Digital bits sinks to new low (1 Viewer)

[Chris_T]

I think Greg's assessment of the Bits is a little harsh. As Ron previously stated, the majority of us have no idea what it takes to run a website of this magnitude. To say that someone hit a "new low" because there using pop-up ads which helps pay for some of their overhead costs, is ridiculous. I find pop-up ads just as annoying as the next person, but for all the information the Bits provides, its not that big of a problem to deal with. The same would apply to HTF if they used them to help with costs.

Ron & Bill,
Keep up the great work guys and thanks to you and everyone else who helps keep these sites up and running for the rest of us to enjoy for free.

Chris

 

[Zachary Cohen]

The only thing that really ticks me off about these ads is getting ones for products that I've already bought.

IMDB has been waging a full out assault on my computer letting me know that Clerks 10th Anniversary, which I have already purchased, is now on DVD.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You are a true friend -- however, unfortunately you
stand mostly alone.

Most individuals would not pay a yearly fee for
any of the DVD news sites or forums like HTF.

During our last donation drive we barely made half
of our needed goal -- and that's with thousands of
members we have here reading our site daily.

I can't tell you how much we appreciate what the
contributing members did for us, but if we had to
depend on them alone we would not have made it through
the year. Thankfully, because we now have many
more advertisers than we did, we will hopefully never
have to do a donation drive again.

Truth of the matter is, you charge people a yearly
fee, most will just go to the other sites that offer
nearly the same information FREE of charge.

 

[Bryan X]

I agree. You'll hear a lot of people saying that they'd be glad to pay $20.00 a year to access site so-and-so.

But what if every site took that route and charged $20.00 a year to visit? Who's going to be willing to shell out $20.00 a year multiplied by all the major sites they visit? Not many. Who wants to shell out $500.00 a year to be able to surf 25 sites?

As much as I hate ads, they keep my favorite sites free of charge, so I'm all for them.

As for the in-your-face ads. The market will determine whether or not those types of ads will stick around. If those ads drive readers away from sites, marketers are clever enough to come up with something else that is just as effective yet not as offensive.

 

[MarkHarrison]

Or bitch personally to Bill through email. A complaint is fine when it's directed to the right person. When it's directed to the general public, it's just whining.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

wait, what was their old low?

 

[MarkHarrison]

Thanks for the update Ron. Is this site in the black or are donations always welcome?

 

[PaulP]

I've been using ad-blocking software since perhaps 1997-98, when I was still on dial-up and it made a huge difference in speed, not having to download ads. And they were much less numerous back then. Now I still use ad-blocking software, because I'm used to the clean-looking websites (AdShield is my choice), and it's very distracting and disturbingf going online on somebody else's computer, seeing how much more advertisment there is now on the Internet. And not just plain old banners, but very complex Flash overlays and things that block your whole screen... Google is the only site that does ads right.

 

[Daniel Kikin]

I would also pay a yearly fee for TDB and HTF too if that was needed to support the site, the least I could do for all the hard work Ron, Bill, and their staffs put in to making the DVD and HT communtiy what it is. Of course, I'll never complain when it's free either.

This is all theoretical of course, but as far as driving people away, that could possibly come full circle. The other sites will eventually get to the same point where they have more traffic than they can handle and they'll have to do something about it whether it's advertising or charging membership fees. Once they're at that point, people could start to swinging back since they'll have to deal with it wherever they go.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Well not every site would be worth it. HTF's moderation alone is almost worth it to me. Even though certain threads can occasionally descend into embarassing child-like behavior (cough *Star Wars* cough), it's nice to know that users who abuse the forum are dealt with quickly and effectively, which results in a much more enjoyable experience for me at least. HTF just seems more adult than most forums, which is why this is the only HT forum I read daily. I hardly bother with the DVDTalk forums anymore, except for the weekly ads.

Same thing with the Bits. You could open 100 DigitalBits Jr. sites, but they wouldn't have the experience and connections that the Bits staff have.

I honestly can count on almost one hand how many sites I'd be willing to pay for, and HTF and the Bits are two of them.

I'm not meaning this to be a cheerleading post, as I am very frustrated with the ads on the Bits, but the fact remains that HTF and the Bits are quality sites in a sea of crap sites, and I hope they continue to be.

 

[Bryan X]

But you need to remember, people have limited funds. Think of the hundreds (thousands?) of sites you patronize each year. You want to pay $20.00 to EACH of them? Or maybe you want to limit your surfing to a couple sites a year? I think I'll take the ads, thank you.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You know what? I won't turn away donations, but
save it for a time we may need it again. For the
moment we are in the black thanks to our last donation
drive and the fact that we now have a healthy amount of
advertisers here. Thanks for the offer.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

That seems a little uncalled for.

 

[Zachary Cohen]

I wrote above that I had no problem with DigitalBits doing this, as they need to pay their bandwidth bills and whatnot. This, however, is a whole different story:

 

[Bill Hunt]

Guys...

Will this debate ever end? The Internet is certainly a great resource, but it's spoiled a lot of people it seems. You guys need to understand a few things:

First, the cost of running The Digital Bits isn't just bandwidth and servers. It costs money to send DVDs to reviewers, to send out contest discs to winners, to pay electric bills, to pay business operation fees and taxes, to pay press release fees, etc. There are transportation costs to meetings and various events around the country. Putting on events like our DVD Producers Panel at Comic-Con costs money. We have to maintain and upgrade our home theater equipment so we can talk about the latest technology. All this doesn't even BEGIN to address the fact that a couple of us at The Bits do this full time and we have to eat and pay our own bills. Todd and I aren't a couple of 18-year-olds running TwoGuysWhoLoveDVD.com - we've been doing this professionally for a long time now. And believe me, we aren't getting rich. I wish. If you had any idea how little money we made on the book alone, for over a year's work... We actually LOST money on that.

Second, you're getting the fruit of our full time efforts, the benefit of the respect we've earned within the industry, our access within the industry because of that, our sources and our years of experience... all for free. Completely FREE. We've never charged you a dime and we don't ever want to. Isn't that worth enduring a few animated banners once in a while?

Third, although we publish the equivalent of a print magazine's worth of content over the course of any given month -- and it's more valuable to you as a DVD consumer because by the time it's in print it's already 2-3 months out of date -- we simply can't earn the kind of advertising revenue that a print publication can. The studios are just not willing to spend normal ad rates for online advertising, especially not when new DVD websites spring up every week, each of them asking for money and free DVDs. So we have to get by on nickel and dime, hoping we'll make enough to cover the bills each month. That's just how online advertising is these days. The studios want all the PR they can beg, borrow or steal but they aren't willing to pay for it. Some of them are getting so cheap they don't even want to send out DVDs for review to online sites - even to those site that have been around and supported them since the very beginning of the format. They just don't care. So we struggle every day to bring you the latest DVD news, by and large thanklessly, and we're lucky to pay the rent most of the time.

Finally, one of the reasons we’ve been successful over the years and earned the respect of the industry, is that we’re fair. We call things like we see them, but we give credit where credit is due. This means that when we work hard on behalf of you guys as consumers – voicing your complains and concerns with the industry – the studios take us seriously. But in order to serve as effective consumer advocate, we need to speak to the largest audience possible. That means the website needs to be free for everyone to access – not just those who pay to access it. We aren’t owned by a big multimedia company. The Bits is me, Todd, Sarah, Adam, Matt and a staff of great columnists and reviewers like Robert Harris, Barrie Maxwell and Rob Hale - 90% of whom work on The Bits because they love it, not because they get paid. We can't afford to pay them. If they're really lucky, they get a disc. We just don’t have the resources to manage the business end of taking people’s money, having people on-hand to offer customer service to make sure they’re able to log in, to create exclusive content for those who pay, etc. Our time is better spent researching stories, chasing down rumors, talking with insiders, etc, to bring you the best DVD news we can.

You know, some of the most frustrating comments we get are these: “Why should I buy The Digital Bits book when I can just get all that information for free from their website?” or “I hate the banner ads on The Digital Bits – I can just everything I get from them for free on another website. Screw The Bits!”

Guys… if nearly EIGHT years of busting our butts on your behalf isn’t enough to prove to you that our efforts are worth the inconvenience of a few animated banners, and that we offer you valuable things that you can’t get anywhere else (like for example our unique insights, perspective and experience), then there’s just nothing I can say to convince you otherwise.

Would The Digital Bits be better without noisy, animated ads? Sure. Would I personally love to be rid of them? Are you kidding? Of course I would. I will tell you that we are constantly trying to do everything we can to eliminate the most disruptive ads, or at least to minimize them. But when we need the money to pay the bills, that’s just how it is. The alternative is NO Digital Bits, so if dealing with a few ads is the ONLY cost you have to pay for our services, is it really worth complaining about?

Maybe it is, I don’t know anymore. But some of you guys sure expect a damn lot for FREE.

Anyway, I’ve said my peace on this. Best to all of you, whatever your opinion.

 

[Sam Favate]

I don't feel the ads on the Digital Bits or HTF are intrusive -- there are plenty of examples out there of sites that are terribly intrusive, and neither of these fit that bill, IMO.

I think Digital Bits (and HTF!) provides an outstanding service -- how many of us read that site every day, or several times a day? Just wanted to state for the record that not everyone shares the opinion that DB or HTF has cumersome or over-the-top ads.

 

[Bill Hunt]

Zach,

Why is a quick mention of Sirius a different story? I happen to love it, so I talked about that. It's my opinion. I'm not running ads for Sirius, so what's your problem? It's technology and I'm commenting on it. When Blu-ray and HD-DVD show up, I'll talk about that. I just bought an iPod for kicks. If I love that, I'll probably talk about how cool that is too. It's my column, my opinion.

What... are you an XM guy or something?

Give me a break. You guys really go too far sometimes.

 

[Ian_H]

Keep up the excellent work Bill. I have been reading your site for quite a long time and it (and HTF) are the only sites I read on a daily basis! As for the pop-ups I was quickly able to find the close buttons so it was no biggie to me.

--Ian

 

[Joshua Clinard]

Sorry for my comments Bill. I didn't realize all the expenses you guys incurred. I thought the Studio's paid for your transportation to the press events and review DVDs. I stand corrected.

Also, I love my Sirius too, Bill. Ron had it for a while, but he didn't stay with them through their growing pains. Too bad, because they are much better than before!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Bill,

Bravo!

I couldn't have said it any better than you just did.


They are still greatly inferior to XM. Sorry, Joshua,
I call it as I see it, but that's a topic for another
thread.