Ad free subscriber group to be implemented

By Steven P.
in Site Announcements

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Grand Master

Steven P. Administrators

Posted
  • Administrators
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We have finally decided to go ahead and implement an ad free group to the subscriber packages, it will be ready by the end of the week and current subscribers will have first dibs to "upgrade" to it, because that has to be done manually. Those who have an active subscription can choose to pay the ?20 for a year to be added to the current subscription, so in some cases a subscriber may have paid for 18 months if there's 6 months remaining on the ?10 package.

As mentioned above, it will cost ?20, which translates to $26 USD. This figure wasn't pulled out of my "behind")btw ;) We calculated that a typical Neowin reader (member and/or guest) account for about $36 USD a year per person (on average). So anyone who signs up will actually be getting a $10 waiver courtesy of Ne:Din. :D

We hope to target those members that purposely block ads and wish to give back in a constructive way, and for current subscribers who want to give a little more.

This group will also be eligible for freebies and draws throughout the year when we see fit, it could be a draw for a software license that has been donated to us by someone, free hosting or even a copy of Windows to be won by random selection.

We will also be adding member galleribothth subscriber packages, which will be enabled after moderator preview, although this addition won't be realised until sometime in April and must be considered an "extra" to the current subscription(s).

At the moment we don't have anything to replace the ads with, but feedback is welcome if it isn't too difficult to implement, this also means the IntelliTXT links will not appear for ad free accounts!

Before you comment, we have spent a long, long time considering this. It has been brought up by members and staff on more than a few occasions over the past 5 years or so, but we never really got around to it, or deciding on a "fair" price for both you and Neowin. That being said, I hope we have now introduced 2 tiers at a very reasonable asking price for the service we offer.

Grand Master

vincent

Posted
Posted

Question is, on a per user basis, which one genereates more income for the site? The ad free subscription or the current subscription package ( over time)? I personally don't like this idea, but if it helps neowin more in the long run so be it.

Grand Master

Steven P. Administrators

Posted
  • Author
  • Administrators
Posted

The $36 mentioned above is an average.. and accounts for people already using ad blockers, or an influx of guests that never return. So $26 is probably more realistic for an active member.

I also forgot to mention that it also goes without saying that ad free subscribers also get all the benefits of current subscribers.

Grand Master

Vice

Posted
Posted

When you say:

Both tiers also have their own private forum as well as the support forum that can be accessed by members

Does that mean each Tier will have its OWN private sub-forum (e.g. two separate for each tier) or a single private sub-forum that is accessible by both Tiers?

Grand Master

Raa

Posted
Posted

I can honestly say "it's about time".

Bit higher than i'd like, but if the Ads for an average user cost that much, it's fair - plus with the global financial crisis, well, gotta pay the bills somehow.

Congrats on doing this guys, very welcome step. I'm not jumping in yet, but i'll definately keep an eye on this one.

Small clarification if I may : we'll be able to enter freebies/draws. Are these subscriber exclusive? If so, to both tiers, or just L2?

Grand Master

+Nik Louch Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted

Will this Tier 2 be seen as more "elite" than Tier 1?

I subscribe because I like Neowin and want to show my support - I've never used any of the features of it. I, however, have no issue with the ads. As such, am not sure whetehr to go to Tier 2 or not...

Grand Master

+LogicalApex MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

Thank you very much. I'm glad to see NeoWin is still as good as it was in the early days and listens to community suggestions.

Soon as I can sign up I will do so.

Grand Master

Lee G. Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
Is there going to be a tier two badge :p?
yeah, new badge for tier 2? lol

Yeah, I'm wondering the same.

I'm guessing the second tier subscriber group will be called Subscriber? ?:pp

Will this Tier 2 be seen as more "elite" than Tier 1?

I subscribe because I like Neowin and want to show my support - I've never used any of the features of it. I, however, have no issue with the ads. As such, am not sure whetehr to go to Tier 2 or not...

Same here. I don't find the ads intrusive at all. I don't use any subscriber features, apart from the larger inbox, which does have over 100 PMs in it.

Grand Master

Arkaic

Posted
Posted

kinda offtopic:

I remember when I first subscribed there was the option that subscribers would be able to edit thread titles to fix spelling errors, etc. What has happened to that and is that still available? What about a new forum skin for this group? I hope that wouldnt be way too much! Just wondering.

Edit: The only subscriber benefits i use are probably the flood control limit removal.

Grand Master

+Frank B. Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted
kinda offtopic:

I remember when I first subscribed there was the option that subscribers would be able to edit thread titles to fix spelling errors, etc. What has happened to that and is that still available? What about a new forum skin for this group? I hope that wouldnt be way too much! Just wondering.

You can edit the thread title: In the first post, click on Edit -> Full Edit.

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