In June 2002 WebRing introduced a type of 'premium' service, where, with a small donation, members can promote their sites, managers can promote their rings, and all users can suppress advertising during their visit. This page is designed to explain exactly how the credits are used and promotion and ad suppression can be achieved.
Any user can suppress advertising during his browsing of WebRing, while logged into the ID which is enabled for ad suppression. There are two steps to this process:
- Make a donation to WebRing.
- Enable your profile for ad suppression. Note that you can choose to suppress only pop-up ads, pop-ups and banners, or all advertising.
Please note that if your donation is for $5 or more, your ad suppression is "free" for life. This means your advertising credits will not be charged for ad suppression. If your donation is less than $5, you will be charged $1 per month (deducted as daily increments for a full month even if you suppress for less time) and ad suppression will cease once your advertising credits are depleted.
Managers can use advertising credits to suppress advertising on their ring for all visitors or even solicit your own advertising. Suppressing pop-ups is charged to your account at a rate of $1 per year (deducted in daily increments). You can suppress the side bar (Google) text ads at a charge of $.20 per 1000 page views. The deducted amount will vary based upon the traffic flow through the hub page at any given time. You can suppress or define banner ads at a rate of $.10 per 1000 page views. This means either no ad or an ad you choose.
How much or even if you obtain payment from the advertiser is between you and them. You'll still see the charge against your advertising credit. So, yes, you can make money off of advertising on your own WebRing's Hub page!
If you have an ad you wish to use, you must upload and enable the ad to override WebRing advertising.
If you wish to suppress advertising for all visitors, you must enable the override of WebRing advertising.
Any member with advertising credits can select to have their site promoted within any Ring which chooses to participate in the "Featured Sites" program. Many Rings which do participate are looking to promote sites with advertising credits. When choosing to spend your credits in a WebRing, consider the ring's statistics carefully. If it gets little to no traffic, your credits may be wasted.
The manager will suggest a monthly charge for Featuring a site and you also have the ability to specify how much you are willing to pay. No matter what, the smaller amount will be charged. If you offer less than what the manager seeks, your site may not be selected as a Featured site (or may be promoted briefly, until sites offering more appear on his list.)
When you find a ring in which you'd like to be Featured, simply configure your membership.
If your site is selected, you'll see it appear in one of the three promotional spots on every page of the WebRing list (hub). You'll also see your credit decrease daily based upon how much you offer for the whole month. This way, if your site is only promoted for two weeks, you won't be charged for an entire month.
Any manager with advertising credits can select to have their Ring promoted within WebRing. Your current choices are "top 3" and "next 5" within the selected category. Cross-category listings will also be made available at a later time (apparently MUCH later!) If you select top 3, your credit will be charged $1.00 per month and your Ring will be listed in one of the top 3 positions in the category list page. Plus your NavBar logo (if you have one designated) will display next to your Ring's title.
For next 5 you'll be charged $.50 per month (all taken in daily increments) and given one of the subsequent positions on the category list page. To take advantage of Ring promotion, go into the Ring Promotion section of WebRing Management and do the following:
- Scroll past the hub ad upload fields
- Check either the Top 3 and/or Next 5 boxes
- Click "finished"
As with any changes made to category selections, it will take 24 hours for the changes to take effect. If the system can place your Ring in the preferred position, it will do so and charge your credits accordingly. If the positions are already filled, you will not be charged.
Do you need to know how to get advertising credits? It was mentioned earlier on this page, but it's important enough to repeat! Make a donation to WebRing. The amount of the donation is immaterial, any amount is accepted. Just be sure you include your LOGIN ID in order to claim your credit! There are several methods of making donations, each is described on the page linked earlier in this paragraph.
After making your donation, you will receive a confirmation email and should soon after see the credit appear in your account.
