Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Achterberg  I do a pretty good job of filtering out most of the ads I encounter, so being paid to filter out a few more isn’t really going to be detrimental |
You've just hit the biggest flaw in systems like this one - what advertiser in his right mind would pay for advertising in a space that a user is only ever going to look at if you pay him?
Sorry if this post is gonna seem a bit harsh, but I've been holding my tongue about the concerns I've had for a week or two now, and Steve does invite honest feeback, so here it is.
I remain unconvinced about this system. Sorry, but it was a dumb idea seven years ago, and bearing in mind that we all know what happened to those systems in the end and thus don't have the excuse of ignorance, it's an even dumber idea today.
The fact that Steve is recommending a system that we know already to be flawed and of very little value to advertisers is, in my mind, further evidence that he's changing his attitude towards his readers.
I had a big problem with the amount of PATHS spam being posted on the other forums, and the fact that Steve hasn't controlled it sufficiently, but I kept my mouth shut. I shouldn't have. PATHS is such an obvious scam that it shouldn't even warrant the amount of discussion that's gone on about it, and as a sysadmin I find myself with a sense of responsibility to protect people from online scams - Steve apparently doesn't share that sense of responsibility. I admire, mostly, his softly-softly approach to moderation, but he's allowing people to take the mickey and exploit his openness. This latest post is simply reinforcing my fears.
Sorry Steve, but you asked for my opinion and I gave it to you. I give it with no bitterness, but purely in the hope that you'll find it useful.
Good luck, mate.