From Independant studies...

Consumers Prefer Online Sponsorship to Banner Ads
Results Unveiled from First-Ever Research into Web Users’ Awareness of and Attitudes Toward Site Sponsors

Web users both recognize and appreciate the difference between online ads and sponsorships, that’s the finding from the first-ever research study on the topic. The nationwide U.S. study, conducted by Performance Research, and commissioned by IEG, Inc. clearly illustrates that online sponsorship is a viable alternative to banner advertising.

"The online advertising model may be a dinosaur, but we now have data proving that online sponsorship is an effective way for marketers to communicate online," said IEG senior vice president Jim Andrews.

For example, the survey’s 500-plus respondents found sponsors to be more "trustworthy" (28% to 15%), "credible" (28% to 16%), "in tune with (their) interests" (32% to 17%) and "likely to enhance (their) site experience" (33% to 17%) than advertisers.

Even more significantly, 41% said they were more likely to consider purchasing a sponsor’s product or service, compared to 23% for advertisers. Such propensity to support site sponsors ranks in the top half of all types of sponsored properties studied by Performance Research, surpassing the loyalty of NBA, Major League Baseball, Olympic and NFL fans, among others.

The majority of respondents easily distinguished site sponsors from advertisers, relying on triggers such as supplied content and editorial cues such as "presented by" and "powered by" tags. Overall, respondents found sponsors to be less obtrusive (66% to 34%) and more engaging (58% to 42%) than advertisers.

Commenting on the findings Performance Research vice president Bill Doyle said, "The effectiveness of on-line advertising has escaped scrutiny for far too long. These findings prove sponsorship is an effective alternative for marketers wanting to communicate online."

source: http://www.performanceresearch.com/o...ponsorship.htm

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From experience which do you prefer to use on your community and why?

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Well, most people who sponsor need either their ads placed or stuff like that, So it mostly I would have gone for sponsorships as they guarantee you that they will help us whereas Banner ads like Google...Many people said that Google at the time of payment says that ur site went against our policy and so we are not paying u the $!

You might want to open a new thread mate, hijacking this one might not be appreciated.

On topic, I think both are valid forms of advertising, banners are less apreciated since they usually tend to mess with the visual flow of a site's design, but tastefully done and placed could be as efective as sponsorships. The only problem with this is when users install banner blockers, then usually there's no other way to reach them but trough other placed graphics, enter sponsorships.

The only problem I might find with sponsorships is that sometimes the sponsors feel entitled to interfere with the site administration and community management, wich I (and probably any admin) usually find highly annoying.

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This new article i wrote might be of interest to you

Considering Sponsorship

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I prefer ads than sponsership

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My opinion is that forum owners should use multiple options to generate extra revenue streams, so i voted "both".

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I said both. Sponsorship basically is, in my view, a method of covering expenses. Since I don't really run sites for a profit, that is my preffered method. That said, if down the line I decide to try and make money off of one of my forums, such as the forthcoming Michael Moore one, then I'd also use ads.

Well i like anything that works if anyone can thing of any places let me know

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Do you mean to advertise your site?

I am launching MyIndya.com in one weeks time...

I want to chat with you regarding sponsorship for subscriptions

I'll tell you what you will get for that when you come online

I have one on one od you sites
Have a look at this banner and let me know what you think my brother made it i think its a top job and need some good site's to put it on

Attached Images

tvn4601.jpg (27.5 KB, 8 views)

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