How not to run a website
I pop in over at Tennessee Gun Owners Forums on occasion to see if there’s any Tennessee gun news I’ve missed. I head over there today and get this message:
It appears that you’ve exceeded the maximum number of posts that you may view as a guest. To unlock the forum and continue viewing messages, all you need to do is sign up for a free account.
Isn’t blocking access to content kinda counter productive to what you have a website for?
December 15th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Not if you’re wanting to sell it. More Registered Users = More Money
December 15th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
It’s not much different than websites that limit their RSS entries so you are force to physically go to their website.
It’s all about numbers/members.
I subscribe to 20 gun related blogs via RSS with Google Reader and for many of them (the worse being M. Bane’s website his RSS feed only gives you the title – totally useless for a RSS feed) you are force to go to the website.
December 15th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Register then. You aren’t forced to post. They need members. Members, just by registering, generate the revenue needed to keep the site running. The owner, TGO David, has explained multiple times why the limit is there.
December 15th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
If they need revenue to keep a site running, then the have the wrong business model.
Websites are marketing tools.
December 15th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Register? More like, delete the cookie they gave your browser.
December 15th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
bandwidth and servers are not free, especially with the number of daily pageloads TGO gets.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
He might have explained it multiple times, Ishida, but the limit was imposed only recently.
In fact, more and more aspects of the webpage are becoming restricted, most notably the “for sale/want to buy” sections being limited to only paid members.
I certainly understand that serverspace and bandwidth are not free, but maintaining some degree of utility is kind of mandatory in bringing in that revenue.