Our direct advertising deal with BOINC Combined (often simply called 'Netsoft') is expiring soon. Last year, we voted to advertise on Netsoft until May 28, 2017. at a monthly price of 50 USD, converted to GRC (Gridcoinstats link). Since that's only a month from now, I have created a new vote, for another year, at the same price.

Netsoft frontpage. Our banner is at the top and it's visible even with the AdBlocker turned on. Banner is changed every month (at least), so don't worry if you don't like it, we have many pretty ones too :)

Q & A

Q: Only 50 USD per month? How come it is so cheap?

A: It's cheap because Netsoft doesn't get many visitors, unfortunately. According to SimilarWeb, Netsoft has about 30k visitors per month (on average). BOINCstats, on the other hand, has about 350k visitors per month, or about 12x more. Incidentally, BOINCstats price is also ~12x higher or 550 euros per month, as outlined in Gridcoin Advertising (5). So, as usual, you get what you pay for and there are no 'magical savings' here.

Q: How are we getting past the AdBlocker?

A: This is a direct advertising deal, our banner is not displayed through any ad engine and it's basically a permanent part of the website. It got blocked once last year, if I remember correctly. Someone probably reported it, but then we changed it and renamed it and it's undetectable again, for many months now (I guess they learned Gridcoin is here to stay). Still, I am checking it every week or so, to keep it that way. I must add that Netsoft admin has been very cooperative, his support is of course crucial on this matter.

Q: How come Netsoft is accepting payments in Gridcoins?

A: Netsoft admin is a firm Gridcoin and BOINC supporter. He also runs our Wallet, is contributing huge computing resources to BOINC and is accepting Gridcoins for donations (GRC address is on the Netsoft frontpage). Check his BOINCstats profile, 4.4 million credits in Einstein@home per DAY, total Einstein@home credit over 2 BILLIONS, third Highest World position ever in 2006. (now 246th across whole BOINC, 18th in Einstein@home). You can also check his neverending list of active Einstein@home machines. Who wouldn't support a currency minted by computational science in his place? 

Q: How is this financed then?

A: I send 50 USD worth of Gridcoins to Netsoft every month (out of my own wallet), along with a new banner. I am refunded every few months from the Foundation. Since we are paying in GRC, everything is on the blockchain - a record of every transaction is kept.

Q: How many new users do we get for that 50 USD?

A: That's a good question. Let's have a Google Analytics screenshot for www.gridcoin.us for the last 30 days:

151 new sessions from Netsoft in last 30 days, bounce rate 63.58%. Approximately 33 cents per session. Unfortunately, it's impossible to track how many of those actually joined Gridcoin, but taking into account the bounce rate and some guesstimating, I would say we are paying approximately 1.5-2 USD for every new user from Netsoft. 

Q: That doesn't sound so cheap anymore. Can we get the price down?

A: I suppose we could demand a lower price from Netsoft, perhaps 35-40 USD per month. But haggling over 10-15 USD is usually very bad marketing. And Netsoft admin is accepting payment in Gridcoins after all, that deserves a little premium (I guess). Ultimately, it's your voting power in action to decide on these matters.

 Q: OK, so how do I vote? 

A: If your Gridcoin wallet is encrypted, fully unlock the wallet (not just for 'staking only'). Click "Advanced", then  click "Foundation" to launch the voting menu. Right-click on "new campaign netsoft". Click "Vote" and choose Approve or Deny. Voting results can be monitored on Gridcoinstats.  

Thank you for your support.