gilbuying sites?

Tymon

Tymon

Double Rainbow
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Tymon
here? wtf?

http://tinypic.com/iem6ua.jpg
Edit: Converted link to URL, was breaking the board at 1024. -Sculli

Didn't expect to find something like this here.
 
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This has been brought up already... I believe there is a sticky somewhere talking about it.
 
The QCDN ad campaign is like a roller coaster ride.
At first there was Google AdSense, which would deliver the most relevant and high paying ads to QCDN. Of course those ads would be from gil selling websites. Then I put up a poll asking whether people care that there are gil seller ads in the AdSense block. Then I closed the poll, and even though 2:1 said that gil seller ads are ok, I started to remove them.

I was removing them because there were basically four gil seller ads across the entire AdSense block, and I felt it would make it seem as if QCDN is owned by gil sellers, and I didn't want to give that impression.

After seven days of showing AdSense blocks, and after gradually removing 68 gil seller domains from the AdSense block, I can say one thing. People were clicking the gil seller ads, and the gil seller ads were bringing in twice the amount of cash than these other AdSense ads are bringing in.

A couple of days ago I was talking to a real life friend of mine, who doesn't play FFXI, or any MMO for that matter, and we came to talk about QCDN and the way the ad displays are working out.

In the end I abandoned my stance that I don't want gil seller ads on QCDN. Just because some do not like gil buying doesn't mean that gil buying will go away, it doesn't mean that those who buy gil will stop doing it, and it doesn't mean that those who buy gil will not simply go to any of the web sites out there and do it, regardless of whether QCDN displays gil seller ads.

There are dozens of seller sites around, some are scams, some are shady, some are good. If I were to display gil seller ads, I wanted full control over which company it will be, so that the user will not get screwed out of their cash.

IGE was the prime choice. Huge staff, fast delivery, verisign secured, high bizrate ratings, etc etc. Sure, they may be a few cents more per unit than others, but the user can buy with confidence that nothing will get screwed up along the way.

IGE will pay QCDN 10% of each sale.
This is not a for-profit venture for QCDN. All proceeds will be put back into the operations of this board, hosting, commercial add-ons for vBulletin, contest prizes, etc.

Clicking that ad is 100% anonymous, no user history is submitted.
I honestly believe that if you buy gil from a commercial outfit, then IGE is the way to go.

In the near future a QCDN donation system will be implemented, and one of the options for those who donate will be to eliminate all ads.

Should it turn out that this IGE ad is not bringing in any revenue, or only marginal revenue, then I will remove it and try to come up with something else useful to put in that spot.

Edit:
Randomly clicking the current AdSense ads in an effort to support QCDN will result Google dropping QCDN from the program and all monies earned will be forfeit. Google does not have to give any explanation as to why they drop a site. If you read across other forums, the entire process is automated. Admins get a form letter stating that they have been removed from the program as seen fit by Google standards. Any attempts to follow up on that will be met by more automatic replies that while Google regrets their decision, there is nothing an admin can do to change their mind or claim the cash already earned. So please, ONLY click the current adsense ads if you are genuinly interested in the content it leads to.
 
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Sculli said:
Here's some QCDN reality. Before I removed the gil seller AdSense ads, the whole ad campaign was twice as successful as it is now. That's about all I can say without to break Google's rules on non-disclosure.
Click to expand...

Sculli said:
I have said it a bunch of times before, the fact that there are sooooo many gil sellers (I currently have 68 domains banned in AdSense, granted, some shops have multiple domains), means that there are a lot of buyers.

Someone else somewhere on here said something along the lines of "I bet every one of us knows someone who buys gil, they may not know that their friend buys gil, but they still 'know' a gil buyer".

With numbers like this I am surprised the gil buyers haven't come forward and done a witch-hunt on those who do not buy gil.

..., in related news, I am just waiting for someone to make a thread about the 'FFXI Gil' ad next to the 'Welcome, <user>.' area.
Click to expand...

http://www.qcdn.org/showthread.php?t=18511

QCDN is not free to run. Ad banners help Sculli pay the bills. To get more info on these ads, and possibly how to remove them......

http://www.qcdn.org/showthread.php?t=18515
 
Some guy wanted to help me out with my gil problems, so he sent me the URL for a gilseller strategy web site. I hacked into the guy's file (because it costs you money, and I didn't want to pay) to check it out, and there were all sorts of things on there like ToD's, and like "how to MPK" and stuff. I was disgusted, so I deleted the guy's profile and erased my History.
 
To bad They foiled MPKs as well Good work SE :D
Now give me my damn Refresh II, Dia III etc.. -.-
 
Should get different adds or just shut down the website.I don't think running a hospital by money made from selling cocaine is gonna do good anyway.
hehehe. j/k
 
There's that pesky little thing we call "economic reality" QCDN has to be paid for somehow doesn't it? Do you want to pay a subscription fee or learn to ignore the gil buying and selling ads on the site? Either way it all still comes down to the same thing....People buy gil....People sell gil....we may not like it but ignoring it won't make it go away. This being said....wouldn't you rather QCDN run these ads and get the funds to keep functioning?

Thank you.
 
Nifal said:
To bad They foiled MPKs as well Good work SE :D
Now give me my damn Refresh II, Dia III etc.. -.-
Click to expand...
lol any beastmaster will tell you they hardly foiled mpk's. The link mpk still works fine as do the mobs with AoE attacks that don't just hit party members (ex bombs). The only thing they managed to do is fist us bst's in the ass.

Congrats to the smn's and drg's here. At least the updated hooked you guys up.
 
Reality speaking, a website costs between $5 and $50 a month unless it has it's own server, and I doubt qcdn needs it's own server... QCDN should just set up a paypal donation if you are all that hell-bent against seeing anything related to gilselling here :P Personally, I think that'd be the better choice.
 
QCDN is now an accomplice in gilselling. Do the math.

pakomen said:
Reality speaking, a website costs between $5 and $50 a month unless it has it's own server, and I doubt qcdn needs it's own server... QCDN should just set up a paypal donation if you are all that hell-bent against seeing anything related to gilselling here :P Personally, I think that'd be the better choice.
Click to expand...

hosting my own site with a forum costs me $14/mo and that's on a great 99% uptime server. It's not that expensive and to me, IMHO, this sounds like a sell out. It's like saying we, as players, can't survive without gilsellers... can't even run a forum about FFXI without gilseller sponsors. Although many might not care (as they might be the ones clicking the link) this is what drives up our inflation for those like me who ACTUALLY PLAY THE GAME fairly. How can we possibly legitimize cheating in a multi-player game? I don't care who you are. You lose the right to complain about all things gil related if you have a link to buy gil. The fact that its working for you and people are clicking is not a good thing. That's bad. This means that this site has become an accomplice in gilselling. I know everyone can't see it that way but you have to look at the bigger picture.

Think about it this way.... and this is ENTIRELY hypothetical so don't come to my site looking for it, but if I had a site with links to child porn for sale and I was making money from sick people clicking doesn't that mean that I just made money from child porn? There is a reason why google and other "ethical" sites do not have porn links and other things that will probably make them money. I could make money if I sold drugs being grown and imported by someone else. The fact that I'm getting rich doesn't make it acceptable. Advertisements, for all those who don't know anything about business, are essential to how the advertiser makes money. You cannot have a successful business without marketing. And I'm sorry to say this but QCDN is helping the marketing campaign of gilsellers, thereby supporting the very ill that plauges the AH. What money do you think QCDN is being paid with? Money out someone's pocket? Or money that was earned from the sale of gil? Come on, you can figure this out. QCDN is selling gil and getting a crappy return for it. QCDN might as well sell gil itself. Then it'd make even more money. And that's what's important, right? Money.

Or is that what a gilseller would say?
 
Sculli said:
After seven days of showing AdSense blocks, and after gradually removing 68 gil seller domains from the AdSense block, I can say one thing. People were clicking the gil seller ads, and the gil seller ads were bringing in twice the amount of cash than these other AdSense ads are bringing in.
Click to expand...

this makes me sad :|
 
Review this thread QCDN operations poll - info about ad banners because I really don't feel like typing it all again.

A donation system will be implemented sometime before the new year.
However, a donation system as sole source for QCDN funding is out of the question.

@ Zealot X
Comparing gil seller ads to child porn is inaccuracte and uncalled for, regardless of whether one agrees with gil selling or not.

The reality is that QCDN users are buying gil, they would do so with or without the ad QCDN displays. This site gets 7k unique users a month, I am sure you wouldn't be as naive to think there are no gil buyers among them.

The IGE ad is currently display to find out whether QCDN can cash in on QCDN users buying gil. Your logic that if QCDN wouldn't display IGE ads there would be less or no gil buyers doesn't follow.

If, after a few weeks, the return from the IGE ad is not existant, or only marginal (marginal in this case means that the particular spot the ad is in could be better used displaying a different ad), then it will be removed.

If the IGE ad brings in money, then it is very likely that it will stay, unless a different consistent income source is found.

As operator of QCDN I do not want to put myself into a position in which I have to rely on donations to 100%, because I do not want to come here and make a post like "uhm... guys ..., I know you don't have cash, and uhm..., I know some donated..., but uhm ... I need more money, pwease! oh pweaseeeee!11!!!!".

The cost of running the site is out in the open, $805/year, and that doesn't include me volunteering my time, and the currently 15 mods volunteering their time. None of the people involved in running QCDN have ever had any personal gain from it, on the contrary, the mods and I are often the targets for all kinds of BS from people who don't know a thing about anything.

In closing, it requires money and time to keep the forum running as is.
It requires more money and more time to make the forum better.
I am open to suggestions as to where to get that money from. A currently workable solution is ads. Gil seller sites have been removed from AdSense because there was no way to tell whether they were legit. IGE is the worldwide leader in virtual property sales with an outstanding customer service record. If QCDN users want to buy gil, then I feel comfortable recommending IGE rather than some shady shop in who knows where.
 
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Sculli, you're being ripped off. Plain and simple. There's no way this webhost should cost $800 a year. You don't have enough traffic. Yes, you do get enough to make a noob webmaster blush, but I can't fathom how in the hell you would have to pay over $66 a month for this.

As for donations, you're not going to get them from the average user. Reason being: all of the people who bitch about gilsellers are all talk and no walk. And half of the visitors are teenage kids with no money. :P I'd like to see kyle and any other ****s out there who bitch and moan and mpk the gilsellers step up and prove me wrong by donating to keep this IGE free, but you know what, it's not going to happen.

As far as all the others who donate the time to moderating your message board. Good on them. This is something they volunteered to do and shouldn't even be set next to the cost of running this site as it has nothing to do monetary value.

Suggestions, I don't have any aside from get a cheaper host. And don't complain about $66 a month. If you love this site, keep it running. If you NEED money and aren't doing this for the love of it, take it down. I've lost over $2000 in the past few years just running my website. Because I love it and because it helps a lot of people. Monetarily it hasn't paid me shit, but the people I've met have made it all worth it. Different story... anyway, it would be great if people would help you out, and I positively would throw you some cash If the paypal option was up...
 
I'd actually hafto agree with Pakomen...I don't see how they could charge that much per month...I mean hell, you go buy one of those premium homestead accounts for $12/month and it could host QCDN pretty easy..
 
I sent a donation on the old board a few months ago via PayPal, and Pupusa told me to reclaim it.



I'd send another donation, no problem.
 
pakomen said:
Sculli, you're being ripped off. Plain and simple.
Click to expand...
You are of course entitled to your opinion, but you will have to put up with not everyone agreeing with you.

Naturally there are all kinds of web hosting packages out there, in the end one gets what one pays for.

The plan QCDN is on now is Liquidweb's Virtual Private Server Plan I, which is $60/month. Again, the main issue with QCDN is not bandwidth (which is under 30GB/month at this time), but mysql performance. Be that as it may, QCDN is going to stay where it is at now, the service is speedy and provides room for growth. The nightly off-server backup of currently about 1.6GB that doesn't count toward bandwidth used, and doesn't bring QCDN to a halt, is worth the price to me.

I personally do not complain about to cost to run QCDN, I am explaining the cost, and I do what is necessary to ensure that I don't have to pay that cost out of my own pocket.
 
the way i see it, if you arent helpin to pay to run then site then shut the fuck up. nothing is free. if sculli has to have those ads to keep this site up then so be it. if i dont like the ad i dont click it. hes not saying you have to click it. if it was me personally, just see all the whiners bitchin about the ads get even more pissed off, id put up more of them. but then again i am an asshole. :)
 
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