Transparency On The Future of ATS

There's a lot of "blame politics" going on in this and other threads that lament the "decline" of ATS.

As someone who has seen "it all," I can say with absolute certainty that 9/11 conspiracy theories, UFOology, and Secret Societies have been responsible for more aggressively impudent behavior than politics.

During a span of roughly 2006 - 2009, we were overrun with "9/11 Truth" activists who took issue with our general collective inability to believe their fictions. Scores of bannings resulted in aggressive retaliation in the form of hacking attempts and repeated denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. There were (unsuccessful) attempts to DOX owners. Downright mean-spirited fictional stories were created about me and Springer on another popular 9/11 conspiracy website. They aggressively promoted it and sent people here to spread the lies.

Competing UFO factions (Aviary -v- can't remember) battled it out here. Resulting in bannings and more attempts to discredit ATS and its owners.

But among those topics mentioned above, none compared to the site-wide chaos from Sandy Hook discussions. There were several orchestrated attacks on ATS from bad actors promoting extreme fictions. Two (to my memory) took us down for days and required an expensive response. We even had a few moderators resign because of the actions of members.


So compared to the more popular conspiracy topics, political discussions are tame.


That being said, every so-called conspiracy has its roots in the political machinations of governments. Ignoring politics and the influence of political clandestine tactics ignores the root source of what we call conspiracy theories.

Politics is important.

originally posted by: Ahabstar
a reply to: Ksihkehe

I’ll admit that I don’t understand how it would work. How does ATS create value with its own cryptocurrency in competition to all other cryptocurrency? Does it conform to a particular one which would make ATS just another client of a modern take on a Token Ring Network of aligned sites. Meaning that strong performers carrying the weight of poor performers (like when a management group does a concert of signed acts, the headliners carry the show and get little of the gate because the small acts need more promo work to get stronger...old story).

And then the final part is. The longer a person stays on the site the greater the odds of finding a crypto coin. They can cash it in but how does that profit the site in the first place? That increased time on site is a metric for advertising rates.

The whole thing just sounds like a house of cards foundation to a pyramid scheme to me. I’m sure it works for somebody in conjunction of other revenue generations. But I’d look harder at the other to see what it is. But that is me.

The blockchain I'm talking about isn't created by the sites that are on the network. The user gets ad sharing from the browser in the form of crypto. They choose what sites receive that total they amass or they can, though a little complicated, cash it out. The only thing the site has to do is be enabled on the existing network. It's a digital wallet transfer from user to site which is completely anonymous on the user side. No worries about personal information. It's a use case where crypto isn't the end goal for recipients, they're expected to cash out. The crypto currency is just the easier way to move that value. There are also tokens being used for contracts, logistics tracking, loans, cloud storage, and so many more projects. There's even staking of crypto that gives annual yields that blow a savings account out of the water.

It would need to be more carefully examined, but the hard building has already been done.

originally posted by: SkepticOverlord
It's time to face the harsh reality. This website is quickly approaching a difficult situation. Here are the facts:

For independent sites like ATS, advertising revenue has been dropping across the entire Internet for the past five years. Combined with the recent significant drop in advertising due to the economic fallout of the pandemic, and it's horrible.

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.

The blocking of the analytics tags artificially deflates our actual traffic and visitor statistics. Making it impossible to attract a higher-quality ad supplier. Compound that with the reality that the current political climate has made many of our freely-expressed topics "toxic," and it's double horrible. (For example, Google AdSense is not an option for us.)

There are only two options:
1) Find a suitable buyer with the resources to invest in growth.
2) Slowly fade away until revenue can't support hosting.

We don't say this lightly — especially me, who has devoted 12+ years to this endeavor.

I can imagine the long list of ideas our members will suggest. I appreciate your passion and enthusiasm. It's why I did this. However, they would all require time and resources that we don't have.

The best hope for this project's longevity in free expression is for someone with resources to pick up the torch and carry it where we currently cannot. A new torchbearer would be critically important in these times where "free expression" is under attack.


Some contextual history:

We've entertained acquisition deals from a few suitable entities over the past several months. The most recent company was a near-perfect fit. But they are also suddenly facing an uncertain financial future due to the gutting of the online advertising markets.

We cannot find a business broker specializing in websites that are willing to represent a 100% ad revenue model to their buyers (for now).

Marketplaces and auctions such as Flippa are problematic. First, for success, an upfront investment that we don't have is required. Second, confirming the intent and principles of a potential buyer is near-impossible.


What Comes Next

Soon, we will make some type of "this website for sale" indication. From there, we'll see what interest we get. Please trust me in that we will have high standards for any new owner.

The website will continue to run. In the event we begin seriously fading away, there will be a fair warning.

With a heavy heart, thank you for your participation. It's my sincere hope that a new "torchbearer" will come forward, and you all will continue your efforts unabated.

I think this site would be more popular if you could use cuss words. That's why the other site is just a little bit better. Also, it seems that people from here go there first and copy what's "hot" and paste it here.

I know the term "family friendly". But you know what? I dont get the feeling that this site has a bunch of children on it. Also, if cuss words offend you, it's time to grow up. We discuss real world problems here.

Getting banned for petty reasons is another thing that has brought this site down. How are we supposed to have a real discussion or debate if we have walk on eggshells?

This is not how the real world works.

All this does is make people not want to participate.

This is why you lose.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

Competing UFO factions (Aviary -v- can't remember) battled it out here. Resulting in bannings and more attempts to discredit ATS and its owners.

I would love to hear more about this!

a reply to: galaga

All those complaints you listed are why most other sites are s***.

I tried out some other sites that past couple of weeks and the typical reply from people who you are disagreeing with is something along the lines of, 'Paid shill s***head!'.

Go to 4chan if you want to curse.

a reply to: galaga

I cuss like a sailor and I don't agree with your point. I like the cleanliness of this place. It's well organized. It looks great. I'll cuss like I smoke... Outside.

It's a relief not seeing F this F that.... We get around it like I just did, at times but it's not very often.



Breath in Deep....


Smell that?

No?



That's why.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

This isnt an entirely accurate representation. The ads go where the traffic goes, but thats only a side of the equation.

If site A has 1 million visitors per month in organic traffic, but the average visitor stays on site for 5 seconds and site B has only 500k visitors per month in ogranic traffic, but the average visitor stays on site for 5 minutes, then site B is much more attractive to an ad organization due to the increased time on site.

If a site is generating content that few people want to read, then that's gonna result in a very high bounce rate.
Not good when your primary means of income is via ads.

If ATS had quality content (measured by organic traffic engagement, time on site, returns etc...) then the site would be profitable.


See Reddit for an example of a site thats 100% user generated content while also being profitable. Theres something for EVERYONE on reddit and their statistics speak to the quality of the content you find there.

originally posted by: AScrubWhoDied
If ATS had quality content (measured by organic traffic engagement, time on site, returns etc...) then the site would be profitable.

Not the full equation.

According to Google Analytics, for the past 365 days, our bounce-rate is at around 30% and the average user session is just above 6 minutes.

A 1 million visitors a month website is still considered "long tail." And with the commoditization of ad impressions through supply-side and demand-side impression auctions, the typical payout is $0.08 for every 1,000 impressions. So if that 1-million visitor long-tail site served up 15 impressions for each of those visits, the ad revenue would be - at best - $18,000. Not much to grow on.


Reddit is still not "profitable." Which is why they needed another round of investment, a large part of which was from China-based private equity companies. They're still burning through investment cash.

a reply to: galaga

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

30% bounce rate is actually pretty good. Insanely good actually.

I see that reddit is worth 3 billion now, and expected to quadruple their 2017's alleged 100 million in profit.

Insanse with only 300ish employees.

a reply to: seagull

I appreciate the fact that swearing is not allowed on ATS and is one reason I like coming, and this is coming from a guy who curses regularly on Twitter and in real life among friends.

originally posted by: AScrubWhoDied
I see that reddit is worth 3 billion now,

That's a paper valuation based on money-in. It's not based on earnings as they're a private company

and expected to quadruple their 2017's alleged 100 million in profit.

That's not profit, it's projected revenue. Their EBITDA is still deep in the red.

originally posted by: galaga
I think this site would be more popular if you could use cuss words.

That's it!
The solution has been staring us in the face the entire time!

Cussing. Brilliant!

ATS will make tons of profits, since no other website has ever thought of this!

Harte

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

They are low grade discussions. Poor quality. While they might be the root source of some conspiracy theories I defy anyone to show me a decent political discussion on here from the past four years, and possibly longer. Something with reasoned argument, analysis and some form of balance.

Comparing a current thread - like the one Mirageman has authored in the UFO forum about TTSA and the Nimitz encounters to anything in the mud pit is like comparing a picasso to a toddlers scribble with a crayon.

a reply to: neformore

Too bad we can't give starts here. You'd have a pile of them.

In past times I use to get a good conversation with a conservative viewpoint. Not anymore.

I think that will change if ATS can just hold on.

Jesus I remember the Sandy Hook stuff that was just down right horrible to witness, the politics is tame by comparison I agree.

I also remember coming across someone online I believe trying to Dox yourself Bill, posted your home address if memory serves.

9/11 used to by me forum of choice and yeah, it got pretty wild at times.

a reply to: neformore

Challenge accepted and to make it harder just my own threads...

Bills proposing non cow milk cannot be called milk Civil political discussion, not a drop of left-right milking.

Covid closures in the Mudpit and a little bit of a rant on the politics of pointless closures and as a bonus touches on George Floyd “protesters” vandalism In Columbus, Ohio. No mention of parties as all are guilty.

Lost Democrat seat in special election Mudpit, but not a deplorable measuring contest despite parties mentioned.

Door to door census taking while on lockdown Mudpit because cross contamination during a full lockdown quarantine is asinine to the Nth degree. No Party parties, just the good old government is stupid. Which was the point I was aiming towards.

Want me to expand beyond threads I started?

originally posted by: Harte

originally posted by: galaga
I think this site would be more popular if you could use cuss words.

That's it!
The solution has been staring us in the face the entire time!

Cussing. Brilliant!

ATS will make tons of profits, since no other website has ever thought of this!

Harte

To stir things up cursing should be allowed but only in foreign languages with the language to change each day. Today is Serbian tomorrow is Lhasa style Tibetan and the day after Yucatec Mayan

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

Yeah I was still lurking during the times of the 9/11 and Sandy Hook discussions. I think what the main issue from my recollection was that people weren't very considerate about the deaths and weren't pretty hostile to anyone who called them out on it.

I remember thinking there were some things worth digging through like multiple shooters, crisis actors, and such, but the whole all the deaths were fake thing was what really did the Sandy Hook conversations in.

After that it felt that pretty much any discussion on Sandy Hook was instantly removed.

Same thing for 9/11 people weren't very considerate of the people who died and the families affected.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Some can even be found in the dreaded Mud Pit...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...