Hello NY and everywhere else, welcome back to the Birdcage. While I may get to some hockey talk in a bit, this is more of a behind the scenes thing. I have made some decisions on Hockeybird and would like to fill you in as well as invite your feedback.

Over the years I have been approached many times about adding advertising to the Hockeybird site. In our earliest configurations, I had some ads but took no money for them. I was endorsing products or services and did so for free. We didn't exactly have a large readership back then so it really didn't matter.

Over the last three years we have gained quite the audience. As we have become more popular, more offers for advertising have come in. For one reason or another I chose not to accept any of these very kind offers. For one, I will not serve up pop-up ads. I also have no desire to allow someone to control or otherwise influence the content on the site. And finally, I have a tremendous amount of respect for you, the reader who visits here each day. With that in mind, I found it hard to select a form of advertising that wouldn't annoy or somehow insult you.

Is there a need for advertising here at Hockeybird ? Well, yes and no. We can continue as we are and get by. But if we are to keep up with the greater demands on the site we'll need to upgrade our server and at some point the hosting could become a major expense. Currently we are being hosted at no charge, but that could change. Up to this point, all of the expenses of maintaining the site come from our pocket. The writers here get no compansation at all (aside from the joy of writing for you) and the few dollars earned at the Cafe Express store have gone into the free stuff we have given away. It has cost me money to give away the hats, mugs and t-shirts we have tossed your way in the past.

This brings me to my point. I have decided to try a new Google service that provides ads that are non-intrusive, text only and never popped up. Any cash generated by this effort will go toward a server upgrade and possible hosting charges in the future. By my estimates, there is no way we make any serious cabbage this way but it would perhaps off-set a few of the upgrades I have in mind.

So I ask you this, are you OK with this ? Are the ads a problem for you ? Are there other ad sources I should look into ? Please feel free to lay it on the line. If enough of you don't like them, we'll drop 'em and find another way to generate some cash. If they are OK by you, let me know that too. And, why not click a few links.....maybe you need a pair of tix to a game or always wanted to buy some autographed stuff.

Send your mail here to let me know what you think.

As for the hockey.....televised Ranger hockey kicks off tomorrow and I have declared it a holy day at the house. That means beer, food and no stinking rootbeer.

----}- Bird

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