Don't get me wrong, supporting a forums advertiser is good. With reputable companies whom I'm sure do advertise on here who pay for advertising will get customers business. They don't need a moderator or admin to prune discussions about products that a competing advertiser may sell. I personally do not buy a product because I can get it cheapest here or there...I purchase it from a company I feel comfortable with.
There is a fine line with moderating...having a member come in a blatantly attempt to get around paying for advertising trying to promote his/her products is wrong and should NOT be tolerated if the site admin is doing this for profit.
A moderator should be watching a forum to keep discussions civil and respectful and on track. Not to attempt creating a sterile environment in which people only think there are 10 resellers out there...do you think we are that stupid?
By me commenting about a product from a company that I just randomly picked who shows details about the products and "not permitted" to comment about...or even discuss if I had a bad or good experience with a place I purchased a product from is a service to the community.
To attempt to create a monopoly where you can't even mention another company name unless they are paying advertisers is wrong and goes against the idea of having a forum.
The appropriate action that should place is if a product is mentioned...(which creates purchasing interest) would be for a paying advertiser to mention "hey, for anyone interested in any of the products mentioned, we can provide sales service for you"'. The forum members do generally support the advertisers.
I'm not some whining kid that posts either. I'm educated with advanced degrees, not some 13 year old kid. Regarding forum costs, they are minimal...especially for the small bandwidth that this site sees. That's not to say the forum owners shouldn't make money. They most certainly should if that is their goal. But not at the expense of fooling members you have a forum to discuss specific topics.
Make as much as one can...but to comment about the "cost" of a forum is futile. One can create a forum and having bandwidth fees of less than 25.00/month easily. Actually far less. Forums started as just that...a place to talk. People realized that they can make money from them so some charge advertisers. Ownership of a site name as well...is extremely affordable for just about anyone. Why do you think you see so many forums popping up. They create a forum for literately 10.00 per month in hopes they become popular.
I have a friend who did started one back in 1996, now his site pulls in advertising costs of 150.00 per advertiser. They have over 100 advertisers. The bandwidth they use is quite high obviously, so cost are not 10.00/month...but they still are VERY inexpensive, one advertiser pays for its fees, the rest is profit (great for him). Nothing wrong with this at all, its entrepreneurship. I envy the successful forum admins.
I'm starting to sound like some troll, but I'm not. I came in here really to just showcase what I've done differently which ends up helping the sites hits.
From a readers point, I'm helping them with questions or concerns or creates ideas or solutions to a problem.
From a website point, I'm helping the companies who advertise on here AND helps bring in more advertisers. I'm essentially creating interest for people to purchase parts that these or other vendors or manufactures offer. Though it's nice to hear good/bad experiences from purchases from resellers, I've never said buy these parts from here or there.
Where does censorship end? Think of this. If we are not allowed to mention a place that sells a product, HOW can you even mention the product name? For example, most companies manufacture components you can either buy at a reseller (like the advertisers who pay on here) OR you can purchase them directly from the manufacturer. So if I tell you I purchased product X this comment should technically not be allowed as the manufacture is NOT a paying advertiser. If a reader bought the item from the manufacturer (especially with computer components being small cottage industries), the paying advertiser is loosing money.
Do we need to start covering up images of company names with piece of tape so you can't tell what the brand is?
Respectfully,
Disappointed