Why do instances not run ads?
Why do instances not run ads?
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/276015
It probably goes against the philosophy or whatever of FOSS or Lemmy itself, but why not be a little evil so that you can actually sustain yourself? Donations can bring us far, but small non-intrusive ads can be a bliss in the skies for the people actually hosting the instance. Especially if there are millions of users uploading thousands of images and videos. This is extremely expensive.
Is running ads really that taboo?
EDIT: some people seem not to get the point of "millions of users", which presumably includes non-techies that do not use adblockers. I mean that without ads (or mining?), no instance would be able to scale to the point where it can compete with Reddit for example. If you were to want that.
its just not that needed, most instance admins dont mind the bit of out of pocket and thier time similar to that of being mods for free. heck its worth the few bucks to run an instance to own your space.
large instances are another matter, its not really possible to be profitable in this space so you are hoping to break even. the thing is why have big servers where you see ads when you can have more small instances where the operators really dont usually mind not running ads.
in general, i have never done ads on my sites with rare exceptions, i don't intend to do it here, however if the instance grows I will put up a pateron or some other "tip" style setup.
I ran communities for years before reddit, I NEVER had a problem paying server bills. Costs for events on the other hand...
yes this is a message to the users of intai.tech. no ads for you!