ozoneocean
Addressing the Sam, Rough SK etc:
Compromises have been made and removing the bottom add is no small thing, I'm not happy with the way that's so easily dismissed: up until the removal of that there were 3 adds! Three. That was an add space that was currently being used to display paid advertising too (the middle one is not), and no matter how little we think people look at that one down there the fact is it was paid add space on every single page of DD (thousands of pages) and it draws revenue from people paying to use it. The removal indicates DD is willing to take a loss of revenue in an attempt to appease those of us who're unhappy with the current situation. It would be nice you you were a little more gracious in acknowledging that.
First, this new ad space isn't going to stay internal-only for long. Dylan himself said that they put it in there as a direct result from a discussion with an advertiser. This is going to have real advertisements in the near future, else there would be no point in creating it. DD isn't going to lose revenue from it, they will be gaining. This is a measure strictly meant to increase the amount of money that DD can make. (not that that is a bad thing, but this is a FAR more valuable spot than the footer, so it's not a fair comparison at all)
Second, it was a small thing. The advertisers aren't happy with bottom placements, and wanted better, so DD gave up something that wasn't making much money for something that will make tons. Since no one really cared that much about the ads at the bottom of their pages, we didn't get anything out of the deal. One less ad is meaningless when not one week ago there were the same number of ads but it a much less intrusive placing.
2 ads then, with acceptable placing.
2 ads now, but one that really annoys people.
How is that, in any way, a compromise, especially considering the fact that no one said “Hey, you know what? I'd be happy with this new ad that is right in the middle of my page if you were to remove the one at the bottom that I don't really care about.” A compromise involves both parties getting something of what they want. This isn't one of those things ;)
The only thing that happened was that DD replaced one ad that people didn't mind with one that they did. That's a loss for creators, not a gain. It's not as much of a loss as it could have been, sure, but that's not a compromise.
Here's an example. You're in jail. I'm your jailer. Every day I come out and beat you with a stick once in the head and once in the foot. You're allowed to wear a hat, and shoes, so neither hurts TOO much.
One day, without notice, I come in and hit your head, foot, and crotch. Wow, doesn't that suck for you! You complain about it, and I say “Ok, I'll stop hitting your foot.”
Is this a compromise? Not at all. You[re still being hit just as often as before, except now it's worse. You haven't gained anything, all that you've done is prevent a further loss than what already happened.
If the advertisers were in any way interested in the bottom ad now that the middle one is available then there's no way that DD would lose it, because it would be too much revenue. Now that this new ad spot has opened up, the advertisers don't care about the bottom spot, so DD can throw us a bone and take it away.
Wow, I feel all warm and fuzzy ;)
I'm not saying that it's terrible that they took one ad away. It is cool. I'm just saying that they gave us something that neither they nor we cared that much about, so we should all be looking at it for what it is, and not hyping it up as any more than that.
Simply put, they gave up something so minor in compared to what they took that, in the context of what is happening, it will appear meaningless. It would have been huge and awesome if done on it's own, but it wasn't. It was done along side something far worse. You wouldn't be thanking the government for removing a $100/year tax when, at the same time, they also added a $1000/year tax, would you?
The other changes that have been made in response to community sentiment are also promising because they show that DD management is willing to listen to the concerns of its users, if the suggestions are sensible and clear enough they will try and accommodate you.
I'm in total agreement here. DD has always been very good about listening to, and accommodating the users.