Forums General Discussion Advertisements in mIRC. 6.31

Ok, I had no problems with the ads on the About dialog, but this huge set of ads thrown onto the main page looks absolutely awful.

you mean the main mIRC.com page?

*oh, so I wasnt imaginging it*

I would definately vote that off if I could, looks terrible.
Khaled, Keep the ads on mIRC, But dont kill a great website!

Yes, the mIRC.com main page. Sorry.

I'm wondering what's in the works next for the main page, popup ads? It went from looking like a respectable website for a respectable shareware application to advertisement hell. It's getting a little tacky imo.

~ Edit ~
I assumed it was just the main page but have just realized that every page has the google ads and the ad banner. Such a shame.

Yeh, i don't think tacky even describes it.

Plain and simple: It looks shit. (the ads on the website).
But I guess its khaled's choice...

I'm still experimenting with the advertising, so it's all up in the air currently. It's the first time I've considered advertising in over 12 years of working on mIRC, so there's a lot of fiddling going on.

The advertising in the mIRC About dialog was unsuccessful, that's why I decided to try it out on the website - unfortunately ads are more visible on the website because of the minimalist design. Most other websites integrate far more ads into their pages. Even with one ad, it's going to stand out on the mIRC website. The website is currently displaying two ads, one on the side and a banner at the top, which is pretty minimal.

While I used to have a block against advertising, it just completely clicked for me last month that all of my favorite sites have it - from coding to software to news to social networking. I'm still pretty uncomfortable with it - but if it can help support mIRC, like it helps supports all kinds of other projects and websites, it seems fair and reasonable to use it.

I'll be tweaking the the ads over the next week or two, so you'll probably see more changes in the layout as time goes by.

No, I don't plan to display popup ads. I'm not sure what you mean by "advertisement hell" though... there are two ads on the page. Yesterday, there was only one ad on the page. Most websites that use advertising use far more than one or two ads per page. I think I have pretty much kept it to a minimum.

I think at most for me it's a little disconcerting but not tacky or otherwise. Then again, I've been working on the pages for the last week or two, so the ads seem to fit in fine for me now.

There are only two ads on the page, but the google ad dominates the page. I guess that's what I meant by "advertisement hell". I'm not against using advertising to support a product, but the trend these days seems to be more and more about the advertising and less about the content all the time. It's not just websites, but television and radio as well. Websites just seem to shove it more in your face because, well... it is in your face. Why was the ad in the dialog unsuccessful? Also the TrialPay, how's that working out?

Wow, I think thats the most i've ever seen Khaled speak.

Perhaps something other than Google Ads would be a better idea? It just looks wrong... It stands out more than anything else and seems like its an advertisement page with mIRC, if you get me?

Anyhow, it's your site and its up to you... I have noticed the ads moving around on the main homepage a little.

It is just ashame to see something we have lived with for so long change so much... The new design was a welcomed change... the ads.. err... dont seem to fit in.

Anyhow, I guess we will get used to it either way!

Personally I have no problem with google ads whatsoever. They're not in your face unlike some flash ads or ones with sound, and they're usually related to the website you're on.

Yes, two... but the one on the side shows (I think) 5 ads. And they aren't exactly appropriate ads for this site most of the time... usually dating and singles and "sexy" this or that. I think it detracts considerably. 2 ads is fine.. if they are only 2 ads. When one ad is multiple ads in one, it appears as though it's a lot more.

I think it would look better if you found a good ad "program" that is somehow related to IRC (unlikely) or just computers in general somehow. I know there are a lot of game ads out there, but not sure if they really fit here either. But one ad the size of the current google one on the side that's just on ad wouldn't be so bad, imo. That or just something much smaller.

Also keep in mind that more ads don't necessarily increase income. If the ads make the site look bad (it seems most here agree that it does), people are less likely to click them. That means less income, not more. Fewer/smaller ads make it more likely people will choose to click on the ad.

I think the google ads on the main page is a great idea, as long as the main application is free of advertisements! I agree with the others that the adds are poorly placed if you look at http://www.mirc.net for instance the google adds, eventhough they take in a prominent place on the website, don't really degrade the overal feel of the website. But i support your efforts in making the main mIRC app add free! Even a google toolbar option in the installer (not sure how profitable that is) would be a better option.

Yes, mirc.net is a great example of a well placed google ad. It almost looks like part of the menu and I'd be willing to bet that most don't even realize right away that it's a google ad. As I said earlier, I'm not against the ads whatsoever (not that I have a say) but I just thought they needed to be better placed and sized because they were dominating the pages.

I know Khaled is experimenting, But atm I can only see the google ads on the left - no ad on top... This looks considerably better IMO.

Most of the google ads are "fix mirc.exe" etc... My geographical location is "Sydney, Australia" which is why I might be seeing these.

The ad on top was mostly IMVU... This IMO, would take away visitors from mIRC alltogether.

Well, Khaled, I have to say that I think the new ad looks a LOT better. It takes up the same amount of space, but it doesn't seem like ads are being spammed across the entire page because it's just the on large ad. It's also not a lot of ads about stupid dating stuff all of the time, which is good.

Am I missing something? I have:



Quiet obviously dating ads in there. I don't know why but it appears better, Maybe because the ad in the middle isnt there atm.

Well, it's back to those ugly Google ads again. It was a nice vertical banner ad (the particular one I saw was a Circuit City one). I definitely preferred that one.

I don't like it at all, it makes the site appear to be more 'dodgy'
I reckon we can say goodbye to the end of an era.

Don't really like these adds, Dating, Gay Chat rooms, Parents Dating etc. is this really what irc is about?