Transparency On The Future of ATS

a reply to: geezlouise

There's definitely a lot of projecting one's shadow onto others what people fail to realize about themselves.

If anyone is willing to group with me on possible member ownership, and buyout and maintain this site. I am willing to spend the time to learn to code and maintain the site. I used to create websites and code when I was younger, but would need to refresh. I am willing to go back to school and spend the time relearning new coding techniques for this site.

Let's make a plan and preserve what we have here. I spend hours reading through the archaeology forums every night before bed since I was 16. And there is just too much information and archived content to lose here.
You just can't remake all of that.

I want to preserve it!

a reply to: Phage

When I google Jeffrey Epstein now, I don't see ATS at all for five pages and that's as far as I'm going to look.

Idk man, something about that spike is ultra fishy.

a reply to: Shamrock6

I'm glad you could help too.

Heart

originally posted by: ProgramSiberia
If anyone is willing to group with me on possible member ownership, and buyout and maintain this site. I am willing to spend the time to learn to code and maintain the site. I used to create websites and code when I was younger, but would need to refresh. I am willing to go back to school and spend the time relearning new coding techniques for this site.

Let's make a plan and preserve what we have here. I spend hours reading through the archaeology forums every night before bed since I was 16. And there is just too much information and archived content to lose here.
You just can't remake all of that.

I want to preserve it!

There is substantial interest in member/ownership:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I have been coming here for years both before and after registering and becoming a member.

I don’t post but spend tons of time reading and sourcing information. I truly love this place and although it’s become quite over bearing with political content I still enjoy the read either way.

Anyways, If ATS turns dark, I’d be willing to replace it with a free forum in a similar format, along with a chat feature that I would run. Id certainly need some moderators potentially but ultimately I’d be happy to provide the site.

In terms of old content, I seriously doubt the current owners would be willing to just give it up and I won’t pay for it.

Let me know what you guys think. If ATS are willing to talk about domain ownership and/or data from old posts I’d be willing to chat

This is really sad, I only officially joined in Feb, but have read for a long time.
Hope a solution can be found to save the site

a reply to: geezlouise

If the graph shows clicks which result from Google searches, I can see your point.

But read what SO wrote:

The number of visitors blocking what meager revenue is available on ATS continues to climb. We're well above the broader Internet average at more than two-thirds of all visitors blocking ads and other analytics tags.

Perhaps ATS is just as much a victim of the native paranoia of its membership as it is of Google.

Simple question...Are we gonna' do this..or not???

We can "pontificate" until the cows come home, but this is where the rubber meets the road!

Are you in...or out?

Either "Yes" or "No" is an okay answer, but we need an answer!

My answer is generally "yes", but the difference is the amount. If it's a small amount, say a monthly fee, then I'm good. However, if it's a significant capital investment, then obviously, I want to know what the return on that investment is worth. (Example: $10 per month, no issue. On the other hand, $25,000 in cash capital (which we can do), we're going to need to talk about ROI. Zero ROI is fine, or sub-1%, but below zero is not.

Are we on the same page?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Count me in brother

a reply to: ProgramSiberia

Perfect! A few of us are getting our act together on this, BTS had the idea for a GoFundMe to make up the difference.

Sending you a PM

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk

So, just a suggestion, and subject to moderator approval, maybe we set up a page right here on ATS were we discuss, in real terms, the standing down of ATS as we know it and the rebirth of a new site...

Where does all the information come from?

You cannot rival 20+ years of accumulated and stored knowledge and most importantly....minds, characters and personas.

Any new site would just be a simple blog from scratch.

THIS SITE NEEDS TO IMPLEMENT AN ANTI ADBLOCKER PURE AND SIMPLE.

Current members recieving ads is MORE than enough to support it's running for the near future and new members make their own choice when visiting.

The threads containing solutions do not address very well the issue and unless S.O. has other reasons he is not disclosing, it is the best way to keep the lights on.

I believe Bill is tired. Tired of putting so much time and investment into something that isn't rewarding him in a way he feels is fair. He obviously needs to focus more on supporting life without a constant headache.

I personally think if the current membership values what we have here to the degree so many are talking about now, then we must come up with practical solutions that can be implemented quickly and at the lowest cost possible.

Sometimes I think strings are being pulled that we cannot understand, but after all, this is a conspiracy website and a certain mentality brought most of us here didn't it.

Block all adblocking, don't just make a request.

We all read threads containing words like "I've been a member for X amount of years..." and "This place is like family".

What is that worth to you/me/US? To some, it is like nicotine, to others, like fresh air.

I HATE just giving up and will never support ideas that give up so easily and presume there is or could be created ANY kind of substitute.

Bringing back the "donate" banner and function would be a good start to show there IS intent to keep the lights on too.

Catch you tommorrow, and the day after and the day after etc etc etc etc........

a reply to: nerbot

The ad blocking software has always been good at evolving to detect such efforts. We tried that... the result...
1) members FREAKED out
2) it was an arms race we lost

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I came as IcedEarth725, then i became DeathShield, i leave as a lotus eater...I have been here since 2002...i dont know how to process this. I havent been posting regularly since 2010, but good god, this place was and still is is still part of my daily routines.

ATS made me a better person in a lot of ways. Arguing with Phage and other titans taught me a great deal of humility.

I miss Slayer69's threads...all roads lead to rome, indeed.

a reply to: Phage

LOL! ily.

I didn't know there was a way to block analytics tags, does that affect showing up on google searches or the data being collected?

Interesting.

And yes, perhaps.

originally posted by: IAMTAT

originally posted by: ProgramSiberia
If anyone is willing to group with me on possible member ownership, and buyout and maintain this site. I am willing to spend the time to learn to code and maintain the site. I used to create websites and code when I was younger, but would need to refresh. I am willing to go back to school and spend the time relearning new coding techniques for this site.

Let's make a plan and preserve what we have here. I spend hours reading through the archaeology forums every night before bed since I was 16. And there is just too much information and archived content to lose here.
You just can't remake all of that.

I want to preserve it!

There is substantial interest in member/ownership:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Right. But is SO et all even paying attention???? I seriously don't think they are. They have BARELY even paid attention to this site since the last "upgrade". At least in terms of forum participation.

a reply to: geezlouise

Analytic tags = cookies

originally posted by: JBurns
a reply to: ProgramSiberia

Perfect! A few of us are getting our act together on this, BTS had the idea for a GoFundMe to make up the difference.

Sending you a PM

Hope it works. Doubt it tho. They want someone to buy them out, not a cause worthy of making this place last longer.

I'm convinced the current owners have zero interest in maintaining ATS any longer. They want to get rid of this place, not prolong it with donations.

originally posted by: Phage
Do you think Google targeted ATS?

We fought with Google several times. First in 2013 when we were delisted from their ad platform (AdSense) for controversial content. It took six months and some internal connections to get our account back into good standing. There were clear indications it was one of those fabled "human interventions" on their end.

Then, through 2015 we'd receive daily notices that URLs (entire threads really) were being delisted from the ad platform. For a time, just about all of them were threads critical of Hillary Clinton.

I don't think "ATS is targeted," but I do think the majority of the topics discussed here are indeed targeted.

a reply to: Wookiep

Do you really blame them though?

Remember if S.O. wanted to do a redesign, or change the site he would make a thread and give us examples to see what we liked best? Yep. He sure did. (Of course he did what he wanted to anyway, but that's beside the point.)
I always thought ATS was the most beautiful site on the web. And my goodness.... was it fun!

But it's been on auto-pilot for quite a long time now. It's become a headache and tiresome for them, and I suspect both of them have moved on to greener and more lucrative pastures. I don't blame them for moving on, and I hope they are able to recoup some of their efforts by finding a buyer. I think they might.