The New ARS Is Actually A GOOD THING...What do you guys think??
 

I've been hearing a lot of griping about ARS' new plans...I feel that i'm in a distinct minority being in favor of the changes they are making. I totally understand some people being upset who have a lot of sites out there promoting ARS...but its really not all bad...here's why:

For those of you who have been promoting ARS...especially those that were niche specific...i feel for you...but lets wait and see what the PPC SE pays for your key words before we get all crazy

For those of you who hadnt promoted ARS heavily in the past and have no attachment to the old system...i think this is great....here's why:

1) Fresh New Sites - Lets not kid ourselves...the old GIM stuff was not the best stuff out there. As Marc said on the radio show...(roughly quoted) "it was cookie cutter...offering the world on the outside...with a dissapointing inside. We now have 10 fresh sites to work with that I hope will convert much better. I've taken a look at them and even found one site that interested ME!...i'm almost numb to porn these days so thats saying something...as time goes on, i will hope that they will continue to develop more worth while sites. 2)FMAO (For Mature Audiences Only), ARS' new pay per click search engine. Marc said they are looking at a min bid on keywords at 5 cents and more for more niche specific stuff. I bet that there are a lot of you that arent pulling 5 cents per click on your TGP traffic...for those of you that have ditched TGP's cuz of their high traffic/NO conversions in many cases...here is a chance to open that doorway again. Say a TGP post where you could listed by one of the large tgp's and then a bunch of smaller ones gets you a total of like 250 clicks on your banners... 250x.05= $12.50 .....not super...but hey...additional income is additional income right? 3) ARS' New Webmaster Refferal program paying $3.00 CPM on buttons, 5.00 CPM on banners... 6 CPM for Mag Ads and 10 CPM for consoles....Now i'm not sure what a lot of you WERE making putting webmaster reff ads in your sig before...so i guess i cant speak that much here...however...it seems to me, that if you're an active poster on a couple boards...this is a legit source of extra income that will add up. I hear people all the time in the ggandjim chatroom offering to do odd jobs for like little scraps of money cuz they are on tough times with their sites...well if you're active on the boards it can really add up... I heard greenguy say on the radio show that they will make about the same on their website...so i'll be interested to hear what you guys have to say about this part.... So with ALL THIS being said...its not all bad...is it? If you open the blinds, believe it or not...ITS FUCKIN SUNNY OUTSIDE!!! :) Now stop complaining and get back to work! :)

Haven't heard the radio show yet, but what I understand from the new ars board is:

- All the GIM sites will disappear on March 8th and the traffic to them will be redirected to this PPC thing
- There now will be only 10 sites to promote in the new ARS
- If you decide to send traffic to the PPC thing you get paid like $0.05 per click

Is this correct?

And what about HSN? Will that stay the same?

Well I just plain think it sucks |angry|

Its a half assed solution.
"Our old system is bad... we will throw it away and start something completely new" Imagine your phonecompany doing that. "All old phones will stop working in 2 weeks... new system will be implemented. You all have to buy new phones now". WTF!

I know every company has to evolve and to implement new things. But that doesn't justify taking the old system down. If those GIM sites are so bad, fix them! Make them good. And why are they bad in the first place I could ask??

As far as I see it... this is quite unproffesional behaviour.

Ok, nevermind, figured the stuff out myself. I was stunned the first half hour I was browsing the ars4real sites.. so I didn't quite understand it. After the initial 'big surprise' all fell in place and the anger turned into satisfaction. This could be a real winner..

Because in the past they were operating in a market were it was possible to get away with it... for a while... the market is changing, they are too, ... a radical one at that, but one that is necessary... Can't fault them really!

I'm loving it already...made some decent money tonight just from posting at numerous message boards around the net...

I have to change some links, sucks. But that's life and things change all the time.

BTW, would anyone prefer they operate at a loss until they can't take it anymore and then go out of business and fuck you over for sales you made? I didn't think so! That's what most companies do so I think ARS has balls for doing this. Survival and not screwing webmasters (as little as possible) is what survival is all about.

Too many companies just endure losses until the ship sinks taking OUR money with them.

Very good point Ramster - ATS had 2 options as far as the GIM & BYOT's were concerned:

1 - close them completely
2 - close them & redirect the traffic to a place where we will still make money

Given those 2 options, I'm very happy with #2 :)

I think they had a third option... they should have seen the changes coming.
Marc said so I believe on the part of the show that I heard, that over the years the signup ratios have gone down, retention has been getting worse and so on. Maybe someone at that point should have though "Why?"

Of course I don't prefer them to just shut down completely and take all our money with them. But I don't see this as a good thing I see it as the next worst thing (if there is such an expression).

- It sounds like they're being pretty honest about things and trying to find a profitable solution for everyone.
- I don't think any webmasters are getting screwed out of any cash.
- With the BYOT it's probably impossible too update all of the tours or at least way too expensive.

When I was first debating about getting into this business I joined about a dozen sites. Many of the sites offered by the larger affiliates totally sucked and you were more likely to rub one off surfing Tommy's for free then using a $39.99 a month pay site.

I applaud thier honesty, their efforts to improve and doing good job of protecting webmaster income.

The changes could have been darker then Ramster mentioned above.

JanTM - they did see it coming, they just didn't tell us - LOL

I forget when they bought Traffic Dude, but looking back, that was the start of things (because of the PPC thing) So you have to assume that they were looking at this at least 1-2 months BEFORE they bought TD.

Believe me when I say that this whole thing has me really fucking stressed - there's only 9 other webmasters in the world promoting ARS that have reason to be more stressed than me :D

But I feel confident that I can promote the PPC option as well as the new reality sites in a way that things will be good :)

For me the hardest thing about this business is trying to sell stuff that I think is crap. I think a salesmen should beleive in what they are selling. So if these changes make me feel that the surfer/customer is getting a fair deal then I will be happy to see them come.

What I did not like was the attitude we were told. it reminded me of an evil HR director telling employess about mass layoffs. when people start spouting "we made a Business decision " as an answer I know i stop listening to them.

and if one of the reasons for poor retention is to high of a price (I agree with that) and poor content.. then fix that. lower the price and have better members area's

|angry|

In the last 20 years I've been involved with 5 companies that had to lay people off and not once have I ever met an "Evil HR Director". No one had any evil intentions, there was not a desire to hurt anyone and making tough business descisions often causes a great deal of pain.

If it was a business descision, not a personal one and no one actually had evil intentions then how should they present it?

I just listened to the radio show and I feel pretty damn confident :)

Time to get my ass in gear ;)

Not to sound insensitive...but there is WAY to much crying going on about this. ARS this, ARS that...They saw it coming, they screwed us all over...blah blah blah....COME ON! People are not taking the time to really see what the new programs are that ARS is pushing. People see "ppc" and dont investigate any further...in most of my conversations with people they havent even listened to the radio show and dont have a clue about whats going on. I realize i dont have as much time invested as a lot of you with ARS...but wow, advertsity really does show people's true colors and some of you are really showing great things...other's....not so much...time to really try and learn the new ARS system and see how you can use it to benefit you. ARS leads the way in many moves in the adult industry...i wouldnt be surprised at all if Marc is right and other sponsors follow their lead. So learn now how to make the adjustments now so you are ready for any more that come your way....

Good points drsmut. Although I've only been in this biz for a couple of months..and I used ARS primarily.. I just see it as another challenge to build on what I've learned. Sure, change is a given.. especially in this business. Ya, I was bummed to hear that the BYOTs were gonna go because they were good for me but.. what the hell. I'll just go look for some new sponsors to try out in the same niche. |bananna|

i got cut off half way through the radio show so i missed bit, but what i did here sounded very good


iam listening to the archive now so , looks good :)


i think the impression thing will get dumped, because of the sigwhores.

DrSmut,

Wait till the 20th company does this shit too you.. and 100 people tell you to &^%$& adapt... , and "come on get over it"

Everyoine has their opinions and is entitled to voice them, for many this change has a huge impact... a negative one too!

DD

Good Point DD...To be honest, i've never been big on ARS for their GIM sites. I use them a lot for HSN and their webmaster refferal program. So far with just a day from the switch...i'm doing way better in my webmaster refferal efforts. HSN, shouldnt be affected. Because of this, i guess its not really my place to tell anyone to stop complaining....however, it is just my natural demeanor to take two attitudes towards things like this:

1) Let's take a wait and see approach. --I think before we get too bent out of shape we should see what kind of bids get put on key words for the PPC SE

2) Putting effort into making the best of the situation has a lot more benefit than spending a lot of time complaining about the situation that has presented itself (i'm not accusing of you of whining DD...just some people are taking it a little overboard)


So, when sunny dollars and extreme paychecks does this to me down the line...maybe i'll be in here with gripes like you guys...but I HOPE ATLEAST...i'll be busier fixing the problems than i am giving up and just basically bitching about the situation...I've noticed a lot of people taking that attitude and it just gets a little old...thats all

DrSmut - please don't assume that Sunny Dollar or Extreme Paychecks will do the same thing at some time down the road (unless you know something that no one else does)

DDave - I have a lot of optimism as far as the future of ARS - as I said before (in this thread or another one) there's only 9 other webmasters who are worried more than I am about these changes.

Of course, ask me in 2 or 3 months & I'll let you know for sure :D

GG- Sorry, i wasnt assuming that either of those were going to do this. They are just my two biggest sponsors so I was making a point to DD because he was saying that I wont feel the same way I do now when 20 sponsors do this to me....

#10 is a hard spot, psychologically speaking, to lose.

I'd like to say I'm extremely unhappy with what they've done to the rewards program.

I have around $500 worth of rewards points which are now frozen and about to be devalued AND in order to keep them I have to make a signup to one of their reality sites within the next 30 days, or they're kaput.

I really dislike reality sites, and do not normally promote them, but I'm being forced to do so to keep my points. Even then that's $500 worth of content up in the air.

I sent a heap of traffic and sales to ARS in good faith, I've stuck with them through various changes, and the points system was one of the reasons I gave them my loyalty. I feel kinda betrayed by this change.

I'd like to hear the ARS supporters say how this is a good thing.
:(

I feel for the people with the reward points and i personally feel they should have the option of cashing them out...

However, in the same breath of air....I see marc's point that those bonus points are really a loyalty rewards program....and if you're ditching the program...thats not being very loyal....


However...just cuz i see his point doesnt mean i fully agree with it

grandmascrotum - the value of the reward points that you have is not decreasing - if you have 100 reward points, in the new system, you'll have 150 - 100 old points OR 150 new points will equal the same dollar amount.

I have 14,370 points in my account right now - if there was a problem, I'd be bitching :D

I dont totally understand that...so...stuff is gonna cost like1.5x as much but u get more pts? Anyone know whats goin on there?

I only have a little over 1000 points now..... lets see what happens over the next days.....any of you guys making sales with the new reality sites? I have made 1 so far to the milf one...

The points where worth 0.165 before, they devalue them to 0.15.
I got 12K points there, that is a loss of $180. But what is really bothering me is that I'm unable to use them until first of May.

I think ARS is shooting themselves in the foot with this change. I'll probably promote them less then 1/10 of what I'm doing now. And I know there is alot of people that will stop promoting them.

I'm gonna hold my breath and see how they convert before I make any judgements...

I for one am not whining about their new system. I am all for development of new ways to generate profit. What I am "Whining" about is that they just decided to cancel the old system because it wasn't making money.

If signup ratios and retention ratios has been steadily going down hill for years... and they knew their membersareas sucked... they should have fixed that a loooooong time ago. Instead they just hung in there until the ship was about to sink... and then jumped into the liftboat and said.. OH well.. next ship!
This is baaaad management no matter how I try to look at it.

However... I have no doubt that I will be paid. I have absolutely no reason to think they will cheat anybody. It just annoys me to no end that because of their management I now have to spend a great deal of time and effort correcting links. Of course there are people out there who are far worse off than me... but thats hardly a comfort *LOL*

Last but not least I can't help but wonder what will happen if this ship wont float in a couple of years? Will they let it sink too and build a new one again??

Nobody is accusing you specifically of whining...however, I personally dont agree with your attitude towards ARS. I understand your frustrations, we all have adjustments to make because of the move...however, I personally am not going to sit here and say that poor management drove them into the ground or anything like that...ARS would have gone under...they made adjustments to try and fix it...those adjustments didnt work...so they had to make a big change...i know this has been asked a lot...but, it seems it needs to be asked again... "Would you rather that they would have gone under and went out of business?" ...i know thats a stupid rhetorical question...however...doesnt seem like anyone is asking it to themselves?

It makes no difference to my bottom line if they stay in business or not.

Surfn...do you promote ARS? Cuz if thats the case...then everyone just dont promote ARS anymore...that is the equivilency of that comment

If they went out of business, your reward points wouldnt be worth a dime and any links you have out there wouldnt make a dime...If you're not promoting ARS, then you are correct...it doesnt effect your bottom line...but if you do, it effects it greatly!

I promoted them from the time Marc bought ad space on one of my sites until about a year ago. So NO, I no longer promote them because I could see this coming.

I was actually answering your question, which you said no one had addressed: "Would you rather that they would have gone under and went out of business?"

I can make it simpler if you are still confused?

Heh Surfn :) ...i think all get it now ...lol

i have dam near every gim ars site on my link list and 10 or 12 free sites what should i do leave everything like it is or what else is there to do

and i can tell you i havent converted not one gim site since i joined ars 0/3000 for the whole program even when they had free trials and that was before i had my link list so it was all link list traffic |sad|

i also thought there was a problem with tracking sign ups and i joined to see if it worked and sure enough it showed a sign up so then i called in and they took it off and i cancled, but i had a free trial and i can tell you that the site sucked in every way so maybe this is good for them to get rid of a dead horse and move on to better things

but what should i do pull all the links or leave them ?????

If you make a sale to one of the products on adrevservice.com (not GIM or Byot sites) you will keep your points so your not forced to promte the ARS4Real sites they changed this a couple of days ago.

There will be comming more sites in the next month or so

I like it over all except the way they pop the dialer on the joinpage :(

Hey, this change no longer feels like loyalty rewards, it feels like I'm a hostage to them... I earned those points through my past loyalty, now I have to jump through hoops to keep them. Let's just say this inspires anger and resentment more than loyalty.

In terms of adapting, that's fine with me. They had to do what they had to do, and I'm not complaining about that per se. Unfortunately their new program has nothing in my niche, so it is now very difficult to remain loyal to the company when they are no longer useful to me.

I have yet to make a sale to any of the other adrevenue service products, so it looks like I'll be biting the bullet and making a free site with reality ads...

:(

I have no problems with ARS... nor most other sponsors that have had to change to adapt to the current climate.

It will be bad for me for a bit as far as havin' to change so many things. Yet... I'll go with that flow for a bit and see how the weather will be in tha future.


The question one should ask themselves (IMHO) is...
Can you do better with your OWN paysites?

Point being I guess is that if you can't deal with "selling" for
someone else. "Build a better trap and do it yourself" :-)