I've replaced ads on my website with Bitcoin donations

8 points by astrowilliam 12y ago ↗ HN

I have a fairly successful (1.5 million unique visitors/yr) space/science/tech website (http://www.spaceindustrynews.com. ) that I've been running out of my pocket for the last year or so and since it's inception I've run ads on it because I needed to pay for hosting and I felt it was a necessary evil.I do this all on my own in my spare time to spread the love of science. In my opinion, science and the consumption of content shouldn't be cluttered with ads or other distractions.I've taken down all the ads and adding a "donate with bitcoin" section at the bottom of every article. If people think it's a good article and deserves a little tip they can easily donate with bitcoin.I believe bitcoin is the future of online transactions and am 100% in support of it.What do you think of this approach? Would you be willing to forgo ads and donate for content?Thanks for your time!

4 comments

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ipValue 12y ago ↗

I am thinking of doing the same thing with my blog: http://www.preferredembodiment.com/

My audience is very niche and I don't think the ads Google chooses are very well targeted. I have an abysmal click through rate and I think the ads undermine the integrity of my content.

Which BitCoin Donation service are you thinking of using?

astrowilliam 12y ago ↗

You know, I found the same thing. I really hate ads.

I'm using coinbase for all transactions at the moment. It's very straight forward and easy to set up.

willholloway 12y ago ↗

Have you considered adding a Dogecoin donation address? Dogecoin is often used as a tipping coin just for situations like this.

In fact I'll tip you 2000 Doge if you add an address.

astrowilliam 12y ago ↗

Thanks for your ideas. I'm working on Doge integration soon. I do have a Doge address if you'd like to tip before I add it to the site. D6Sv3N5q6PpUq5VkqYQGJGzHwDdBuDwVpK . Thank you!