Chapter 84: Episode 84: Content with Embedded Advertising vs. Advertising with Embedded Content Chapter 84: Episode 84: Content with Embedded Advertising vs. Advertising with Embedded Content The money was recovered, and the person was brought back.
After learning that Zhou Xueyin and the other two had stood up for her, Yao Shanshan couldn’t express how thrilled she felt.
To prevent more girls with “love brains” like her from being deceived by scumbags, Yao Shanshan decided to share her experience and teach everyone a lesson.
And you know, after Liu He’s touch, the post was almost like a short story. Netizens were all cheering for Yao Shanshan and encouraging her to move past the gloom and regain her health soon.
To let Yao Shanshan recover in peace, Wang Simo voluntarily took over all her work.
Thanks to the successful case of organizing an exhibition for Japanese animation manufacturers, many manufacturers began to notice this obscure and relatively small BBS.
Every day Zhou Xueyin would open her inbox to find a pile of emails requesting for ad placements.
This was much faster than going out and drumming up business herself!
Although it’s foolish not to earn money when one can, ads that didn’t fit the company’s image were obviously not an option.
After sifting through them, we temporarily signed advertising agreements with brands related to female products.
However, the problems also followed. Although we had created a homepage specifically for advertising, trying to cram so many ads into the forum’s main body was unacceptable. If we placed them all on the homepage, it wouldn’t just irritate the users; even Zhou Xueyin herself found it repulsive.
Bright and garish, the over-saturated colors of the ads all lumped together were nothing short of visual pollution.
“Yinyin, can you ask the clients if we can beautify their ads for them, whether it’s their banners or streamers? Just look at this mess,” Wang Simo said, grimacing at the preview page.
“I actually did ask our contact person, guess what they said?” Zhou Xueyin teased a bit.
“What did they say?”
“Ad theory 101,” Zhou Xueyin mimicked their tone, “Ads must be striking! They have to catch the eye instantly! If it blends too much with the page, no one will see it. Just like that…”
“Striking doesn’t mean you need to use glaring reds, purples, blues, and greens! This isn’t about being striking or not, it’s about being an eyesore…” Wang Simo ranted about those responsible for the ad images.
But complaining aside, the ads had to go up since the clients had paid their deposits, and we couldn’t just not deliver, right?
Predicting a barrage of complaints from users, we inserted the ads we received into the homepage and forum’s internal pages based on the fees paid.
Some clients also wanted those annoying floating ads that roam around the screen; even if they paid double, we had no choice but to grudgingly put them up…
As expected, the day the ads went live, the forum erupted in chaos.
[Why has 51buy also turned into an ad site? These full-screen ads are so disgusting to look at!]
[Exactly! We chose this place originally for its few ads and abundant content, but look at it now… I’m out of here!]
[I’m not against advertising; after all, website operators need to make a living. But can’t you avoid these visually polluting ads? My eyesight’s dropping just looking at it!]
[A good site that used to insert ads within content has now sadly transformed into inserting content between ads. Guess it’s goodbye…]
[I just want to say one thing, you can have ads, but please don’t insert them under forum signatures! If you’re going to insert them, at least make them look good!]
[Can’t you add a close button for the ads? Can you? Is it that hard?]
………
By the end of the day, with over a hundred posts bashing the ads, Zhou Xueyin was utterly helpless.
Users provide traffic, and traffic brings ad revenue—it’s like choosing between two equally important things, and you can’t afford to lose either!
Besides, we aren’t a charity; don’t we have to pay our staff? Don’t we have rent, utilities, property fees, and hardware costs for running the website?
Money needs to be spent everywhere; we absolutely can’t pull the ads because of the users’ backlash. Otherwise, how would we survive?
“Yinyin, what do you think about this?” Liu Ji’niang too saw the mess in the forum and noticed Zhou Xueyin’s frazzled state, “How about implementing a random ad rotation system?”
“What does that random rotation entail?” Zhou Xueyin still felt completely at a loss.
“Hmm… Like, having different content for the same ad space each time it’s refreshed? What do you think?” Liu Ji’niang looked at Zhou Xueyin expectantly.
“It might work, but I’m not sure if KK can implement that feature…” Zhou Xueyin turned to Kang Siyin for an answer.
“We can implement the randomness, no problem—it’s just a matter of multiple functions, changing constants to variables, and placing the ad content under those variables,” Kang Siyin explained, not caring whether others understood.
“Can you make a demo and put it on our test page to see?” Zhou Xueyin sort of understood and asked Kang Siyin to give it a try, “Oh, and if we go with this random ad system, the clients won’t refuse to pay the balance, right?”
“They wouldn’t dare, as long as the ads are up and we have screenshots showing they’ve been displayed, they won’t deny payment,” Liu Ji’niang patted Zhou Xueyin’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Still, I’m a bit uneasy. Should we discuss it with the clients? Offer them the random exposure and possibly give them a discount on the ad rate?” Zhou Xueyin worried that the clients might not see their ads and assume they weren’t meeting their requirements.
“Are you daft? When everyone’s trying to squeeze out more ad money, you’re thinking of offering them a discount?” Liu Ji’niang could have smacked Zhou Xueyin with a bat, “Let me tell you, every company’s ad budget is fixed annually. If you discount on your side, the surplus money will just end up with someone else.”
“Is that so?” Zhou Xueyin had an epiphany, “How do you know this?”
“Hey, I got chummy with a girl who was buying makeup ads, and she blabbed,” Liu Ji’niang shared nonchalantly, “And, these companies care only about reach, not effectiveness. Why else would they pay for a banner or a streamer?”
“I see…” Zhou Xueyin realized her concerns were unnecessary, “Here I was getting anxious about them not advertising with us next time… I’m really not familiar with this kind of business model!”
“Actually, I rather like this way of ad placement. It’s stress-free; just take the money and do the job. Isn’t it nice?” Liu Ji’niang smiled relaxedly.
“By the way, some of the manufacturers’ ads are so ugly they’re shocking; how about we negotiate with them for the next round of ad banners, and we make them ourselves?” Zhou Xueyin felt like she’d found a new business opportunity.
“I’ll chat with that blabbermouth girl again and dig up some information!” Why not take on more business if it’s available? Liu Ji’niang looked to make the company even more profitable.