[aprssig] findU server move time yet again

[Steve Dimse]

On Aug 4, 2008, at 6:29 PM, Scott Miller wrote:

>> findU needs a real data center (security, generator power, multiple
>> bandwidth providers, etc.), home internet connections are not an
>> option. Here are the specs:
>
> The provider I use hosts their servers in the Savvis tier-1 data  
> center
> in Fort Worth... however, I don't think they offer hosting for
> customer-provided equipment.  I'm sure some other reseller there does.
> What I'm paying for a 10 Mb uplink (including server rental) and 1
> TB/month traffic seems pretty reasonable.  100 Mb uplinks get a little
> more expensive.

Yea, there are lots of places that do hosting like that. Interestingly  
enough, they seem to be a lot cheaper than colo sites. One probably  
reason is the horsepower to serve 1.8 million dynamic pages a day  
doesn't fit in a single rack. There are a few 2U servers that would do  
the job, but they cost more than the 3U Dell I use. So they could put  
three regular web servers in the space of findU's server.

I've never seen a managed hosting company that offers findU level  
hardware, but since the server costs $7k from Dell, it is not going to  
be a cheap deal. In any event, I paid for the hardware so I'm going to  
use it.
>
>
>> thousand more from the year before. My plan to make findU self-
>> supporting isn't going so well, but at least the hardware is in good
>> shape (knock on wood) so no new expenses there this year. If you want
>> to get an early jump on the fundraising use the donate button on most
>> findU pages.
>
> Well, I tried to help.  I was paying around $100/month for Google
> AdSense ads on FindU, but when I stopped, my sales actually went UP as
> the budget was redistributed elsewhere.  My ads were buried in in a  
> pile
> of other ads for shady 'track your cheating spouse' type devices,  
> 'make
> 3k-5k/week from home' scams, and so forth, and they usually showed up
> 'below the fold', where a visitor would have to scroll way down past  
> the
> map content to even see them.
>
>
> I'm not sure what you're bringing in from Google advertising, but I'm
> sure your advertisers would get more out of it if you restricted the
> type of products advertised and placed the ads more carefully.
> Personally, I will never again make the mistake of paying per  
> impression
> (and not per click-through) on a site that uses auto-refresh or
> encourages users to hit refresh.

I appreciate the attempt to help. I've never made $100 a month (the  
Google agreement forbids me from sharing any specific info (and I'm  
surprised your agreement doesn't have the same prohibition, but maybe  
because you are paying they are nicer to you)). Google does not share  
payout percentages, and there is some skuttlebut that they are highly  
variable. No wonder Google is getting rich.

The ads you see are strongly influenced by the searches you have done  
in the past. One thing I noticed is when I look at findU pages the  
computers at work get garbage ads, while my computer gets targeted ads  
that actually interest me (if I could click on them, but Google  
forbids that too!). I think the reason is that the work computers are  
set to refuse cookies and http requests come from a common Tallahassee  
proxy so there is no way for Google to identify individual computers/ 
users. Maybe you have cookies turned off, or flush them regularly so  
that Google resets your history. I do occasionally see a trash ad, but  
the vast majority are for vehicle tracking, database systems, and  
others that have some connection to what findU is and does.
>
>
> QRZ.com charges around $75/month for a banner ad rotation slot, and I
> get significantly more business from that than I ever did from the
> Google advertising on your site.

No doubt, and I suspect I'd make more money if I did direct ads  
instead of Google (Google doesn't allow both, see a theme here?). Even  
ignoring the extra work for me to go out and sell the ads, I rather  
turn off findU than have it look like QRZ. Garish colors, flashing  
lights, and screaming pitchmen do sell, but I'm not going to be one. I  
do have some pride left ;-)

Steve K4HG