[rothyman]

First post btw; I'm fairly young and looking to start investing so I can eventually make a spark.

My question is, does anyone know if there's good money to be earned through advertising? For example, I was considering buying a domain and opening up a forum like this one (different topic of course).

Does anyone know exactly what kind of money there is to be made as far as advertising goes? Let's say this forum gets 10,000 hits a day. What kind of payback can you expect to earn through companies paying you to advertise? Is it even a worthy money opportunity?

[karguy85]

its all about gaining the critical mass. if you can get enough users to your forum you can make some good buck through advertising. im launching a site and we are not trying to make any money in the near future but when we do try to make money it will be through advertising. it is not a forum but it is also a free service we are providing so i would say yes it is worth it but make sure you have a nice niche where you can gain a lot of users and many who will post regularly. hope this helps!

[tekmoney]

It's all about traffic, and then its all about clicks.

The problem with forums is that users see the same layout everyday, and they develop ad-blindness and have significantly lower clicks than another site with the same traffic. That's not to say you can't make money with forums, but its ad-blindness can be a factor

[Joe426]

Good point tekmoney. Yeah, pretty much all the forums I go to, I don't click any of the ads. I think most internet savvy people don't.

[tekmoney]

Originally Posted by Joe426

Good point tekmoney. Yeah, pretty much all the forums I go to, I don't click any of the ads. I think most internet savvy people don't.

This is especially true on a tech forum I visit, where users blatantly exchange ideas and software on how to block ads.

[freshcutslawn]

It is normally estimated that 40 out of every 1000 people will click on a ad link. This depend on many different variables and how well your website does.

[nado]

Yep, a 4% CTR is average to high.

http://tylercruz.com/ - makes his money mainly from forums
http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/s...d.php?t=19707& - looks interesting
http://www.big-boards.com/board/466/ - something awful forums traffic

[adamg]

Yep, a 4% CTR is average to high.

I agree, but it depends on the type of forum, forums tend to have a low ctr rate.

[JRayers]

A forum is also about you being willing to post to improve the site and improve traffic. Make sure you like the theme.