Phirate - Ads on New Accounts

1/25/08 23:51

To be honest, I don't see it as a serious problem. The main reason for this is that there's going to be roughly 10 days or so for a blog to hit its normal level really. During this time, something has to be displayed on the widget.

While our solution is possibly not the most optimal solution, there aren't really any serious negatives. At worst you're going to be selling under the odds for 10-15 days, but by the end of that time you'll understand the system better, have gained confidence, networked a bit, dropped around, done a bit of discovery etc, and you'll be in a good position to make your spot into what you want it to be.

If we prevent people from advertising on new users, they don't get the benefit of that experience. Nor do they get what I believe is a feeling of welcome, a sense that people noticed their arrival and are excited to see them.

Individuals seem to react to this in different ways, some look back to their initial 10 days and see credits lost, others the excitement of joining, learning, and discovering.

We're constantly watching this, and feedback is always welcome, but as it stands Ben's article isn't swaying my view a whole lot.

We do have something coming soon which will hopefully help reduce the number of undesired ads in a soft fashion, perhaps that will help some.