"When we started back in 2015, it [Write.as] was a completely free platform that didn’t even let you sign up — you could publish individual, anonymous posts and share the link.
You can still use Write.as like that to this day. But since then, we’ve also added full accounts and paid plans, grown almost entirely via word-of-mouth, and earlier this year, became profitable as a company, ensuring we can continue building this for decades to come."
Some intriguing advice here from #JeffAtwood, back in 2007, on doing web ads that don't suck for the user, eg:
"3. Reward frequent readers by keeping your new content free of ads. Use time-delayed ads that only display on articles after they've aged for a week.
4. Always offer full content in your RSS feed [and maybe ActivityPub feed?]. Don't force people to click through to your site and see your advertisements."
https://blog.codinghorror.com/how-to-advertise-on-your-blog-without-completely-selling-out/
I was saddened to read this blurb from danah boyd's outstanding "MyFriends, MySpace" presentation at Harvard: My activist self wanted to believe that the users are aware of [ads], but sadly, that's not the case. To them, seeing ads means that the service is
iBallesty
Ahti Taivastähti
Strypey