Partnering With a Peer to Peer Advertising System, Would It Work for Steemit?
View this post on Hive: Partnering With a Peer to Peer Advertising System, Would It Work for Steemit?
View this post on Hive: Partnering With a Peer to Peer Advertising System, Would It Work for Steemit?
Basically advertising will always be a good way to invest, the more people know what you do most interested in being part of that and that is where the gains and recognition in different places
If I put myself in the shoes of Steemit Inc., like if I pretend this is my company, I probably wouldn't sign off on this. Of course as a user on the platform who would use and monetize this it's mostly pros, but on the larger scale from the company perspective I think it might be a net negative, let me explain.
So I think we can all agree that no matter how unobtrusive, nobody likes ads. No one goes to a site like, they've got some really nice ads here! Ads are going to be there when they NEED to be there. Basically when you don't have other options for monetization, you turn to ads.
I don't know this, but I think based on the way things have played out so far, Steemit isn't trying to go down that road, and I think for good reason if you think of what services Steemit is trying to compete with. I think it would lose a large selling point by even adding a single ad.
I think the equation to figure out if you should put ads on a platform is simple and goes something like, "can this thing make money without ads? If yes, don't add ads, if no, add ads".
So I guess the question is, CAN this thing make money without ads? How much money does it even need to make to stay afloat? I have to wonder with more and more money going in, and only content coming out, is this sustainable? Because if it's not, then maybe they'd have to add ads, but in that case, it would be an all in move and again, pretending this was my company, I'd be looking for big brands, and trying to onboard large campaigns. Banner ads would be more of a last resort.
Sorry if it seems like I'm pooping all over your idea, not my intention, just my random opinion from one powerless user to another :)
No, not pooping at all! Just the kind of discussion I’m looking for.
On the one hand, I totally agree, and everything you’re saying fits with the big con... but it’s Ads!
On the other hand, the core virtue of something like this is the decentralization (albeit run through a central broker software). I don’t approach this from the sentiment that Ads are needed to bring in revenue and make the site sustainable. I wouldn’t see Steemit Inc. needing to plaster brokered corporate advertising anywhere. Plus I think it’s more in line with the philosophy of Steem to put the monetary attention value of advertising into the hands and pockets of the end user directly.
This concept is approached more from the perspective that we are decentralized, advertising exists, and the cats out of the bag! Right now advertising takes the form of bid bots & paid resteems. I think user generated & controlled banner ads are a less obtrusive alternative to those, that also leave the rewards pool and trending algorithms acting more naturally than the present paid vote environment.
It’s also interesting to think that something like allowing in post ad code like this is at the site level, not blockchain. If Busy, dLive & dTube all rendered the ad code, but Steemit blocked it... would I put it in my posts knowing it would display on 3 out of 4, but show an invalid message on Steemit? I’m not sure. But user controlled advertising slots could be a differentiator between front end sites, allowing users to choose where they view their content based on their own feelings about advertising.
I think right now, this proposal would make a ton of sense. The big question is if upcoming design changes and features naturally render bidbots and buying your way onto trending obsolete, therefore making the alternative of ad embeds superfluous as well. In either case, the big pro of creating a more “evergreen” payout window for good content still stands.
Hmm, yea I guess I hadn't really thought about it from the decentralized perspective. Basically, it's "our" platform we can add what we like sort of deal. In all honesty I don't really understand the nuts and bolts of how this works. Like as users what say do we have in the direction of features? Or is that one of the things witnesses do? Still not super clear on all that.
In a sense, enabling code like this on the site is kind of a matter of if Steemit wants to support that "convenience" or system. But overall, there's no way to stop me from saying, "For 5 SBD I'll put your banner on the bottom of my next post... it'll be there forever!" Big influencers will no doubt do such a thing, just as they're paid to write a tweet about an ICO or post a picture wearing a certain piece of clothing on Instagram. This would just allow for a more dynamic ad inventory that stays more relevant over time, and democratize it so smaller users could benefit as well without the need or means to broker direct deals for a few pennies!
As to the system... I can give my take. Steemit Inc. will always have control over Steemit.com, all it's interface, upgrades, etc. That's their private site. But they have no control over any of the other Steem front ends or how the Steem blockchain is used in general.
Steemit Inc. is however the primary developer of the blockchain right now. It's their mission and they have a big interest because they own a substantial amount of the originating Steem. However, anyone can create new code and features for the blockchain, but it has to be agreed to and ratified by a large number of the elected witnesses.
So the best comparison is to politics. Yes we can suggest blockchain changes and features, I've even seen an interesting recent post by someone talking about hiring a large and well known development team to tackle some Steem issues independent of Steemit Inc. and work direct with the witnesses. (Wish I could remember who wrote about it...)But to implement those changes you'd also have to make sure you're voting for witnesses that have a similar vision of the future and would implement them. Here too, since Steemit Inc. has a large stake, they can heavily influence the elected witnesses right now and steer things in a direction of their choosing. But ultimately, if Steemit Inc. disappeared tomorrow, Steem would go on. There are online roleplaying games I played 15 years ago, long since discontinued by their publishers that have passionate fanbases running servers they set up themselves and keeping them alive. I can't imagine witnesses and the community wouldn't step in to do the same for Steem! Despite Steemit Inc's clout, the Steem blockchain itself is not their property anymore, it does belong to and is controlled by all stake holders.
Ahh, I see, THANKS for the schooling lesson :) Lots of gems in there I didn't know. I already had a lot of faith in Steem, but this actually gives me even more. This thing would be really hard to kill :) Also if Steemit Inc. at any point and time just royally screws the pooch someone else can come along and take over without a bunch of corporate shenanigans.
I don't want adds on steemit. Just sounds annoying and something that gets worse with time like adds on YouTube.
This seems viable. The pros seem to balance out the cons. It would make sense not to go overkill with it. I will check this out. Thanks @bryan-imhoff! Resteemed
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What would be more useful is an Ads service based on STEEM which could drive external dollars into the system.
But good luck getting traction on this. People selling votes are making a killing on Steemit right now.