Site Adverts

[Li Mu Bai]

mmm. Having been part of this "hub" for several years now, I'm not enjoying the current "visual pollution" of these massive adverts spalshed across my screen when opening up my browser. I've had Bikehub as my homepage for years, and now I'm greeted with a huge banner advert (Clicks this morning), with a smaller advert just below it, followed by two more banner adverts lower down, and it seems to me that this site is no longer about cycling but more about promoting products and advertising.

I have to scroll down an entire page to get to what Bikehub is actually all about, the forums etc. Four adverts on the Home page, and whilst i understand that selling this advertising space is what is funding Bikehub, is bombarding us as users like this really neccessary?

The small banner adverts selling un-cycling-related stuff and general junk is somewhat tolerable, but this current format is really annoying.

 

my 2c...

Edited March 7, 2022 by Li Mu Bai
added pic

[Jewbacca]

My take is we either have adverts or we don't have bikehub. 

Scrolling for 0.3 of a second and still having bikehub is better than not having it, so I don't care.

I think everyone has seen the banner ad, but complaining that the guys who provide us this platform landed an awesome deal to put food on their table and have some funds to keep developing awesome things like bikehub pay etc seems a bit much.

Stoked that big brands are choosing to give money for what they deem as prime space. For the sake of bikehub and it's future development as well as it's employees, I'm very happy to look past the od advert.

Is it really a massive inconvenience? 

The forst couple of times I saw it I was like 'whoa, that's a big ad!' then thought, 'Rad, the revenue for the guys must be really decent'.... 

 

[Li Mu Bai]

I'd still prefer to see that Huge banner space used for pics promoting the likes of Pottie and Greg smashing it at SA DH champs for example

[Steady Spin]

Ads pay bills. 
They are everywhere and wont go away. 

Want to stop seeing them? Subscribe to the site with Bikehub Plus and support the platform to enjoy an ad free experience. 

You did say you’ve benefitted from the site for years. 

Edited March 7, 2022 by Steady Spin

[Jewbacca]

7 minutes ago, Li Mu Bai said:

I'd still prefer to see that Huge banner space used for pics promoting the likes of Pottie and Greg smashing it at SA DH champs for example

Will they pay for that?

If not, then you're asking a company to give up massive, necessary revenue to promote something that gives nothing back to said company.

I'm not going to argue with you, but maybe if you contact SA DH and ask them to pay for some advertising space then you will get what you want?

Seeing the bikehub team get some revenue after pouring their heart and soul into this platform for so long is rad. It's not free to host, manage, develop and run something like this AND they have to eat. 

If you asked me to host Greg and Pottie for free in my penthouse over Christmas because MTB I would certainly not be tempted at all. 

I'm not sure if you remember but 40% of most 'printed media' magazines etc were adverts. One tended to gloss over them.

I'm just suggesting you do the same here

[The Ouzo]

As long as they dont become like some site where video ads automatically start playing then I'm ok with putting up with the ads.

[Li Mu Bai]

Is this a website promoting cycling or corporates?

There are adverts pasted all over this site which are easier to gloss over, which give revenue.

My point (which you seem to miss) is now we have an entire opening page promoting a corporate entity, TWICE!

Is that necessary, considering all the space already given over to advertisers to keep this site up and running?

Is it not better seeing what our sport is actually about, than blasted by the likes of Clicks?

Its like going to a major cycle race expo; not to see any bikes any more, but just to buy gels or salami...

[Li Mu Bai]

38 minutes ago, Steady Spin said:

Want to stop seeing them? Subscribe to the site with Bikehub Plus and support the platform to enjoy an ad free experience.

Aaah, good idea.

[Jewbacca]

40 minutes ago, Li Mu Bai said:

Is this a website promoting cycling or corporates?

There are adverts pasted all over this site which are easier to gloss over, which give revenue.

My point (which you seem to miss) is now we have an entire opening page promoting a corporate entity, TWICE!

Is that necessary, considering all the space already given over to advertisers to keep this site up and running?

Is it not better seeing what our sport is actually about, than blasted by the likes of Clicks?

Its like going to a major cycle race expo; not to see any bikes any more, but just to buy gels or salami...

No, it isn't.

The meat of the website (except this whiney thread and a couple of adverts) is bike related.

I'm out. Do you think only bike companies and bike related ads have a right to advertise on a bike related website?

I remember massive Swarovski ads in ZigZag and some big full page medical aid adverts in Bicycling. 

I think you're missing the point where without revenue, the site disappears. 

Just look past it, seriously. Like I'm about to do with this whiney thread.

[mikkelz]

If it means I can continue to use (and enjoy) Bikehub for free, then so be it. 👌

[MORNE]

it takes some work but it is possible to have an ad free internet experience...

And i dont necessarily agree with the no ads = no bikehub rhetoric. 

Surely based on the "year in numbers" this  site pulls enough traffic to be self sufficient. Not to mention bikehub pay in the mix now too. 

As with all things the owners of the site obviously want and need this to be a successful business, ...So they can sell it off one day to the highest bidder lol,  and part of that is to make it generate MORE income in which ever way possible so it has value. You and I just being here is what ads the value...because they are selling ad space for your eye balls. Thats the smart way to do it,  I would too.

I don't mind the adverts perse, some of them are just bordeline a stretch ito their relevance to cycling. Like when someone lists furniture or a PC in the classifieds under the guise of "upgrade your paincave" haha. 

[mecheng89]

If we don't allow ads, soon before long we'll be paying subscriptions fees, like one does for YT Premium. 

Oops, forgot BH Plus exists. 

Edited March 7, 2022 by mecheng89
Additional comments

[Danger Dassie]

We access the forums, for free. There’s a classifieds, for free. There’s a variety of content, for free. 

Nothing costs as much as ‘free’ ... the level of projection and entitlement over freely accessing material is almost a joke. Not specifically on this thread perse, but it is a good microcosm.

[ALBERT MICHAEL]

Socialists!

[Matt]

1 hour ago, MORNE said:

And i dont necessarily agree with the no ads = no bikehub rhetoric. 

Surely based on the "year in numbers" this  site pulls enough traffic to be self sufficient. Not to mention bikehub pay in the mix now too. 

As we stand currently ad revenue makes up a significant majority of total revenue. So "no ads = no Bike Hub" is not far from the thruth.

Medium to long term are are focussed on significantly growing revenue from classifieds and transactions (Bike Hub Pay). It will dramatically reduce our reliance on ad revenue, however even then we see that advertising will continue to play an important role. 

@Li Mu Bai thanks for the feedback. We've always been conscious of not bombarding Hubbers with too many adverts, invasive pop-ups or autoplay videos. Finding the right balance between the ideal user experience and a sustainable ad-based business model can be tricky. In an ideal world we'd have no ads and only rad ride imagery as you suggest, but somewhere along the line bills need to be paid. 

If you're looking for an ad-free Bike Hub utopia take a look at Bike Hub Plus. For the cost of coffee per month you can turn off all the ads.
 

[michaelbiker]

If you think the ads should be cycling specific, then you should take a look at who sponsors the pro cycling teams: https://road.cc/content/feature/13-crazy-pro-team-sponsors-and-their-unlikely-products-231534

As an aside, I tried out YouTube Premium for a few months and ended up becoming a subscriber. It’s kind of impossible to use YouTube now without it. I wish more services had ad-free subscriptions.