Transparency Request: Where Does ATS Get It's Funding?

I always assumed that those irritating ads paid for your dedicated hosting and premium bandwidth package, but in light of the fact that the ads have been gone for the better part of a week now, I'm left wondering how you can afford to replace them with a big NLBS backdrop.

Surely 100k hits on Youtube isn't paying for all of this, is it? If so I'm gonna have to consider a career change.

Do you guys receive grants or something?

Ads.
There are still ads.

a reply to: Bone75

This is an experiment........

welcome 2 phase two.

a reply to: butcherguy

Lol I guess it would've helped to navigate around the site a little before going off half cocked huh? I normally only use the new topics page and the myATS page, and neither of those contain ads. I'm actually glad the banners that automatically drop down and start playing a video are gone and pray that they never come back.

I'm still curious though as to whether or not the ads are their only means of monetization.

a reply to: Bone75

ATS has great SEO and consistently show up in Google when searching various topics. This leads a lot of clicks from people who are not members who actually see all of the pop-ups and banners. There are a lot of folks clicking if you check the numbers.

We don't see most of the ads but we are used to leverage the viewer base so that lost ad revenue is more like paid content (which is fair... it's not like we aren't having fun creating content). The mods, as far as they tell us, are unpaid so their staff and overhead isn't as big an actual company that sells physical products.

Beyond that, you can't get as big as ATS without getting your hands into some decent side-projects under the same network. I'm sure there are distribution deals and web-tech at this point that is being utilized and monetized. This site is super-sleek and pretty original in its coding (they certainly aren't using a basic CMS out of the box). I'm sure there were plenty of practices and products produced as a byproduct of the evolution towards creating the site we see now.

And it's so subtle that members actually have to ask! If they can make bank and make their users wonder how, they're doing it right.

I say this in jest before someone else says it.

They are paid by the government to find all us people with a free mind so they can feed us to the reptilian elite.

Half of the money comes from a CIA slush fund, the other half comes from bake sales.

The vast range of always current topics keeps the click fest going I would imagine.

a reply to: boymonkey74

Well I haven't seen our resident bunnies in a few weeks now so you might be right lol. You and the kangaroo are probably next.

Whoa. You don't get ads? I can't get rid of them since I got my new computer.

If you want them maybe the Mods can help.

I have observed staff/owners get pretty riled when someone insinuates any cooperation between ATS and government, (like funding coming to ATS from the NSA which was actually offered a while back), and yet in spite of that, they give mod jobs to the most outspoken Disbelievers of conspiracies, and mod jobs also to those most outspoken who always favor the status quo supported by MSM and such.

To me it doesn't matter, and it also proves nothing, but it certainly is an interesting detail. This is relevant since if it was actually true, then it would follow the same expected views the government would want to see supported.

a reply to: rickymouse

Yeah no thanks

When those banner ads drop down and start playing videos every time I navigate to another page, I go somewhere else.

originally posted by: Bone75

I'm still curious though as to whether or not the ads are their only means of monetization.

Nah. You don't want to know where the money comes from. (jedi wave)

Oh, not to mention it gets funding from the secret heads of The Above Network, who are all Reptilian Overlords. They are not to be mentioned. I think the last Secret Head to be inducted was Richard Belzer. You can, of course, tell the reptilians from the humans at the Above Network, the reptilians all have star counts over 1 million.

originally posted by: Bone75
a reply to: boymonkey74

Well I haven't seen our resident bunnies in a few weeks now so you might be right lol. You and the kangaroo are probably next.

you're right - the bunnies are missing.....yikes, I hope they've only taken up hibernating....

a reply to: Bone75

Anybody have remarked that during the last gov. shutdown there was a lot less activities here on ATS?

That may be your answer...

a reply to: Bone75

These guys receive free content,,, that's everything.

a reply to: Bedlam

I don't blame you for changing that first paragraph. There might actually be a grain of truth to it considering a couple of the nutcases that were members here.

The star glitch only affects members that have been here prior to some time in 2006. Whether or not those folks are Reptilian Overlords is still a mystery, but I did happen to catch 2 of them disagreeing with one another for the first time the other day.

originally posted by: PeterMcFly
a reply to: Bone75

Anybody have remarked that during the last gov. shutdown there was a lot less activities here on ATS?

That may be your answer...

It definitely slows down the hamster deliveries. No hamsters, no reptilians.



Here is a stunning documentary of what happens around the 'water cooler' at the Above Network.

originally posted by: Bone75
a reply to: Bedlam

I don't blame you for changing that first paragraph.

There is no protection from reptilians. Only so much can be revealed, lest ye draw their anger.

Actually, I also started to hum in a link to the old 'Langley' joke, but some ATS members are very literal and might not spot the tongue in cheekiness.

a reply to: Bedlam

What do you mean "some ATS members"?