[posthumanus]

it seems to me that our NN site gains its revenue from users clicking on banner ads. yes/no?

i'm guessing at least 95% of lurkers / respondents don't ever even see them.

how about this for an idea that is more financially lucrative and morally responsible:

with every thread posted, there could be a charity ad of the poster's choice (pre-nominated at sign-up) attached as the first reply.

a pre-warning could read:

by clicking on this you'll get to one of NN's sponsers: but for every hit there - 50% of revenue will go to NN's coffers and the other 50% to the charity.

it would make me feel better knowing each time i did this i was not only supporting MacNN financially but also helping to save some starving kids in Vietnam.

how hard could it be? promotional opportunities abound. if you think of all the billions of hits all over the planet every day ... and the billions of starving kids.

or am i being naive?

[krafix]

I think it's more than that. Advertising revenue on internet went down because advertisers didn't find such a benefit on this media right now, even if people clicked. It's all about sales and money. Many reasons around this: 1-people don't click so much, 2-if they do, they don't necessarily buy or go further, 3-internet adverising is still a small part of a multi-media campaign. The goal of adversing is selling/promoting something. For now, the boom of internet the last years has split the pie in too many pieces by seeing too many sites open at the same time on the same market. When things get back to normal, advertising will be back. Until then, no solution but grouping your offering (like NewsFactor is doing) can keep your site alive. Even associated with charity, what's worth 1 000 000 clicks if the product of the advertiser doesn't sell more. But that was a good idea.