Answerbank

[brawburd]

How does it work? Does this seem like a basic question? Who owns it, how is it run? How much money does it make?

[AB Editor]

(I sit in a small, damp, cellar in a faraway place with nothing for company but the occasional inquisitive neighbourhood cat, all-too-rare visits from technical support -- as some users may have noticed -- and an updated list of tyre pressures...)

This site is owned and operated by a small media company that is in turn part of a big media company. Nobody's going to get rich from the advertising revenue (or if they are, they haven't told me) but we do have a number of commercial opportunities open to us. Don't worry, no changes envisaged to the current site or system.

As to how it works? It works because people are in turn inquisitive and helpful. If you get your question answered, quickly and acurately and maybe even with good grace and humour, you're more likely to come back and help the next person find the answer they're looking for. It's the kind of thing the Internet was made for, if you ask me. Simple, straightforward, thoughtful.

A timely question, brawburd, as you know. Hopefully all users can concentrate on what the site does best.

[Moog]

Seems to get some pretty good advertisers on here, I wonder if AB editor would care to divulge any web stats for the sites i.e. how many registered users or visitors there are? Also from my experience of Daily Mail & General Trust [The ultimate owners of the site] if it wasn't making someone rich it wouldn't be here!

[If you don't mind I'll ignore the second part of your comment and obfuscate on the first: the webstats are healthy but will remain unpublished for reasons of commercial confidence. This is, after all, a business. Thanks. - AB Editor]

[rja211077]

the 'big' media company Mike refers to is the Daily Mail Group.

[xyzzy@bok]

How it works? let's just be glad that it does BB the deeper question, i think, is why are there only about 100 regulars from a potential catchment of millions? this site has even been plugged on Steve Wright Show, apparently, so why are there not thousands on here, like there are on zfilter etc?? This the enigma for me, we lucky people who get fast replies and don't get swamped; i hope it doesn't get packed out, "toomanycooks" and all that.. :-)

[Moog]

No worries about the first point, but the second one... shouldn't you be shouting from the roof tops about how many unique users, page impressions and hits the site receives rather than concealing the figures or maybe there is something worth hiding?! I work for a magazine and anyone who want's to know details of our circulation are welcome to it. In fact we print the up to date audited figures in the mag. Is there any sort of online auditing mabye an electronic ABC audit and if so has AB been audited?


[Moog - this is a very different world from magazine publishing. I mean, look at this - I'm working through my lunch hour! ;-)



The volume of users, impressions and hits is healthy but, as I indicated earlier, advertising is not our main source of revenue. That information is used by the people who sell our ad space. Meanwhile, the norm online appears to be to leave it at that. Sorry to be cryptic! - AB Editor]

[Moog]

Am supposed to be working through lunch too!

[Think Deep]

Okay, sorry to drag a point on, but if the main source of revenue isn't advertising, what is it? As much as I agree that this is what the net was meant for, as you said, AB ed, this is business!

[Yes it is! And therefore I shall continue to draw a mysterious veil across our work! - AB Editor]