Ad experiment a dismal failure
For the past 24 hours I tested running some ads at the top of every page on TweetChat.
This was an experiment to see if I could raise a little extra money to fund future development without being too annoying to all the awesome people that use the site.
In short, it was a failure.
I found a technology partner to put an ad at the top of the page, hoping it wouldn’t be too obtrusive. The ad even had a button on the far left that allowed people to remove it from the page if they desired (though this was not without its issues).
The content of the ads was a major problem.
@marciamarcia’s tweet was telling:
As a *previously* big fan of @tweetchat, the “overactive bladder – watch & learn” ad I couldn’t get rid of was too much. Gee wiz. #lrnchat
Yuck.
Um ad on TweetChat says “Cleans Your Balls”. Just tht I wd share that w/u (Axe shower gel) #lrnchat
Yikes.
These issues made it quite apparent the experiment was a failure.
The last thing I want to do is make TweetChat less functional, less useful and less fun for users. I would rather it go toes up.
Sorry for the snafu. It was an experiment, it failed.
I will still be looking for ways to help fund future development. There will certainly be failures to come, but I do listen and care about how people use TweetChat. Like anything I make, I want it to be the best it can with the resources I have.