Google Ads Will Be Here Coming Soon
Statefans Nation will start showing advertisements on many of the pages here — but nothing obnxious. Many blog sites have Google ads, and in our view, they are relatively unobtrusive and won’t detract at all from the mission of the site.
Why?
Basically, we are taking this step in order to defray the costs of operating the site. While you won’t hear us complain about it, it does cost money to lease server space and to have a fast (and redundant) connection to the Internet. As SFN’s popularity has boomed, so have the performance requirements. The best way to offset those costs are through the ads so that SFN remains the best destination on the Internet for sports-related news, opinions and discussion about Wolfpack sports.
You Can Help
If you see an ad that’s interesting to you, click and check it out. That’s like throwing some change in the piggy-bank for us, and it is greatly appreciated.
New Site Toy: Sphere Related Content
In other news, we’ve implemented a new “widget” that adds a link at the bottom of each article called “Sphere Related Content.”
Basically, it works a lot like most “social link” software, in that it aggregates similar content and makes it easy to find. Sphere takes the context of a given article like the Mario Williams article and will show you links to other news sources, blogs and even message forums on the topic. It’s pretty nifty.
Enjoy the weekend.
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December 14th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Me likey the new “toy” quite a bit… that’s slick.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:01 am
It’s about time, good for you SFN. I’m glad you’re finally getting some help with the financing. That makes keyboard hovering, blowhards like myself, feel a little less guilty about gobbling up all of your space.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Good for you SFN. You guys should do what you need to do to make this easier on yourselves. They say the best things in life are free. This site is certainly one of those. I can’t say thank you enough for all the work you do and that this site is free.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Yes, the ads will be a welcome addition to offset your costs. I use several sites with Google ads and they do a great job.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Sphere related content .. interesting idea. Let’s click it here for this article and see what we get: ok, here’s one of the links ….
# Hey Dad, what’s Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder? from PharmaGossip
5 days ago
December 15th, 2007 at 9:38 am
DFMo –
Nothing’s perfect is probably the best answer, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not very good because it isn’t infallible. Sphere is a good add as far as I see it.
We saw the link you mentioned during testing too, but we’ve also seen superb links from the sports entries that had none of that — and that was roughly 35-45 of them. There have been some blog links to sites I ddn’t even know existed that were quite interesting, and it’s always good to know about new sites. Another great thing is that Sphere showed links to a lot of the other NC State-related sites and also to local media, so it made it pretty easy to see what other folks are saying.
So generally speaking, Sphere polices itself very well and eliminates spam links. I didn’t follow that particular link to see what that “disease” is exactly, but I suspect it’s some sugar pill scam and I wouldn’t bother anyway. I know y’all are smarter than that anyway.
BUT
If you guys run across something really offensive (and I cleaned a spam comment to a link out to a site that literally made me want to puke last night) please let us know immediately at statefans aT gmail d0T com.
On the subject of spam, there’s been a real s…storm of it behind the scenes lately, and 3-4 times a day I’ve gone in and cleaned out the spam filter’s queues. It’s a game of cat and mouse as any web administrator will tell you, and it takes most of my admin time. Keep in mind too that I also admin Red And White and its WordPress install, so it’s double duty, not that I mind. Again, if something ever slips through, let us know at the address above.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:59 am
^Hey, it’s the internet. It’s “progress” in the name of BIG $$$. There doesn’t seem that theres much anyone can do about erectile disfunction ads. It’s not like it’s new anyway, they’ve been all over primetime radio and TV ads for a while now.
I just love watching those ads with my three young daughters sitting in the same room.
December 15th, 2007 at 10:20 am
^ I hear ya on that. Especially when the inevitable questions are asked.
The guys here and I myself are very conscious of the fact that youngsters visit our sites and that both places should remain as family-friendly as possible, so I was serious about passing on stuff that might be objectionable. There’s enough of that on the Internet anyways.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:25 am
That’s perfectly fine SFN! Thanks for a GREAT SITE!!! Maybe my favorite site on the entire ‘net, and it will continue to be. Thanks again.
December 15th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Geez.. my site is selling out. Is nothing pure in the world?!?!?!
Just kidding.. good idea.. and smart way to offset the moochers like me who post for free.
December 15th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
thanks for the site and all the work that goes into maintaining it, glad you’ll have something to offset your time and $$$$$$$
December 15th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I will not complain about rampant commercial advertising on the internet, especially if it allows you guys to continue fielding this quality site. I may even choose to notice them sometimes.
I saw the link to DFMo, and I thought Wow, a new, more scientific name for puberty.
December 15th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
hey about the ads, I’m only surprised it didn’t happen soon. I recall during the calipari-flight-chasing period there was a comment that came out from the site, that came after someone commented on t-shirts to represent the flight-chasing endevours, that this site’s goals are not to make a dime and be a representation of the community, or something to that effect. Anyway…..good for you guys, I hope it continues to boom as it should.
December 15th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
just watched the last 5 minutes of the first half. We are winning, but I think the problems these team has are fundamental– we don’t have table setters. We are going to go as far as our guard play will take us. In the last era a major concern was in-game adjustments, there weren’t any. Right now I see a major concern as basketball IQ. The guards aren’t creating and then we just try to smash it in down low. (I hope that Johnson is good when he arrives.) Hitting the outside shot to break a zone is going to be huge this year.
December 15th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
I didn’t realize we had so many ladies on the team. All I can do is watch the live stats and Miss Jumper, Miss Three-Pointer, and Miss Free Throw’s names keep coming up over and over.
December 15th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Glad to see you getting help with the ads. You run a first class site that most of us wolfpackers love.
We just won the bb game by 25.
December 15th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Just watched as much of the game as ACC Select would allow. The good was that overall our intensity was much higher (of course, how could this team even possibly allow it to be worse or walk out on their home court with the pathetic intensity that we’re used to). We actually had a transition game due to our way more “in your face defense”. Offensively, we still struggled. This game solidifies with me that we are at the mercy of what Johnson can bring to the table in a few weeks, and no offense to him, but I’m not holding my breath. What I’ve read on this sight before is very true–Gonzalez has no business playing in the ACC. It will be very good for our program if he transfers!
December 16th, 2007 at 4:19 am
SFN, this is the best site I’ve seen for Wolfpack commentary and information aggregation. Glad you are getting some support. Keep up the great work! And Happy Holidays!