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A Quick Message On Sponsored Articles, My Apologies

By - | Views: 11,762
We did a little experiment that sadly didn't work out when trying out "Sponsored Articles", were someone could have an article in the home-page list, this would have been a paid placement.

The aim of it was to provide us with more revenue (which we need), due to the issues surrounding the first attempting (which is now removed!) it will not be happening again for the foreseeable future.

Basically - I wanted them to have a very clear "Sponsored Article" tag, they previewed the post and approved it...then back-tracked and requested it to not have the tag, I refused to remove the tag since I want no shady/sneaky adverts.

I never shy away from the fact that I want to make money out of GOL, I spend a lot of time on it and a lot of time talking to developers.

If you want to support us check the Donate Page.

Thanks for understanding. If you aren't understanding then do everyone a favour and don't comment. Sorry to be as blunt as that, but arguments aren't needed and revenue tests have to be done to sustain GOL for the future. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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16 comments
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Guest Apr 8, 2014
It's really sad.

Honestly I do not get why companies think that someone saying "I got paid to preview this game by this company" is somehow a bad thing. Guys, you wanted him to have a look at it, write about it and compensated for his time.

As long as the article is not a blatant "buy me, buy me" ad, it's all fine.
Liam Dawe Apr 8, 2014
Quoting: Guest"Thanks for understanding. If you aren't understanding then do everyone a favour and don't comment."
If you want to make money out of GoL and/or get donations, then being aggressive like that might not be the best thing to do.
That is NOT aggressive. That is me telling people very clearly I don't want idiotic comments about this.
Lapinopl Apr 8, 2014
As long as you being honest about that stuff I don't have a problem with it, keep up the good work:)
PlayX Apr 8, 2014
Do you have a statistic of your daily views with and without adblocker?
If I look at my YouTube Analytics I can see, that round about 2/3 of my views cant be monetized.
So I can say there is a lot of money run through my fingers.
And the user has nothing to pay for this stuff.
People have to stop thinking, that everything in the www is for free.
Behind every Website, every Blog and every Video are some people that spend their time to bring you the coolest news and the hottest videos.
If you dont want to spend them hard Dollars, that is ok. I personally have only spend money to a few things that i realy like.
But click on an Ad is not a big deal. And if a website is not overpowered with Ads, then it is not a problem for me to put it on my whitelist.
Liam Dawe Apr 8, 2014
@PlayX I haven't tracked how many people are blocking our adverts no, not sure if I want to know either!
ari Apr 8, 2014
Sad to hear this atempt failled.

Hope you get to increase your gain from this site, i've grown quite fond of this and is on the top 5 sites i visit everyday. Multiple times a day come to think of it.
jdub Apr 8, 2014
Gotta do what you gotta do to stay afloat
Anonymous Apr 8, 2014
Quoting: PlayXPeople have to stop thinking, that everything in the www is for free.

they shouldn't browse porn or at least they should use separate browser for that ;)

if you only browse normal sites, adds are not even close to annoying. not to mention you support the site. but, browsing porn without addblock, that might be much more tricky, lol
DrMcCoy Apr 8, 2014
Quotethen back-tracked and requested it to not have the tag

I could have told you that. These people live off of the fact that it seems like an honest recommendation and the surreptitious advertising effect it brings. That's the whole point of this kind of con. I have never seen any of them agreeing on any tags or marker denoting the paid nature of the post; that would destroy the reason to do this in the first place.

In Germany, the "Pressekodex", the ethical/judical principles governing journalism, even includes a strict separation of advertisment and editorial articles. In addition, there's laws regulating competition which can apply there, possibly even EU-wide. Of course, whether that's applicable and enforceable for personal blogs and sites like gamingonlinux.com is anybody's guess. IANAL.

In either case, I thank you for your integrity. But looking at the title and teaser visible in my RSS feed, I wonder if that poker site was as legit as those casino sites advertised in spam mails. Brrr.

EDIT: In fact, I'd like it if you could name and shame that site...
Cheeseness Apr 9, 2014
Quoting: liamdaweThat is NOT aggressive. That is me telling people very clearly I don't want idiotic comments about this.

Surely there's scope for discussion that doesn't agree with your position that also isn't idiotic.

Totally have to agree with DrMcCoy. Definitely getting "con" vibes from the situation. Good move on pulling out.
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