To ATS Staff..........

originally posted by: CharlesT

originally posted by: carewemust

originally posted by: CharlesT
a reply to: Bigburgh

They are making money while the making is good before the end comes.

Is this something you know, or is this your opinion, Charles?

Just my personal observation. This add problem has gone on too long now. It tells me they have no intention of trying to fix it. If they did, it could have been fixed within days but this has been going on for months now. Yes, I'm reading between the lines here but just what other logical explanation can you present here?

Oh...now I get it. You're still assuming that the ADS you see on ATS are a mistake...a problem.

I saw a thread last week, where ATS owners explained that these ADS are by design, and why ATS chose to include them in our browsing of AboveTopSecret.com .

a reply to: Ahabstar

know what they are talking about” to actually know what they are talking about. But that isn’t limited to just the site here.

Problem here is that the posters here are anything but authoritative and rational. Discussion is the furtherest thing from rational replies to authoritative original posts. Most just turn into a political bantering back and fourth with one line snide sarcastic BS. As I said they are just political slug-fests from uninformed sources. The quality of these posts , really, sucks and are only invitations to get down and dirty over subjects most have no earthly idea what they are arguing about. Hell, even me included.

The mods, admins and owners have very little input as to what members decide to write about

The hell you say! It's their, your, private site. You control and own it 100%

At this point, I'd say to the owners, get rid of this political bantering and get back to it's original intent. Damn the money if they give a sheat about their creation and original ideals. All of these impulsive politically inciting threads? Deep 6 them quick and pursue quality input. Some jack jumping on every new headline to be the first to get it posted for stars and flags is just BS.
Basically, I'm saying management has let lack of intellect and rational over run the site. The site is worth saving. If you have to seek outside advice to save it, do it. People enjoy coming here but this add problem will certainly drive them away.

originally posted by: Ahabstar
I would pay real money for people that “know what they are talking about” to actually know what they are talking about. But that isn’t limited to just the site here.

Several political forums date back to 2002, the newest being the political mudput which dates back to 2010. Why all the political threads? Because thread makers are making political threads. The mods, admins and owners have very little input as to what members decide to write about and even less control over responses.

Advertising pays to keep the site running. It also pays the owners to continue to wish ATS to remain in existence. Mods and admin are volunteers, we get jack other than grief over every little inconvenience, dislike or heaven forbid the enforcement of the terms and conditions for the sake of community management.

Is there another better business model out there just waiting to be implemented that achieves or surpasses the level of success ATS has seen as is? Possibly, after all anything is possible. Would hosting providers go for this different business model, especially unproven ones? Probably not. Why butter the bread with a heat gun when a butter knife works and everyone knows it works?

The majority of us know you mods do this for free.. and yes we know you all are the #

And some are ( well a wee bit angry )
So many threads ABOUT ATS today..

There was a time when Mark or Bill would randomly show up.
2016 was a bit of a bitch..
But They showed up.. and we would scream.

Blaine915555555555555
DTOM
Kandinsky
Eriktheawful
ZAPHOD58
BURD
SEAGULL...
Redneck...
Ahabstar
Have kindly showed up and carried the site.

We know.

Off to bed..

ATS will not die as long as the political arguments continue as every one needs to have the last say or they find something else to be mad about. 9/11 really started this whole mess and divided allot of members that were once on the same page, then it was Bush and then Obama. Then again, once enough people enter a site it goes from five stuffy british men discussing the conspiracies to highschool teens who are here to make friends and enemies, then to kindergarten.

Around that time many well respected and knowledgeable members got banned or left. Then soon after (2015), the owners posted less and less and now are just about nonexistent. Mods seem to be in damage control PR mode.

Maybe the site was sold... I miss the member Hank McCoy

originally posted by: CharlesT
ATS is in it's death troughs. It aint gonna get any better from here. The ship is sinking.

Edit: One day soon, you will try to log on and be hit with a notice, 404 "This web page does not exist".

Sad but true..

But there are so many intimate groups on here, they will flock to other means.

I just don't like the ads. And I didn't like seeing the previous thread get locked. That seemed like censorship on a site that supposedly promotes the opposite of censorship.

I've been on this site for a long while now. I have watched the content of the posts change. That is mostly due to cell phones in my opinion. Once high quality cell phones were put into every hand on the face of the planet, claiming alien invaders became harder to prove. And the 2016 election seemed like a miracle (for some) that was worth talking about.

IMO, ATS is stronger than ever. Just more diversified in its' posts/threads.
I certainly do not want to see ATS go away.

a reply to: FingerMan

Moderators don't control the narrative. BBQ threads are closed when answers or solutions have been presented. A minority are closed because they become lightning rods for site criticism or members derail them into subjective quicksand.

It is extremely annoying. I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't even post that would pay $1 per month to have your ads removed. Maybe $2. And that has to equate out to more money than you make on the ads...

Ads can be annoying on any websites. Whether you know it or not, most major websites are dependent on ad-revenue to exist. YouTube, reddit and the MSM use them because they are businesses, but it costs the owners to run the sites too.

Another reason why most sites favour ad-rev above the subscription model is it's safer for making costings projections i.e. predicted traffic + ad-revenue = annual turnover. The subscription model is less predictable and especially so with user-generated content sites. For example, The Times or NYT can rely on subscriptions because their news content and demographics won't vary much across decades. In contrast, ATS has varied greatly over the years due to flow of members and whatever is catching member interest from month to month.

If you won't do that, can you put the ads on the side where they do not interfere with the content. Where they won't be accidentally clicked as you try to move on or post a reply.

BBQ threads are read by owners and admins. Your points have been noted.

Thread closed.