >> would >> be great if we could host wikis with no advertising at all, or just have >> Google ads running in the footer. Unfortunately, Google ads in the footer >> pay pennies a click, and nobody clicks. We need to be able to attract real >> advertisers, who pay for impressions rather than clicks. >> >> Impressions work on a pageview basis -- the advertiser will pay for people >> to look at the ad, whether they click or not. But they won't pay for >> impressions if the ad is hidden at the bottom of the page, because they >> don't know whether people are scrolling down to look at the ad. The ad >> needs >> to be visible on the screen when people first come to the page, so the >> advertisers know that they're paying for real impressions. >> >> So how do you design a wiki page that has a 300x250 box at the top of the >> screen? Either you put it in the header, which pushes the entire content >> area down, or you put it in the sidebar so that it squishes the content >> area >> over... or you put it in the article area, and allow the content to wrap >> around it. >> >> We tried out all three versions, and I think putting the box into the >> article actually creates the least disruption. A huge header would make >> the >> content disappear to the bottom. A huge sidebar would create a big blank >> area on the left side of the screen as you scroll down. Having the box at >> the top right means that the only space that's being used for the ad is >> the >> 300x250 box itself. >> >> So what happens on Tuesday is basically a big test. Once things go live on >> Tuesday, there are a few things that we're going to be looking at very >> closely: >> >> * whether the system actually works the way we expect it to, and it >> doesn't >> break page designs >> >> * the actual impact on ad sales and click-through rates >> >> * the community reaction -- how people feel when the changes are actually >> live on the site >> >> * the overall impact on readers and contributors, which we can evaluate by >> looking at the stats on pageviews, edits and active editors. >> >> There are a couple of possible predictions that people could make. One >> prediction is that the change won't make any difference to people at all >> -- >> that it's just exchanging one ad shape for another, and people will adapt >> their designs around the new format. Another prediction is that the change >> will drive people away, that every wiki will lose their core contributors, >> and that all of the wikis will die within a week. >> >> But those are the extreme cases, and it's not likely that either of those >> will happen. It won't be a dream or a nightmare. Some people will hate it, >> some people will like it better, and some people won't care. We can't know >> for sure what's going to happen until we try it out. >> >> Once we turn it on, then we can start evaluating the impact, and making >> changes. The parts of this that work well will stay; the parts that are >> completely broken will have to change. One version of "completely broken" >> is >> that people read and contribute less. Right now, everything is >> theoretical. >> It's easy to say "this will be fine" or "this will drive every user away". >> We have to try it out and see what actually happens. >> >> I know how important everybody's wiki is, and how connected you feel to >> your >> wiki. I started Muppet Wiki in 2005, and I ended up working for Wikia >> because I figured out that I love working on wikis more than anything else >> in the world. There are a lot of wikis on Wikia that I'm tight with now, >> but >> Muppet Wiki is my home -- that's the community where I've put in hours of >> my >> own time every day, every week, for two and a half years. When I've felt >> like that community is threatened, I've fought like a tiger for it. >> >> So I'm paying a lot of attention to how this plays out. If it really hurts >> the wikis, we'll make changes. We just need to see the impact in order to >> know what's true and what's hypothetical. >> >> >> -- Danny >> >> >> User:Toughpigs >> Community Development Manager, Wikia >> > > > > So multiple angles have been considered, and the end decision was that the > most intrusive type of ad would really be the least intrusive, because it > would be sitting *in the content* and not create a wide sidebar or a big > header. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy that. You have people -- real people > who use the system, not within-Wikia yes men -- saying, "No, really, we'd > rather have either of the other options." I think you should take that into > consideration rather than blowing it off. Do you honestly think "some people > will like it better"? *Like* it? Some people might be indifferent, but just > who is going to look at an ad sitting inside an article and think, "Man, > this is great!"? I think you need a new focus group. > > When it starts sitting in the content, that's when people start asking, "Is > nothing sacred?" Apparently, nothing is. The message I'm getting is "The > Wikia sales department is going to be running all your wikis now. They > control how it looks and what's in your content space." Because there's no > other player in this who gains from this move. How long until Wikia sales > starts dictating content? "We get more page hits when you use the word > 'sexy' in an article. You have to use 'sexy' at least twice an article now." > "We can sell more ads if we have more pages, so you're going to have to > split all your long articles up into ten-kilobyte chunks so we can get more > total page hits." When you spend "months" on discussing options, and you > settle on the one guaranteed to offend the most users, that's the only > conclusion I can come to. > > I'm really disappointed with what seems to be a total disregard by Wikia > for the people actually making them money. We're told it's just a test. > Well, sure it is, but when the only response to concerns expressed by > Greyman is "Well, they'll just get used to it. Shut up and stop questioning > our decision," I don't think it's very likely that Wikia will be willing to > decide that their test went poorly. "Well, it didn't burn down and no wiki > packed up and left inside a week, so clearly they'll just get used to it and > the massive opposition will die down." Wikia appears to have already made up > its mind how it's going to be, and everyone is just going to fall into line. > > I don't think that's an attitude that's going to get Wikia anywhere, but > that's the attitude I've observed over the last several months in every > announced-two-days-in-advance, > supposedly-just-a-test-but-really-irrevocable, > made-by-Wikia-staff-with-no-real-input-from-the-end-user-community major > change, and I find it an appalling way to treat the people you rely on. It's > not the 1880s, and there aren't waves of skilled Irish wiki-editors coming > off the boat every day to replace the editors you've driven off with > indifferent, domineering treatment. I'd be ashamed to run a company this > way. > > Havac > > _______________________________________________ > Wikia-l mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.wikia.com/mailman/listinfo/wikia-l > -- "I had a handle on life, but then it broke"
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