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We want to reduce the spam in the offers category - share your ideas!

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Comments

  • ChunkserveChunkserve Member, Patron Provider

    @ascicode said:

    @Chunkserve said:

    @ascicode said:
    I got some ideas, maybe discuss them.

    1st as written sites ago. Adding 2 threads, means, there could be a category for deals and a category for answers. The answers category can be hidden in user settings if you want to.

    2nd example: Use Google/Microsoft forms for freebies, giveaways, whatever comes.

    3rd. Post deals on LEB and you wont loose customers, by choosing other platforms.

    4th. Create a new site for interactions.

    "1st as written sites ago. Adding 2 threads, means, there could be a category for deals and a category for answers. The answers category can be hidden in user settings if you want to." - something like channels? For freebies/giveaways using forms sounds good - but I'm curious how it would affect conversions.

    Totally creating a new site for interactions (4th) will create even bigger mess IMO. What do you think about ability for user to just hide a thread?

    Maybe like channels, that separates the threads for its uses.
    Hiding a thread makes less sense, if you can find some informations between the mess.

    So basically, when You open an offer post, there would be buttons to switch that "channels"? Then ie. update on the channel for freebies/giveaways can be ignored when listing last threads on the main site?

    Thanked by 1Beniskickbutt
  • @Chunkserve said:

    @ascicode said:

    @Chunkserve said:

    @ascicode said:
    I got some ideas, maybe discuss them.

    1st as written sites ago. Adding 2 threads, means, there could be a category for deals and a category for answers. The answers category can be hidden in user settings if you want to.

    2nd example: Use Google/Microsoft forms for freebies, giveaways, whatever comes.

    3rd. Post deals on LEB and you wont loose customers, by choosing other platforms.

    4th. Create a new site for interactions.

    "1st as written sites ago. Adding 2 threads, means, there could be a category for deals and a category for answers. The answers category can be hidden in user settings if you want to." - something like channels? For freebies/giveaways using forms sounds good - but I'm curious how it would affect conversions.

    Totally creating a new site for interactions (4th) will create even bigger mess IMO. What do you think about ability for user to just hide a thread?

    Maybe like channels, that separates the threads for its uses.
    Hiding a thread makes less sense, if you can find some informations between the mess.

    So basically, when You open an offer post, there would be buttons to switch that "channels"? Then ie. update on the channel for freebies/giveaways can be ignored when listing last threads on the main site?

    Thats an option of separating, but dont think its an option for mr biloh. You can create channels or subforums. That either wont help directly, its just a splitting.

    Dont know, if helping to answer questions is still a common way to attract visitors to stay here for longer, or its unatractive.

    Another option that comes in mind right now. You stay in a thread, see OP and a hide button below the Opening. If you click that, it hides all posts after OP, so nothing goes left.

    Thanked by 1Beniskickbutt
  • If it's so difficult to come up with rules to prevent the spamming, for providers that asks users to post invoice numbers for double resources or anything of that sort, their offer thread should be set to sink after the 2nd or 3rd day. For providers that do not, their post should stay as it is.

  • @Chunkserve said:

    @cmeerw said:

    @wadhah said:
    Were subcomments mentioned as a feature/suggestion? They can subcomment to the original post and not ruin the feel of the entire post.

    Questions and actual discussion can happen in normal comments, all the spam can go as a subcomment on the first post. Subcomments don't bump threads.

    But providers don't really want to do that extra work of doubling bandwidth for each order - the only point of having these spam comments is to bump threads. So I am not seeing that as a viable option.

    To be honest, offering some freebies can be valuable in attracting more customers - which is crucial in the market. I can only speak for myself, but I see that a lot of people are seeing offer more attractive, when they are offered a freebie (ie. doubled bandwith, 1 free month or something like that :)).

    But aren't we talking about:

    • 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 30 GB SSD, 5 TB bandwidth + double bandwidth for free when ordering with code DOUBLE

    vs.

    • 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 30 GB SSD, 5 TB bandwidth + double bandwidth for free when commenting your order number in this thread

    The only reason why the second offer will attract more customers is because it is more visible because of the thread bumps.

  • @ascicode said: I got some ideas, maybe discuss them.

    1st as written sites ago. Adding 2 threads, means, there could be a category for deals and a category for answers. The answers category can be hidden in user settings if you want to.

    2nd example: Use Google/Microsoft forms for freebies, giveaways, whatever comes.

    3rd. Post deals on LEB and you wont loose customers, by choosing other platforms.

    4th. Create a new site for interactions.

    You should prohibit to write words in the threads! You get no spam and get the threads like a cemetery. Your new amazing world!

    Thanked by 1Beniskickbutt
  • @Arkas said:
    I don't even know the outcome, but I already said a lot.

    'trust me bro'

  • @Arkas said:

    The fact that I am here and this thread is open, and you haven't heard anything else from anyone else yet, say a LOT. Sometimes silence is very LOUD :wink:
    I don't even know the outcome, but I already said a lot. I never said 'trust me bro' and I am not @jbiloh.

    I like your posts bro. You're a faithful soldier, and the best type of Staff for a very serious forum, e.g. medical profession, etc. somewhere where no spam or offtopic crap can be tolerated. But, we're a bunch of weirdos, and at the end of the day... it's not like anyone is being hurt.

    It gets the page views up, more organic traffic... more love from Google... very thriving community. Google doesn't care if it's +1. It's the activity, and we have it. It'd be a shame to lose it. Much like it'd be a shame to lose you.

    Have a cute kitten, it's free:

    Thanked by 1admax
  • So I missed this thread the past few days, so late to the party. I’ve read the first half but not the second, but thought I’d add my own thoughts.

    1) When closing the threads impacted by this, it would have been good to have added a comment outlining why the thread was being closed. It could have been a copy and paste across each. I was tracking one of the impacted threads and when it was suddenly closed my immediate reaction was that a provider that appeared to be in good standing had done something wrong, that there was some sort of concern around their offering or something of that nature. I was confused, and at the same time they’re getting voted for in the provider of the year polls by people. I think a sentence or two would have gone a long way. The one I was looking at did have conversations around expansion plans etc that was also good commentary.

    2) Likewise maybe a week or two notice so those threads could wrap up. I get there was a push to cleanup, but it was sudden. What’s done is done but.

    3) I don’t like the ‘comment order number to get XXX’. As a buyer it’s always hard to know if or when that will even be picked up by a service. I’d rather those sorts of things were handled in tickets with the supplier, but I’m also fully aware that the provider benefited from the bump.

    4) I like the mega threads and actually think there was a high percentage of actual conversation in the Black Friday / Xmas / New Years threads this year. Sure, off topic, but I think it was there. I’d keep those as a concept and just limit the sorts of offers that can be posted so that any post has to follow certain parameters.

    5) As an observation, Other Green Forum went through this same policy change a year ago and I was all for it at the time. That said, I’m now not so sure. They’re a quieter forum anyway so maybe the size plays a part, but I honestly found the place pretty dead last Black Friday / Xmas / NY’s. Just didn’t seem to be drawing much attention from providers. At the time the policy went in a few noted they’d have less incentive to offer deals on the site, and I feel that’s sort of reflected in what I anecdotally observe over the year. I’m now sort of leaning towards the position that a degree of ‘low effort’ promotion that can benefit a provider is healthy for encouraging providers to participate in the community and also to keep people coming back. I'll still don’t like the ‘post #WEARETHEBEST’ level of content, but do think there’s probably some sort of middle ground where posting (bumping) can be leveraged but a bit more than copy and pasting a tag is used.

    6) As per the previous comment I was a bit weary from some providers here and their topics. The nature of RackNerds being one I found dull. This Black Friday I just ignored the thread and I was honestly none the wiser as to what was going on there and was basically not impacted. I also appreciate the fact that while they have their spammy threads of what I feel is low quality content, at least they as a provider only create two or three such topics a year rather than there being a lot running concurrently. It seemed pretty contained, manageable and easy to ignore.

    7) I hope we don’t see a shift to running promotions via external platforms, where additional signups etc may be needed, social media accounts tracked etc. Some thought and perhaps restriction around the use of such things would I think be a good thing. Maybe some tools to support certain promotions could be offered that are hosted and supported by the team here, in order to avoid sending people offshore to all manner of dubious services. Unsure what that looks like exactly, but from time to time you see Fat32 etc doing some nifty things with the backend to help support deal threads and the like.

    That’s what I can think of for now. I’ll have to read the later half of this topic. I suspect most of what I typed has already been noted and addressed.

  • The issue that can't be resolve easily in my eyes is, hypothetically speaking, if I am a patron provider where I'll be paying to post offers by obtaining the tag, then I'll try to maximise my opportunities.

    The providers who are here for years have already built a base for which they won't require the mass marketing selling strategies such as post your invoice #. But once these posts are considered as spams, for new providers, the customer acquisition cost will increase automatically (more for some than the others).

    For many providers, it may not make much sense to continue pay for the tag since, without mass advertisements, they may not survive here among the giant ones. Sooner or later, these factor will come in to play. If opted for host rep, they may post only in mega threads thus lowering the interactions the rest throughout the year.

    Therefore, post your invoice - will these posts be considered as spam?

    What I can see here, there are disagreement along with different level of agreement on above factor. It will play crucial role here in the longer run in my opinion.

  • @itachikonoha said: hypothetically speaking

    Your current account is an alt. So stop pretending and just play the game with open cards.

    Thanked by 1cybertech
  • @Levi said:

    @itachikonoha said: hypothetically speaking

    Your current account is an alt. So stop pretending and just play the game with open cards.

    I don't use VPN. My ip is my own residential IP and any moderator can go through my login activities.

    Next time, you make this same allegation, you better buckle up with evidence and put it in public for everyone to see.

  • @itachikonoha said:

    @Levi said:

    @itachikonoha said: hypothetically speaking

    Your current account is an alt. So stop pretending and just play the game with open cards.

    I don't use VPN. My ip is my own residential IP and any moderator can go through my login activities.

    Next time, you make this same allegation, you better buckle up with evidence and put it in public for everyone to see.

    nah. you're all just talk with no substance either.

  • @cybertech said:

    @itachikonoha said:

    @Levi said:

    @itachikonoha said: hypothetically speaking

    Your current account is an alt. So stop pretending and just play the game with open cards.

    I don't use VPN. My ip is my own residential IP and any moderator can go through my login activities.

    Next time, you make this same allegation, you better buckle up with evidence and put it in public for everyone to see.

    nah. you're all just talk with no substance either.

    I am not bringing any allegations in order to prove evidence either.

  • @itachikonoha said:

    @cybertech said:

    @itachikonoha said:

    @Levi said:

    @itachikonoha said: hypothetically speaking

    Your current account is an alt. So stop pretending and just play the game with open cards.

    I don't use VPN. My ip is my own residential IP and any moderator can go through my login activities.

    Next time, you make this same allegation, you better buckle up with evidence and put it in public for everyone to see.

    nah. you're all just talk with no substance either.

    I am not bringing any allegations in order to prove evidence either.

    blabber blabber blabber

  • @itachikonoha said:

    @Levi said:

    @itachikonoha said: hypothetically speaking

    Your current account is an alt. So stop pretending and just play the game with open cards.

    I don't use VPN. My ip is my own residential IP and any moderator can go through my login activities.

    Next time, you make this same allegation, you better buckle up with evidence and put it in public for everyone to see.

    GTFO you buckler :D . Here is same allegation: you are an alt. Which spammy provider this is - 0 f's given.

  • @Maelstrom36 said:
    If it's so difficult to come up with rules to prevent the spamming, for providers that asks users to post invoice numbers for double resources or anything of that sort, their offer thread should be set to sink after the 2nd or 3rd day. For providers that do not, their post should stay as it is.

    How can a thread sink, if users still posting after a year?
    If the deal/offer is long gone, thread should be closed, no mather of time.

  • @ascicode said:

    @Maelstrom36 said:
    If it's so difficult to come up with rules to prevent the spamming, for providers that asks users to post invoice numbers for double resources or anything of that sort, their offer thread should be set to sink after the 2nd or 3rd day. For providers that do not, their post should stay as it is.

    How can a thread sink, if users still posting after a year?

    It certainly can: https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/192140/humans-only-please/p27

  • plumbergplumberg Veteran, Megathread Squad

    [@Smigit said.

    5) As an observation, Other Green Forum

    The audience and motive is not 100% same

    For starters OGF has no PatronProvider fee
    The same providers here that have post x for double something change it to DM your order ID and that seems to be well accepted

    Also oGF actually hold everyone to the same standards.

    The concept is same. Less spam and still garner similar engagement.

    But yeah it is definitely quiter than here. But then it allows you to get a life also sometimes.

    Thanked by 1Smigit
  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker
    edited January 2025

    @itachikonoha said:
    I think the lack of communication from the mods and admins also make it more difficult.

    That may be the case but it might also indicate that there are internal discussion going on and something is "cooking".

    @ascicode said:
    [suggestions]

    >

    Sorry, no. Reason: Vanilla software can't be changed it seems, at least not quick and cheap.

    @Verasel said:
    @Arkas said:

    The fact that I am here and this thread is open, and you haven't heard anything else from anyone else yet, say a LOT. Sometimes silence is very LOUD :wink:
    I don't even know the outcome, but I already said a lot. I never said 'trust me bro' and I am not @jbiloh.

    I like your posts bro. You're a faithful soldier, and the best type of Staff for a very serious forum, e.g. medical profession, etc. somewhere where no spam or offtopic crap can be tolerated. But, we're a bunch of weirdos, and at the end of the day... it's not like anyone is being hurt.

    It gets the page views up, more organic traffic... more love from Google... very thriving community. Google doesn't care if it's +1. It's the activity, and we have it. It'd be a shame to lose it. Much like it'd be a shame to lose you.

    Sorry that's BS IMO. Reason: The prime raison d'etre of LET is deals and discussions about hosting related matters. If that increasingly gets suffocated by shitfuckery, nonsense ping pong, abusing humanoids as bots LET will go down the drain, maybe not die but become an insignificant cest pit.

    As for the providers they ALREADY HAVE a very major advantage here, because a very major part of thousands upon thousands of LETsters are interested in offers. Which means that "patron provider" tag fees, advertising costs, etc are very well spent here due to a high sales/revenue per $ spent ratio.

    But alas, "smart" salesmen always try to "optimize" plus many mainly care about "revenue NOW" and if LET slowly goes down, so what, they'll find another place ...

    The magic word is balance - and for quite some time now (years) balance has been lost by getting shifted ever more towards $$, clicks, numbers.

    Until the seesaw snaps.

    Thanked by 1Beniskickbutt
  • @jsg With the amount earned from provider tags, everythings possible.

    Thanked by 1Beniskickbutt
  • SaragoldfarbSaragoldfarb Member, Megathread Squad

    How much is a provider tag anyway? Asking for a rat friend :)

    Thanked by 1Beniskickbutt
  • @Saragoldfarb said:
    How much is a provider tag anyway? Asking for a rat friend :)

    Unixsocks hosting when?

  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker

    @ascicode said:
    @jsg With the amount earned from provider tags, everythings possible.

    Not according to "offial" and half-official statements so far. I've seen multiple statements to the effect "can't be done. Vanila doesn't have/allow/support it".

    Besides, looking at what is known about the LEB/LET hosting infrastructure I guess there's not that much left from the PP tags income ...

    But again, IMO a question of balance between spending what's available on more more views/clicks/ revenue -or- on making users happy or at least more content.

  • EthernetServersEthernetServers Member, Patron Provider
  • SaragoldfarbSaragoldfarb Member, Megathread Squad

    @barbaros said:

    @Saragoldfarb said:
    How much is a provider tag anyway? Asking for a rat friend :)

    Unixsocks hosting when?

    Seriously considering launching something next summer. I'm not that great with severs tbh, compared to some people here, but my partner is. We have (in-house) support on the payroll 24/7 already with spare time. Support usually is the biggest hurdle so that wouldn't cost an extra dime.

    Remote hands wouldn't be an issue if we opt for something in NL, but that's kinda boring to most. We do travel a lot to DE/CH so that might be feasable. Maybe something unique in NL might also work. Like something different from AMS or nearby.

    Maybe a couple of NL locations, might be quite the niche but something to explore. Would like it to remain small and manageable.

    One can always dream :)

  • SaragoldfarbSaragoldfarb Member, Megathread Squad

    Thank you. Quite cheap tbh.

    Thanked by 1Beniskickbutt
  • plumbergplumberg Veteran, Megathread Squad

    You can check OGF, it's free

  • SaragoldfarbSaragoldfarb Member, Megathread Squad

    @plumberg said:

    You can check OGF, it's free

    Im on OGF. Its boring there. No 69ing going on.

  • plumbergplumberg Veteran, Megathread Squad

    @Saragoldfarb said:

    @plumberg said:

    You can check OGF, it's free

    Im on OGF. Its boring there. No 69ing going on.

    You can always start the act. Everyone will join

  • SaragoldfarbSaragoldfarb Member, Megathread Squad

    @plumberg said:

    @Saragoldfarb said:

    @plumberg said:

    You can check OGF, it's free

    Im on OGF. Its boring there. No 69ing going on.

    You can always start the act. Everyone will join

    Afraid of the banhammer:)

    Thanked by 1Beniskickbutt
This discussion has been closed.