By: tux2bsd
I've kept my comments rather mild and not too far off-topic but know my comments get deleted from time to time and that means OSAlert does not support free speech. That is very problematic. Censorship is a favourite tool of the left. Should I pay to be censored?
Will this comment be deleted, I suspect it will.
By: mimi
I would like to donate but through service which won't store credit card data for good nor ask me for my phone and similar needless data.
By: The1stImmortal
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139901/osnews-needs-your-help-to-stay-alive/#comment-10440431">Thom Holwerda</a>.
What I meant was with the merch store you only get the margin, vs the whole payment. Liberapay did the job anyway, thanks!
By: BluenoseJake
I've been a reader for a long time, and i appreciate everything you do. i'll donate a few bucks
By: gorbie
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139901/osnews-needs-your-help-to-stay-alive/#comment-10440430">Thom Holwerda</a>.
Lurkers Unite!
Even with my sponsorship, i really don’t care about the ads. This is probably the only website i visit with my adblocker disbled.
They are actually the least obtrusive I tend to encounter online.
I am sure many of us lurkers are enjoying the noticeable updates.
Keep up the good work, Thom.
By: Alfman
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139901/osnews-needs-your-help-to-stay-alive/#comment-10440444">MrVain</a>.
MrVain,
<blockquote>Question: why have Ad revenue decreased so much? Is it because everybody read stuff on Facebook instead of websites? Facebook have eaten all Ad revenue, from the websites? So the total Ad revenue has not decreased, it has only been taken by the social media apps?</blockquote>
That's an interesting question. I don't follow the ad industry in detail, but a number of articles suggest that advertisers have been pulling back in recent years.
https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-economy-alphabet-inc-62dbd56caf4b5c814469837187e7ef02
A factors that could affect websites like osnews more specifically is our distinctly technical userbase, who are disproportionately far more likely to use ad and tracker blockers.
https://www.ghostery.com/blog/privacy-report-advertisers-and-adblockers
<blockquote>Key Points:
Ghostery’s new report, conducted by third-party research firm Censuswide, finds that individuals who have experience in advertising, programming and cybersecurity are significantly more likely to use adblockers than the average American
These industry insiders are more skeptical of their online safety, underscoring concerns about the current severity of user tracking
Americans are underestimating the dangers of health and political tracking
Lesser-known Big Tech players sow distrust among these experts</blockquote>
By: MrVain
Question: why have Ad revenue decreased so much? Is it because everybody read stuff on Facebook instead of websites? Facebook have eaten all Ad revenue, from the websites? So the total Ad revenue has not decreased, it has only been taken by the social media apps?
By: Thom Holwerda
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139901/osnews-needs-your-help-to-stay-alive/#comment-10440410">The1stImmortal</a>.
Patreon etc. actually have pretty decent fee structures, so I barely notice them.
Donations/Patreon go directly to me because otherwise they'd have to go through David, the owner, which would mean double taxation (first in the US, then in Sweden once he'd send the money to me). This is the best structure tax-wise, by a huge margin. If, for some reason, this doesn't work out and I have to leave - I'll take the Patreon behind the shed and shotgun it to the face instantly so nobody pays a dime too much.
By: Thom Holwerda
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139901/osnews-needs-your-help-to-stay-alive/#comment-10440429">kurkosdr</a>.
If I leave, OSAlert dies instantly. There's nobody else. There never has been after I took over. If I can't make this work, I'll have to find a different job, and OSAlert is over. You might not care, and that's fine!
Luckily, it seems we have enough readers - the vast, vast majority of which are lurkers - who do care, and I've been able to make a good start going full-time. I've got more work to do, but so far, it's been a solid start.
By: kurkosdr
Perhaps OSAlert isn't meant to be someone's full-time job? It was working just fine when it wasn't someone's full-time job.
By: Drunkula
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139901/osnews-needs-your-help-to-stay-alive/#comment-10440373">Thom Holwerda</a>.
Thanks. Oddly enough I haven't seen your response. Nothing in my spam filters. Will check again.
By: The123king
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139901/osnews-needs-your-help-to-stay-alive/#comment-10440374">Thom Holwerda</a>.
Thom, are you still doing original submissions. I'd like to do a write-up on my RCA MS2000 development system at some point, which has a unique DOS that was largely forgotten
By: OSAlert needs your help to stay alive – Open World News
[…] Author: Thom Holwerda Source […]
By: The1stImmortal
I have something of a difference of opinion with Patreon that rules that out. I've no particular interest in getting physical Merch and after costs I suspect OSAlert wouldn't get much of the funds. The other two donation options though I'm not sure if I'd be donating to OSAlert as a site/organization or to you Thom directly as an individual? If you could clarify I'd appreciate it.
By: Aaron
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139901/osnews-needs-your-help-to-stay-alive/#comment-10440373">Thom Holwerda</a>.
Same thing for me - I also got that email saying it was correctly configured on your side, but no response after that, and I still get ads :(
By: linster247
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/139901/osnews-needs-your-help-to-stay-alive/#comment-10440373">Thom Holwerda</a>.
Hi Thom!
Just became a patron, posted in the patreon group too. How do I go about turning off ads on the home page?
Thanks,
Stefan