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Make sure your servers are up to the task of handling all the massive traffic we’ll send your way! Okay, so maybe we won’t actually crash your servers, but we do believe that VI-Control offers the best ad value compared to any other forum or commercial site. For starters, for as low only $69/month, your Top / Bottom Banner ad will get over 30,000 impressions (views) per month. Other forums charge 3 to 8 times as much. Second, with all due respect to other websites or forums, the VI-Control audience is a high end group. These are people who take their careers seriously, and it’s not uncommon for members to come here *looking* for things to buy. If you have a better mousetrap (or better yet, a better string library), they want to hear about it. Third, and possibly most importantly, advertising on VI-Control allows you to also post announcements in the Commercial Announcements sub-forum. Non-advertisers can also post, but their posts go into the “Tier 2” sub-forum, which is only accessible to signed-in members. (Tier 2 is not seen by non-members, which is significant since 60% of forum visitors are NOT logged in members. Tier 2 also does not Google searches.) Note that we do have a “No-Ads” option for only $39/month for people who want to post in the main Commercial Announcements section, but don’t want to run an add. As you can see from the pictures (below – click to enlarge), we have several options for ad placements. Note that all prices are “à la carte.” We no longer have bundle options, but here’s the good news: when you add up the “à la carte” prices with our lower sidebar and Portal prices, they’re actually cheaper than the bundles were! ADS POSITIONS ON HOMEPAGE & DISCUSSION PAGE (click to enlarge) 
Top/Bottom Banners Forum Sidebar Ads Original Sidebar Ads Feature Ad *(Reservation-based only. Email to inquire about availability) Portal Ad (Not shown, but go to homepage) Non-Advertising Option NEW! FORUM TAKEOVER! Sounds great, Mike! So what do I do? |
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TOP/BOTTOM BANNER ADS
TOP BANNER – 1160 x 105px (728x90px also okay) — 25,000+ impressions/month
– This is the classic ad that most companies get. It’s a banner at the top of every forum page. You can, of course, swap graphics and links as you introduce new products or have sales during the course of your contract.
BOTTOM BANNER – 855 x 100px (728x90px also okay, or we can scale your 1160×105 Top Banner ad to fit here)
– 30,000+ impressions/month – More views since fewer people take this slot)
TOP & BOTTOM BANNERS – You knew that was coming, right? Double your exposure for only $40/month more.
– 55,000+ impressions/month)
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$149 for one month:
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$109 for one month:
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$199 for one month:
NEW FORUM SIDEBAR ADS
(Note – Must be purchased in conjunction with a Top/Bottom Forum Banner Ad – So you’ll make two purchases: First a Top/Bottom banner ad, then this Forum Sidebar ad)
This is a 160 x 600 ad that appears on the right side of every forum thread, as well as a few other pages. (Resources pages, etc.)
Note that this ad “sticks” to the sidebar, even when the reader scrolls down the page, the ad follows.
This is our most visible and effective ad!
$89/month (auto-renew subscription)
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$149 for one month:
ORIGINAL SIDEBAR ADS
(Different from new Forum Sidebar ads)
(Note – Must be purchased in conjunction with a Top/Bottom banner ad – So you’ll make two purchases: First a Top/Bottom banner ad, then your Sidebar ad.)
Original Sidebar Ads – 300×250 pixels
Full disclosure – Note that on VI-Control, most forum visits are to actual forum posts. These ads do not appear there. (Those would be the aptly named “Forum Sidebar” ads.)
These “Original” sidebar ads appear on all other forum pages: Forum Listings page, Watched Forums, Message Pages, etc. These pages don’t get visited as often as the forum posts, but because there are 4 ads per page, visibility is still high, and these ads are a good value.
$59/month (auto-renew subscription)
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$89 for one month:
PORTAL ADS
(Must be purchased in conjunction with a Top/Bottom Forum Banner Ad – So you’ll make two purchases: First a Top/Bottom banner ad, then this Portal ad)
This is a 300 x 250px ad that appears on the Portal home page.
Note that the Portal Page gets fewer views (around 3,000/day) than the main forum pages, and your ad shares the page with 25 other companies (your ad appears on every page load, as opposed to a rotation), but for some reason, ads there generate a lot of clicks. My theory is that people who visit the Portal pages tend to be people who stay longer, plus they’re often newer to the game, so they’re not already aware of most companies.
$39/month (auto-renew subscription)
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$59 for one month:
COMPLETE BUNDLE OPTIONS - SAVE BIG!
(Note that these bundles do not include the Feature Ad).
The Full Enchilada, including the new Forum Sidebar ad - This includes both top and bottom banners, the portal ad, the original sidebar ads (both top and bottom) and the new forum forum sidebar ad!
All except the new Forum Sidebar ad - This includes both top and bottom banners, the portal ad, and the original sidebar ads (both top and bottom.)
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$379 for one month:
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$295 for one month:
“FEATURE” AD (FORUM HEADER) *
(250,000+ Impressions/week)
For a couple weeks in September, we ran an “Hurricane Harvey” ad to support the Houston Food Bank (which my brother runs) in the upper right corner. This ad appears on every page load and gets seen around 40,000 times per day.
We’ve decided to offer this ad to advertisers for one week periods, on an experimental basis for now. The Hurricane Harvey ad got a TON of clicks, although obviously comparing a charity to companies like ours is ridiculous, so I’m not sure what the results of these ads will be. I’m also thinking it might be best aesthetically if most weeks don’t have an ad there at all, so pricing may go up or down as we see how this goes.
(Feature ad does not need to be purchased in conjunction with another banner package).
*Reservation-based only. Email to inquire about availability.
COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS "NO ADS" OPTION
Option for Non-Advertisers
If you prefer not to purchase advertising, yet still want to use the Commercial Announcement forum section regularly, then this option is for you. Not only does it give you full Commercial Announcement posting privileges at a lower cost, but you're also helping to support the forum, which we really do appreciate. Only $39/month, or if you're a small company (you gross less than $50k/year), then it is $19/month. Note - This is only for people who don't buy ads. If you are a current advertiser, you already have full Commercial Announcements posting privileges, so you don't need to also purchase this package.
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$59 for one month:
Note: Auto-renew option intended for periods of at least 3 months.
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No commitment option:
$29 for one month:
FORUM TAKEOVER OPTION (1 WEEK)
(Note: does not include Feature Ad)
If you have a big release or sale, you may want you ads to appear more than once every 40 views in rotation with all the other advertisers. With this option, your can make your ad appear 50% of the time! (Or 25% or 10%.) We can do this for either:
All Forum Ads (Except Feature) - Your ad will appear 50% of the time in the Top and Bottom Banners, the Forum Sidebar ad (our most effective position), the Portal Ad, and the original Top and Bottom Sidebar ads. In all those positions, half the impressions are yours.
Top Banner - Your ad appears 50%, 25% or 10% of the time in the Top Banner position. Not as big a splash as the full takeover, but still very effective.
All Except Top Banner - This includes the Bottom Banner, both original Sidebar ads, the Portal ad, and the 160x600 Forum Sidebar ad (our most effective ad.)
$1,750 ► 
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50% Takeover – Top Banner $950 ►
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50% Takeover – Other Slots $950 ►
$875 ►
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25% Takeover – Top Banner $475 ►
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25% Takeover – Other Slots $475 ►
$375 ►
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10% Takeover – Top Banner $215 ►
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10% Takeover – Other Slots $215 ►
THE FINE PRINT
1- Advertisers will provide their own banners. Acceptable formats are JPG, PNG, or (gently) animated GIF only. Dimensions are indicated in the ads descriptions above. Please try to keep sizes below 100KB, but at most 500KB.
2- To retain a certain visual ambiance on the forum, and to keep from annoying the membership, we ask that "animated" banners be reasonably "calm" and not distracting, so please avoid jarring stroboscopic banners, or frame animations that are distractingly fast.
3. "Subscriptions" are expected to run for at least three months. If your intention is to advertise for only a month or two, then please purchase the one month option rather than the subscription.
4. Complete rules about Commercial Announcement postings are on the forum. It's mostly an honor system, though, and I'm not going to play police.
5- For more info, feel free to contact us at vicontrolforum at gmail dot com.
6- Banner design services: If you need help to create your banner, you can contact André through the forum PM system (member name = creativeforge). For a reasonable fee, he can create a banner per your specifications. This would constitute a work-for-hire independent from the forum. Static banners and animated banners have different costs. Click here for more info.