Google has informed me that all my ads (and revenue) have been terminated. They require me to have a special .txt file in the host domain witih my AD ID information. Activeboard put it in a subdomain which seemed to work for years however for some reason Google cannot "authenticate that I own" the forum so I've been canceled.
What does this mean for the forum? The site will need more member contributions, swag purchases and other means of income. Do you know an auto related business who would benefit from advertising on Canadian Poncho? Let them know we have prime space available. I'll also considor being a Vevor affiliate to earn some extra $$ for the site.
On the bright side we won't see any banner ads anymore.
Gasonmiles said
March 25th
UGH! Anyways, just made a donation, great stuff going on here! Not sure if it's my work PC but just tried the Swag Store and get the home page loaded but no individual items. Also, could you give us a refresher on monthly / yearly costs for the website?
Thank You for all you do Todd!!!
4SPEED427 said
March 25th
Yes, please let us know what this means in terms of $$$ (roughly) and we certainly need to make that up.
Canadian Poncho said
March 25th
We lost about $1300/year in revenue
4SPEED427 said
March 25th
I think it's time we got a plan in place to keep this site financed for Todd.
-One time sign up fee?
-Annual fee?
-Annual fundraiser?
Other thoughts?
The Yenko site is $30 per year. Not suggesting that amount or that an annual fee is an answer, it's just one site that I know about that has a fee.
unruhjonny said
March 26th
how much is your annual fees?
$1300 should FAR exceed hosting ect costs.
I recently cancelled hosting after waiting way too long to find someone who could repair the database, but other than annual domain registration, the monthly hosting fees were something like $20(usd);
converting that to canadian and rounding up, multiplying by twelve, and adding domain registration my annual cost was probably under $400/year.
I have no problem donating to keep the site running, but maybe you need to look at using a different web host?
4SPEED427 said
March 26th
I don't think we should be looking at just covering Todd's actual cash outlay for this site. The hours and hours he puts into it have to be worth something.
Canadian Poncho said
March 26th
Last years totals to run the site were just over $2800. That's not counting my time. We covered the costs with a few bucks left over which I applied to my time. Of course that extra is considered "profit" and I'll have to pay income tax on it which is fine. Some say I should move the forum to one where I can do the hosting but with the amount of hacking these days I don't want the hassle. I've been there and done that with another venture and had to shut down the website as my web host was complaining about the constant hacking and DDos attacks slowing things down. Basically as long as my operating costs are covered I'm happy. I don't have an old Pontiac and don't know if I'll ever be able to swing another one so I'm basically doing all this for you guys. Thankfully my wife did all the book keeping for me (which took her several hours) so I saved some $$ there.
unruhjonny said
March 26th
if it's any help, I used hostigator.
I understand compensation for time, but unless you've modeled this (or any other venture) as a 'for profit' endevor, I would think that there is no expectation of return - and if there's no profit, you don't need to file anything.
I think it's honorable of you to keep this up even though you no longer own a Poncho.
I have been involved with several forums where select members were given 'backdoor' access to assist in keeping up on site maintenance - which if implemented, reduces your workload to a bare minimum.
I have also observed other forums where there's only one guy who does maintenance ect, and if for what ever reason he goes offline, the site languishes and dies;
I type the following acknowledging that I am clueless as to how many people are administrators or moderators;
At the very least I hope that you have someone else who can step in if you need a break ect.
bjburnout said
March 26th
Donation sent.....
-- Edited by bjburnout on Wednesday 27th of March 2024 07:29:57 AM
pontiax said
March 27th
Donation sent.
Canadian Poncho said
March 27th
Thanks guys. Your support is much appreciated!
canam said
March 27th
Donation on it's way
1965CS said
March 27th
$ sent.
Prefectca said
March 27th
Donation sent.
Thanks Todd
Canadian Poncho said
March 27th
Thank you!
timbuk said
March 28th
site supported thx todd
flatop said
March 31st
Donation sent
Gillis said
March 31st
Just sent a hundred bucks. Thanks for the work Todd
Canadian Poncho said
March 31st
Thanks to James and everyone else who has contributed to the site. It's much appreciated! I might reach out to some Canadian automotive companies like Parts Avatar to see if they'd be interested in advertising on here.
ABC123 said
March 31st
Does this mean we can now rip great pictures off other sites now, without getting in trouble.
Thanks to James and everyone else who has contributed to the site. It's much appreciated! I might reach out to some Canadian automotive companies like Parts Avatar to see if they'd be interested in advertising on here.
That would be an excellent one.
oshawacliff said
March 31st
I listen to Jazz Fm in Toronto... It is one of the few Jazz radio stations that are MEMBER SUPPORTED.
It is nice to see the members on Poncho stepping up as they realize the value here.
Jazz Fm just had a 50/50 members draw and someone because of their donation won a big pile of cash. The donation does not have to be a large amount
I personally donate $5.00 a month...... not a lot but at the end of the year get a tax receipt for my years donation of $60.00
With the vast number of listeners on the radio and on line each little donation adds up to a sum sufficient to keep the radio alive.
Google has informed me that all my ads (and revenue) have been terminated. They require me to have a special .txt file in the host domain witih my AD ID information. Activeboard put it in a subdomain which seemed to work for years however for some reason Google cannot "authenticate that I own" the forum so I've been canceled.
What does this mean for the forum? The site will need more member contributions, swag purchases and other means of income. Do you know an auto related business who would benefit from advertising on Canadian Poncho? Let them know we have prime space available. I'll also considor being a Vevor affiliate to earn some extra $$ for the site.
On the bright side we won't see any banner ads anymore.
Thank You for all you do Todd!!!
-One time sign up fee?
-Annual fee?
-Annual fundraiser?
Other thoughts?
The Yenko site is $30 per year. Not suggesting that amount or that an annual fee is an answer, it's just one site that I know about that has a fee.
$1300 should FAR exceed hosting ect costs.
I recently cancelled hosting after waiting way too long to find someone who could repair the database, but other than annual domain registration, the monthly hosting fees were something like $20(usd);
converting that to canadian and rounding up, multiplying by twelve, and adding domain registration my annual cost was probably under $400/year.
I have no problem donating to keep the site running, but maybe you need to look at using a different web host?
Last years totals to run the site were just over $2800. That's not counting my time. We covered the costs with a few bucks left over which I applied to my time. Of course that extra is considered "profit" and I'll have to pay income tax on it which is fine. Some say I should move the forum to one where I can do the hosting but with the amount of hacking these days I don't want the hassle. I've been there and done that with another venture and had to shut down the website as my web host was complaining about the constant hacking and DDos attacks slowing things down. Basically as long as my operating costs are covered I'm happy. I don't have an old Pontiac and don't know if I'll ever be able to swing another one so I'm basically doing all this for you guys.
Thankfully my wife did all the book keeping for me (which took her several hours) so I saved some $$ there.
I understand compensation for time, but unless you've modeled this (or any other venture) as a 'for profit' endevor, I would think that there is no expectation of return - and if there's no profit, you don't need to file anything.
I think it's honorable of you to keep this up even though you no longer own a Poncho.
I have been involved with several forums where select members were given 'backdoor' access to assist in keeping up on site maintenance - which if implemented, reduces your workload to a bare minimum.
I have also observed other forums where there's only one guy who does maintenance ect, and if for what ever reason he goes offline, the site languishes and dies;
I type the following acknowledging that I am clueless as to how many people are administrators or moderators;
At the very least I hope that you have someone else who can step in if you need a break ect.
Donation sent.....
-- Edited by bjburnout on Wednesday 27th of March 2024 07:29:57 AM
Donation sent.
$ sent.
Thanks Todd
Does this mean we can now rip great pictures off other sites now, without getting in trouble.
Like this one ?
That would be an excellent one.
I listen to Jazz Fm in Toronto... It is one of the few Jazz radio stations that are MEMBER SUPPORTED.
It is nice to see the members on Poncho stepping up as they realize the value here.
Jazz Fm just had a 50/50 members draw and someone because of their donation won a big pile of cash. The donation does not have to be a large amount
I personally donate $5.00 a month...... not a lot but at the end of the year get a tax receipt for my years donation of $60.00
With the vast number of listeners on the radio and on line each little donation adds up to a sum sufficient to keep the radio alive.
Just my thoughts.