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Advertising, Adblockers, and the future of DPReview

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Hi Jim, I hope all is well!

We do not yet have any subscription options available. However, we've had readers asking for something like this over the past year, and so are beginning a process of researching how it might work, as well as gauging the level of interest.

We hope to share more soon.
 
darinb said:
Hi Scott,

I get that you want subscriptions but please don't make the method of subscribing and the cost of subscribing a secret. :)
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Hi Darin, thanks for the feedback! We hope to share more information soon. As of right now, we're only gathering feedback and gauging interest, while simultaneously assessing what kind of subscription options might make sense for the community.
 
Kazmarov said:
My main interest here are the forums. I find many of the ads served not relevant to photography, garish and obtrusive - hence using an ad blocker. I would happily explore an ad-free subscription model at a "reasonable" charge however & I may have missed something, the terms & "how to" seem to be secret. Would you be kind enough to share them? Failing that, I am happy to drop off.
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We aim to share more information soon about how a subscription option would work for the site. As of right now, we are merely beginning to poll users about their interest level in this approach, as well as encouraging readers to disable ad-blockers for DPReview if that is an option.
 
Scott Everett said:
Hi Jim, I hope all is well!

We do not yet have any subscription options available. However, we've had readers asking for something like this over the past year, and so are beginning a process of researching how it might work, as well as gauging the level of interest.

We hope to share more soon.
Click to expand...
I hope that a subscription option goes a long way to solving any financial issues here.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Scott Everett said:
  • Exclusive Content: Early access to articles, in-depth interviews, behind-the-scenes looks, or specialized guides.
  • Deeper Community Engagement: Private forums or Q&A sessions with our reviewers and industry experts.
  • Personalized Experiences: Customizable newsletters matched to your interests, or tailored use case driven gear recommendations.
  • Discounts and Perks: Special offers on photography equipment, software, or workshops.
Click to expand...
It'll be interesting to see how this works out. I'll freely admit I'm running AdBlock, but it's not specifically for DPR. Without some kind of ad control, my entire web experience becomes very distasteful -- Like the incessant "whack-a-mole" process of dodging and closing ads / popups while trying to read the news on my phone.

Here on DPR I'm just a lowly hobbyist who really can't justify buying a lot of gear. I read the occasional review but most of it is (unfortunately) not relevant to me in any current sense. Maybe when I buy that once-new used camera or lens years from now, but by then it's general knowledge. As an example, I'm using a Canon consumer DSLR from 2020 with L lenses that designed 10-20 years ago (24-70 f/4L, 70-200 f/4L).

I can certainly understand the market realities of revenue, ads, subscriptions and what-not. However I hope when the dust settles the forums haven't disappeared behind a paywall and for those of us who decide to not add yet another additional subscription the experience isn't so ad-heavy as to not be worth the trouble.
 
Hi, I love the site and stuck with it during the transition. However, I can't see how a paid model will work. Subscriptions like Netflix, Disney, NY Times, etc. rely on millions of users. You may get a thousand subscribers if you're lucky? There is *so* much free content available, including gear reviews, videos, and photo posting. Personally, I browse several forums and enjoy the comments. I have learned a lot from other members. Maybe users will pay for enhanced content of some kind, but I am happy, if not pleased, with a free site and the annoying ads. Best of luck.
 
Scott Everett said:
... To be completely transparent, a sizable portion of our visitors use ad blockers. ..
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I use Ad-Blockers because ads are generally annoying and obtrusive to using a site, Ad people seem not to care about the negative experience their ads cause using site, hence the need for Ad Blockers, or just not using site.

Will sign-up for the subscription; hopefully DPR gets enough subscriptions to keep cost reasonable for users.
 
Len Philpot said:
Scott Everett said:
  • Exclusive Content: Early access to articles, in-depth interviews, behind-the-scenes looks, or specialized guides.
  • Deeper Community Engagement: Private forums or Q&A sessions with our reviewers and industry experts.
  • Personalized Experiences: Customizable newsletters matched to your interests, or tailored use case driven gear recommendations.
  • Discounts and Perks: Special offers on photography equipment, software, or workshops.
Click to expand...
It'll be interesting to see how this works out. I'll freely admit I'm running AdBlock, but it's not specifically for DPR. Without some kind of ad control, my entire web experience becomes very distasteful -- Like the incessant "whack-a-mole" process of dodging and closing ads / popups while trying to read the news on my phone.

Here on DPR I'm just a lowly hobbyist who really can't justify buying a lot of gear. I read the occasional review but most of it is (unfortunately) not relevant to me in any current sense. Maybe when I buy that once-new used camera or lens years from now, but by then it's general knowledge. As an example, I'm using a Canon consumer DSLR from 2020 with L lenses that designed 10-20 years ago (24-70 f/4L, 70-200 f/4L).

I can certainly understand the market realities of revenue, ads, subscriptions and what-not. However I hope when the dust settles the forums haven't disappeared behind a paywall and for those of us who decide to not add yet another additional subscription the experience isn't so ad-heavy as to not be worth the trouble.
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Hey Len, thanks for sharing this perspective. I expect your use of the site is representative of a lot of folks, and definitely one we want to be mindful of. We have no intention of blocking off the site to a paywall or preventing community members from being able to continue utilizing the forums. If anything, we're trying to find ways to make the browsing experience better without hurting our ability to stay in business.
 
Larry_T said:
Hi, I love the site and stuck with it during the transition. However, I can't see how a paid model will work. Subscriptions like Netflix, Disney, NY Times, etc. rely on millions of users. You may get a thousand subscribers if you're lucky? There is *so* much free content available, including gear reviews, videos, and photo posting. Personally, I browse several forums and enjoy the comments. I have learned a lot from other members. Maybe users will pay for enhanced content of some kind, but I am happy, if not pleased, with a free site and the annoying ads. Best of luck.
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Hey Larry, you are 100% correct that almost any type of subscription model would never be a viable approach to keeping DPReview online if it was the sole driver of revenue. We're mainly exploring it as a way to give our loyal community member a pathway to experiencing the site ad-free. The added perks I outlined are just some common approaches to subscriptions that we'd want to be open minded to. Ultimately what we do will be driven by what the community wants, otherwise it serves no purpose.
 
What I don't understand is...

If people use ad blockers, look away from sites that have intrusive ads they can't block, and generally refuse to click on any ads that do appear, why do people / organisations continue to pay to display those ads on in the first place?

Doubly so given that at least some of the people responsible for paying whoever it is to place the ads also use ad blockers, look away from sites that have intrusive ads they can't block, and generally refuse to click on any ads that do appear?

I suppose there must be enough people who can't resist the temptation to click on some sort of "free beer for life" offer to make it worthwhile. But you have to wonder.

Maybe I'm just too old for this kind of thing :-)
 
FujiJon said:
What I don't understand is...

If people use ad blockers, look away from sites that have intrusive ads they can't block, and generally refuse to click on any ads that do appear, why do people / organisations continue to pay to display those ads on in the first place?

Doubly so given that at least some of the people responsible for paying whoever it is to place the ads also use ad blockers, look away from sites that have intrusive ads they can't block, and generally refuse to click on any ads that do appear?

I suppose there must be enough people who can't resist the temptation to click on some sort of "free beer for life" offer to make it worthwhile. But you have to wonder.

Maybe I'm just too old for this kind of thing :-)
Click to expand...
Similar thoughts - I've been using ad blocking software for so long I've forgotten what the Internet looks like without it.

Every once in a while I get on someone else's computer or pause my blocker for some reason or another and - WOW. I don't know how anyone can read ANYTHING with all that going on!
 
Scott Everett said:
Hi everyone,

Since joining Gear Patrol last summer, our mission has been to make dpreview sustainable for the long haul. A big part of that is growing our editorial team back to the size needed to deliver the high-quality reviews, news, and discussions you expect. Right now, we have a smaller editorial team than in the past, and it's not enough to keep up with the increasing demand for content. To grow the team, we need to increase our revenue.

Currently, a majority of our revenue comes from advertising. However, the digital ad landscape has become increasingly challenging. Ad rates have been declining for over a decade, and marketing budgets are shifting towards algorithmic targeting of people and social platforms.

To be completely transparent, a sizable portion of our visitors use ad blockers. While we understand the reasons behind this, it significantly impacts our ability to fund our work, and is unfortunately part of the reason why we’ve had to open up the site to more ads than in the past. We recognize the irony of needing more ads due to ad blockers, and we want to find a better solution. Ultimately, dpreview relies on your support to continue delivering the in-depth analysis that brought you here..

To address this, we're exploring new ways to sustain dpreview. You might see prompts encouraging you to disable your ad blocker or to consider a dpreview subscription. Subscriptions are new for us, and we want to build them with your input, ensuring they offer perks that truly resonate with you. Beyond an ad-free experience and tracker-free browsing, we're brainstorming benefits like:
  • Exclusive Content: Early access to articles, in-depth interviews, behind-the-scenes looks, or specialized guides.
  • Deeper Community Engagement: Private forums or Q&A sessions with our reviewers and industry experts.
  • Personalized Experiences: Customizable newsletters matched to your interests, or tailored use case driven gear recommendations.
  • Discounts and Perks: Special offers on photography equipment, software, or workshops.
Our commitment to you is unwavering. It's the same commitment we've had since Phil Askey founded the site over 25 years ago. We're exploring these subscription offerings to deliver more value to readers, improve your browsing experience, and to enable our teams to get back to working on publishing more of the in-depth journalism that we’re capable of.

Also, to be clear, we are not planning on preventing readers from accessing our site (e.g. a paywall”).

We sincerely hope you'll join us on this journey. Your support, in whatever form you choose, is the foundation for where the site goes from here.

Thank you for being part of the dpreview community. We value your feedback and look forward to continuing to serve you.

Sincerely,

Scott
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There's a lot of buzz / confusion about this going on in several of the sub-fora.

Why wasn't this posted prominently / pinned on the front page? Or as a banner across the whole site? Several folks were concerned it was a phishing exploit, etc.
 
Even though it might seem incredible to people like you (and myself), the fact that they are everywhere, and that companies are willing to pay for them, obviously means that ads, and marketing expenses in general, do lead to increased sales/revenue. It would be an obvious way for a company to cut costs otherwise.
 
FujiJon said:
What I don't understand is...

If people use ad blockers, look away from sites that have intrusive ads they can't block, and generally refuse to click on any ads that do appear, why do people / organisations continue to pay to display those ads on in the first place?
Click to expand...
Hasn't this always been the case? A few decades ago when newspapers still had plenty of ad revenue, they were delivered with plenty of ad inserts for supermarkets, local stores, etc. Nobody looked through all of those either.

I recall one year around Christmas, I separated the ad inserts from the actual newspaper. The stack of ad inserts was about twice the thickness of the newspaper.

TV commercials, advertising billboards along a highway, you can think of many others I'm sure.

How about junk mail? Remember that? I got on the Direct Marketing Association's "do not send" list and most of it stopped after a few months. That's an old-fashioned ad blocker.

I suppose it's like spam email. Send out a billion emails and you only need one person to click on the link to make it worthwhile.

--
Lance H
 
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When Amazon sounded the death knoll for DPR a number of alternative sites sprang up with the good intentions of attempting to carry on a similar site.

I am primarily interested in reviews and the user forums. I started coming to DPR when Phil ran it/owned it. I did not join until a few years later when I wanted to be able to post in the forums.

What separates the forums here from elsewhere is the ability to use threaded view. The other forums do not have the ability to thread. I don't recall if the threaded view was around in Phil's time or if it came later. As a thought, perhaps the software that allows threading could be developed as a product for sale or licensing to organizations or bloggers. I don't know how much money could be made from such but there are a significant number of bloggers on the web. Software is a money maker if the market is there to support sales and it fills a need, especially if it is the only game in town!

Visiting DPR on my mobile is now significantly painful. I tolerated it on my desktop but in the end with the videos that autoran I installed an ad blocker.

DPR used to have affiliated links to stores but all that are here now seems to be links to Amazon.

Some youtubers have links that generate income for them and also offer discount codes to buyers that go to their links.

Not sure if I am interested in a subscription based model. I am not ruling it out but it seems it could be a catch 22. If the numbers here continue to decline then it will not matter.

Andrew
 
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Revenant said:
Even though it might seem incredible to people like you (and myself), the fact that they are everywhere, and that companies are willing to pay for them, obviously means that ads, and marketing expenses in general, do lead to increased sales/revenue. It would be an obvious way for a company to cut costs otherwise.
Click to expand...
and, I've just remembered, advertising costs for a business are tax deductible (or at least were, in the UK when my Mrs ran a small business)
 
Hi,

My flavor of Android here, and the flavor of browser that goes with it, blocks the ads and popups yet makes the website think the ads and popups loaded. So now you have no way to know I am not seeing those things.

The one ad that didn't display but went weird was the popup at the bottom that rolls in later once the rest of the page is loaded. That shows up as a see-through with no content.

The only part of the site that interests me is the part that originally interested me when. Phil invited me to join up back in Y2K. The forums. That was specifically the Pro Digital Talk forum as that's where all makes and models of DSLRs were discussed then.

Eventually, we split those off into their own individual forums. Those then split as time went on. These days, the only one I am truly interested in is the Medium Format Talk forum.

I have serious doubts that I will be interested in paying to read the mail in a single forum.

And I doubt I'll be seeing any pop up looking for me to subscribe either the way this thing works.

I wouldn't even know about it except I do check this feedback forum about once a week.

Stan
 
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