The app will be going away soon

JonDMiller

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
Perhaps as soon as Friday...you can read more about it and other changes at this link

BUT...I think I may have found a mobile friendly way to view the forums. If you are reading this with a mobile device, click on this link and snoop around:

Miami Hurricanes | CaneInsider

CycloneFanatic has this mobile friendly vbulletin platform, too...and I believe we can insert our own local or third party ad tag codes into it. So we'll likely be giving it a try yet this month, so a much earlier fix than what I talked about at the link to start this thread.

I realize many of you access the site via mobile devices, so I am doing my best to balance out that demand with making sure the bills get paid. We've already cut the number of ads on the forums by nearly 50% in the last week...so I appreciate all the visits you are making on your regular computers to the content pages of the site. Thank you
 
Not saying an app won't make a comeback, because there is going to come a time in the next few years when mobile advertising will be a financially viable option and not a revenue cannibal...the mobile friendly vbulletin format will help tilt that scale and still give users easier board navigation.

that time is not now, however. Facebook's dismal performance since their IPO launch is in part due to the mobile ad environment as many of their users access facebook via mobile devices and the app, and those views are monetized at a fraction of what the web browser visits give them. We're still a few years away from mobile ad revenues catching up, and they will given the increasing level of mobile consumption.
 
So visiting the main page/content page on a mobile device doesn't help generate revenue? I visit this site primarily with a mobile device and never use the app.
 
JonDMiller said:
Not saying an app won't make a comeback, because there is going to come a time in the next few years when mobile advertising will be a financially viable option and not a revenue cannibal...the mobile friendly vbulletin format will help tilt that scale and still give users easier board navigation.

that time is not now, however. Facebook's dismal performance since their IPO launch is in part due to the mobile ad environment as many of their users access facebook via mobile devices and the app, and those views are monetized at a fraction of what the web browser visits give them. We're still a few years away from mobile ad revenues catching up, and they will given the increasing level of mobile consumption.
Click to expand...

Jon did you ever look into the Tapatalk app along with your current forums? I use it for a few other forums I use and it is a decent alternative.
 
yeah that cane page is total garbage. cuts posts off, hard to read whole threads. looks like JD finally found way to get rid of me. let the rejoicing begin.
 
DuffMan said:
yeah that cane page is total garbage. cuts posts off, hard to read whole threads. looks like JD finally found way to get rid of me. let the rejoicing begin.
Click to expand...

Come on Duff, I expected it would take a lot more than this to make you leave.
 
DuffMan said:
yeah that cane page is total garbage. cuts posts off, hard to read whole threads. looks like JD finally found way to get rid of me. let the rejoicing begin.
Click to expand...

Once we have it installed, we'll see what issues arise and what can be done about it. But it will either be that, or viewing the forums via a regular mobile browser which is likely less appealing. But there won't be an app until at least early 2013. I have no plans to develop one until football season is over. We would have kept the present app through then, but as you can see in the linked item, there were some issues.
 
I have felt, since around 2008, that free content and not subscriptions were going to win the day. I left Scout in 2009 and went independent, believing that. I started a consulting company in early 2011 helping other independent sites monetize their web properties, based on the free model. I am very much a free model believer.

That said, if anything will cause a greater movement towards subscriptions or some kind of 'pay to play', it will be the increased mobile consumption we are seeing in the world.

I haven't ruled out bringing back an app that has a small monthly price tag on it, because sans ads, its the only way to make something like that not be a revenue cannibal. The website version of the site (or rather, the version of HN that you see when you are on a computer or laptop) will remain free because it can pay for itself. The app, due to the mobile advertising climate being several years behind that of computer browser based ad trends, it can't do that as of yet.
 
I mean viewing web pages via full size screens on pcs or laptops is just over. I cant remember the last time I even fired up my home pc. At some point very soon the vast majority of recreational web traffic is going to be conducted via smart phones or tablets (if it isnt already). The sites that are in a better position to capture that traffic are going to win. So far the porn sites have done a great job at this (allegedly).

I understand where you are comming from, i just dont think all that app traffic
 
is going to automatically flow to the we browser. You might well be looking at a zero sum game.
 
as I type this from the mobile app I will say I think the # of posts on cf seems greatly diminished from last year. I know it is a revenue killer but I do wonder what the impact is on the total # of people visiting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top