Advertisements on subscription sites.

Good idea? Bad idea?

[Reflection]

Just wondering what people think about seeing advertisements on sections of a website which are only accessible by payed subscription. These are small 100x75 banners(similar to the ones up on the top right here at WW) located in the right column of a page(without the adds there would essentially be 'blank' space). They are not genereated through a 3rd party and no cookie tracking is used. Most are related to the content of the website, but some may not be.

If you were paying for access to a site how would you feel about seeing these adds?

Thanks.

[cfx211]

I am setting up a subscription site and one of the things I plan on using as a chief selling point is that you will not see any advertisements on my site.

I personally believe that adding ad's to a subscription site shows that a company is not focused exclusively on the product/content that they deem valuable enough to sell, and therefore are not offering me the best service they could.

Companies spend much more time and effort managing advertiser relationships than you would think. Advertisers also tend to have a lot more influence on a website design than they should.

My two cents is that if it is good enough to charge for, then focus on building the subscriber base which is steady and dependable and don't sidetrack resources trying to meet fickle advertiser demands.

[Reflection]

Well in this case there are no demands to meet. You either provide a banner or you dont, advertisers have no input on the design or any other aspect of the site.

Thanks for your input.

[too much information]

I dont think it would be a problem. As long as they are not obnoxious.

Your subscribers will get used to what they see when they log in.