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  1. Restoring a database problem, so some threads may be out of order. Fixing this now. If you spot one, PM @bookangel
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Outbrain?!

Discussion in 'Tea Room (Book Chat)' started by atry, 14 Jan 2016.

  1. atry

    atry Member

    Did I just see what I think I saw? Bookangel in an Outbrain slot?
     
  2. Bookangel

    Bookangel Administrator Staff Member

    Yes. We received an offer from them before christmas, confirmed that they really were interested in the reviews, so now the forums are up we're giving them a test run for five days, with an eye to extending once we've gauged traffic.

    It's the first 24 hours, but there have been significant teething problems, and unless these get fixed we probably won't continue long term.
     
  3. Tregaron

    Tregaron Member

    Can these problems be worked out?
     
  4. porridge

    porridge Member

    Wondered why I saw the site on sky! How much is this costing?
     
  5. Tregaron

    Tregaron Member

    You're being very Scottish there. :p
     
  6. Terry

    Terry Member

    I've seen outbrain ad boxes on a lot of sites, but they've never really registered with me.

    Gonna have to look out for it now. Hunt the Ad.
     
  7. Bookangel

    Bookangel Administrator Staff Member

    You can stop looking, we've just turned it off. porridge, you will be delighted, as the problem is partly that it wasn't cost effective and also that the admin system has issues.
     
  8. jessica

    jessica Active Member

    :((
     
  9. Kindler

    Kindler Active Member

    That's a shame.
     
  10. Bookangel

    Bookangel Administrator Staff Member

    Outbrain support wrote back after three days, by which point we had turned off our campaign due to the persistent admin problem. The problem is still visible on the admin dashboard at the current time.

    They have helpfully pointed out that we turned our campaign off, and they can turn it back on.

    By contrast when we had a similar issue, Project Wonderful dropped us an answer by email in four hours with a solution.
     
  11. Tregaron

    Tregaron Member

    While it is a shame, if something doesn't work, it doesn't work. How much effort is it really worth spending on it?
     
  12. Bookangel

    Bookangel Administrator Staff Member

    Well, we have heard back from them. They've fixed it, and the content that had been removed is now live, so we're trying it for three more days. We've added more test content to see what it accepts, and how long it takes to approve it.
     
  13. Kindler

    Kindler Active Member

    It'll be fun to see if it works out for the site. Any ideas where to look for it?
     
  14. porridge

    porridge Member

    Saw some fluffy romance thing on sky. Didn't click it, didn't want to cost you money.
     
  15. jessica

    jessica Active Member

    MEEP! :D */sings/* Saw you on sky, Saw you on Sky, Saw you on sky, sky, sky,sky sky...
     
  16. Kindler

    Kindler Active Member

    Well I keep getting other ads about strange non-celebs. Meh, maybe one day.
     
  17. Bookangel

    Bookangel Administrator Staff Member

    Well, after internet back and forth, it seems the teething problems are fixed. We've had significant interest in the reviews over the last four days of the test, and a lot of clicks from very high profile websites. We could have world-wide access but we've currently showing ads only in the UK to focus on our main audience.

    Ideally we would actually like to keep this going. In practice, the issue long-term will be cost.

    We're on a very small deal with Outbrain, and have a cap for costs, but it does still cost, and obviously the more you spend, the more promotion you get (higher CPC, so more exposure etc.).

    We did wonder about allowing authors to buy through the agreement for their own content once we approve it (their rules are very strict about no affiliate links for example) or pay a contribution towards promoting their review on bookangel, but money & reviews are a bad mix. On the other hand it would be a shame to lose a chance to put indie books in front of a mass audience & our CPC is lower than most.

    The club's going round in circles on this, so if anyone has any ideas, please throw them in the ring.
     
  18. RA Books

    RA Books Our lovely IT Gurus

    Other than what we've already knocked around, no new ideas here. We've had a word with a few authors who are enthusiastic, but working out how to pay for it without risking review bias? Sorry. I've come up blank.
     
  19. Kindler

    Kindler Active Member

    It's gotta cost a fair amount for it, and most authors aren't gonna pay for something unless it gets them sales.

    How much would authors pay to see a good review broadcast out. Isn't that what their own marketing is supposed to do?
     
  20. RA Books

    RA Books Our lovely IT Gurus

    Bookangel check your PM. If you tell me who you're working with upfront it makes things easier. I was beginning to think it was a scam, not a backfill network.

    Kindler, indie authors don't have a lot of funds, and nor do small press publishers. Most indie authors are their own marketing department while trying to write, so there's the issue of time. While we'd love to go for this, the problem is whether it is worth using our limited budget to promote what is after all another person's site instead of say, plastering the book over facebook or goodreads with an affiliate link.
     

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