Member Avatar for ectomorph

I've just written a complete discussion forum hosting service and i have google ads on there but would like to know other sources of advertising revenue I could place on the forums that people create. Any ideas ?

Thanks.
Ecto.

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built a hosted forum platform and the thread contains a few early suggestions from , and others about monetizing those sites. The notes below collect practical options that weren’t fully explored in the replies, a small implementation example (promoted threads), and the compliance risks to watch for when turning user-created pages into ad inventory.

Consider monetization channels that do not rely only on selling static link slots or generic banners: affiliate widgets targeted to specific forum categories, time‑limited “promoted thread” slots sold in a simple marketplace, recurring fees for power/privileged accounts (private boards, custom CSS, API access), sponsored newsletters or digest slots, micro‑donations (tips), and a white‑label/enterprise tier with SLA and moderation included. Tie inventory to measurable KPIs (impressions, clicks, conversions) so buyers can judge value and you can automate renewals/refunds.

Quick, practical example — a minimal promoted‑thread model (DB + display logic):

CREATE TABLE promotions (
  id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  thread_id INT NOT NULL,
  buyer_id INT,
  tier TINYINT DEFAULT 1,
  start DATETIME,
  end DATETIME,
  impressions_limit INT NULL,
  clicks INT DEFAULT 0,
  status ENUM('active','expired') DEFAULT 'active'
);

-- display query prefers active promotions first
SELECT t.* FROM threads t
LEFT JOIN promotions p ON p.thread_id=t.id AND p.status='active' AND NOW() BETWEEN p.start AND p.end
ORDER BY COALESCE(p.tier,0) DESC, t.last_post DESC;

Automate a nightly job to expire/promote and reconcile impressions/clicks against the buyer’s contract.

Important cautions and legal notes: selling links that pass ranking value is risky — Google treats commercial/unqualified link schemes as spam and expects qualification (nofollow/sponsored) or other controls. (developers.google.com) Sponsored or paid placements must be disclosed clearly under U.S. rules for endorsements and ads. (ftc.gov) If you serve network ads on pages with user content you remain responsible for that content; networks can take action if policy is violated, and platform products exist to provide proper sub‑accounting. () Finally, advertisers are sensitive to brand safety and publishers often use third‑party verification to prove inventory quality. (integralads.com)

Where possible, instrument everything (impressions, CTR, conversions), require machine‑readable qualifiers on paid links, and bake privacy/consent (cookie opt‑in, GDPR/EPD rules) into onboarding for buyers and publishers. (gdpr.eu)

Recommended Answers

All 12 Replies

Member Avatar for Dani

You would probably do good selling text links because people like to pay for a mass amount of sitewide links to help their search engine rankings.

You could also perhaps offer forum hosting for $5 / month for an ad-free version or to allow the forum owner to use their own AdSense client ID instead of yours.

Member Avatar for ectomorph

Hey thanks Dani, good suggestions.

Ecto.

Member Avatar for ectomorph

oh, forgot - tell me more about these 'text site links' you speak of.

Thanks.
Ecto.

Member Avatar for aznx

LOL paying? i cant afford.. LOL, i dunt like getting money or paying for anything thats online.. LOL... btw, if ur talking about google adsense, my site had that thing, and every post that user makes, they get impressions for their account of google adsense, do u think i should make em pay or just let it like this?

Member Avatar for Dani

Aznx, I can't seem to access your site - it just times out. And I'm confused what your question is.

Member Avatar for aznx

Aznx, I can't seem to access your site - it just times out. And I'm confused what your question is.

uh to be exact visit this one:

like u see the one below the first post, there was an google adsense ad, should i make em pay, or just leave it as it is?

Member Avatar for slyeagle

I've just written a complete discussion forum hosting service and i have google ads on there but would like to know other sources of advertising revenue I could place on the forums that people create. Any ideas ?

Thanks.
Ecto.

Hi - you can list any empty advertising spaces you have on your site on << url snipped >> this site allows your advertising space to be sold to the highest bidder, you can sell banner ad's text links, you can even sell magazine ad space too if you have a publication.

Anyway I hope this helps generate some extra revenue for you
Best of luck

Member Avatar for ITDude

Hello,

finding ads for forums is a little tough, alot of advertisers do not accept forums for advertising, and the ones that do usually do not offer good payout.

I also have a forum hosted by a company called ForumDrop, but one of the things they do is specialize in Forum Advertising.

Good luck with your search.

Member Avatar for Dani

Let's seeee .... ways to generate revenue from forums ...

  • banner advertising
  • text links
  • forum sponsorships
  • IntelliTXT / Kontera
  • Google AdSense
Member Avatar for bbnet

good suggestion, selling text links is a good way.

Edited by Dani because: Plug snipped
Member Avatar for pcbtalk

Online Classified ,

Member Avatar for canhfbf

good luck

Edited by Dani because: Plug snipped
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