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Paid ads on museum web pages
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Author:  Jim Lundquist [ Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Paid ads on museum web pages

Does any museum currently accept paid advertising on their web pages?

If so - how has that worked for you?

A related question - how about in your newsletter?

Thanks.

Author:  Dave [ Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paid ads on museum web pages

Maybe?

If the ads are from the motel or diner in your community, it might be a good way to cover production costs, while building cooperative community business ventures. If not from a related local business visitors might want to know about for purposes of their visit, it will dilute the impact of the information you want to get across. Question: does the ad in question have the potential to directly contribute to the knowledge your visitors might want to have regarding planning their visit, or not? If not or a several step mental justification must be performed, better not have it.

dave

Author:  tyrok1 [ Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paid ads on museum web pages

Yes, I agree that local ads could both bring needed revenue to the museum and make it easier to plan a trip for visitors, helping all three parties involved. I've had trips influenced for the better by ads on websites of places I had planned to visit.

However, on the flip side, web-wide ads like you see on free websites make the site look unprofessional and small.

So it does kind of depend on the method of execution.

Author:  Brian Norden [ Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paid ads on museum web pages

When does the income become unrelated?

Author:  robertmacdowell [ Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Paid ads on museum web pages

Are advertisements on your website consistent with your charitable, nonprofit mission? If not, maybe it'd be better to gain that revenue through a different kind of fundraising.

I couldn't agree more that the kind of ads you see on free-webhosting sites are tacky and revolting - big web banners, skyscrapers, flash animations, pop-unders... ugh. Never never never, I don't care how mercenary you are.

On the other hand, one alternative to a bookstore is an Amazon-style affiliate program; recommend certain books and provide a link to Amazon to buy the book, and you get a pittance of a referral fee. Far less than you'd get selling the book directly, but then, none of the baloney involved in running a bookstore.

And then there's Adsense and competitors (notably Yahoo) - as unobtrusive as you want them to be, and they seem to work out very well for webmasters.

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