I knew this was going to happen

[Gonzo]

I knew this was going to happen. Datablocks.net is putting ads on peoples sites. I noticed this a few mins ago when I went to my site.

[Gayowulf]

I dont mean to sound rude, but ---- happens. they have to make money too. its probably better than them going offline forever. I dont truse ad-free hosts for exactly that reason.

[Canuckkev]

Well, at least they didn't promise they would absolutely never, ever put ads on you page(you know who I'm talking about...), then put an annoying pop up on all members pages for a "temporary time", then scrap the "temporary time" message, and hope no one remembers they used to be ad free, and promised they were ad free forever....

Anyways, good for datablocks! At least they haven't gone under, and maybe the speed will get better.

[Gonzo]

I did not mean to sound like a ----- with that post, I do know that datablocks does need to make money some how. I do know that all FWP providers do need to make money some how. I have been here for a long time and have seen many hosts go under for this reason of not having ads. I do not mind them having ads too. but they do spam your mail box too to make money also.

[Coolin]

Hmm... I see a little message at the bottom of Datablocks site on how it belongs to Leadstreams. I've heard of Leadstreams before, it's a stupid spammer company that sends spam typed in wonderful CAPITALS.

Also, I found this beautiful feature advertised on Datablocks' site about its free hosting: Banner Free!
Geez, at least someone could take that off and replace that with "Popup ads are placed on your page."

I don't really mind that Datablocks has ads. Unfortunately, they gave no warning about this. This is a bad business practice that will make them lose many customers. They could also at least offer another form of advertising instead of that ugly popup.

[robin]

Datablocks never gives a warning about anything. Suddenly my mail doesn't work... and I hear from a friend of a friend of the admin or something that they stopped offering it. Well, great, thanks for telling me.

[Webdude]

Not to be crude or anything, but isnt datablocks the one claiming to make all this money for each signup? what happened?

[Coolin]

They were "bought out" by this spamming company called "Leadstreams Marketing."

[Datablocks]

Hey all

The banners were Lead Streams' idea.. its their company now, and they have every right to do what they please.. hehe

I sold datablocks to them because I have no time to run it because I have a ton of other projects like Adguys going on..

OUTGOING mail is shut off because of spammers, they abuse the open policy and send out 1000's of emails, then I get spam warnings..

All incomming pop3 mail still and will continue to work..

Webdude: Datablocks does make money from each signup, enough to keep it running...

If I had more time i'd continue to run datablocks, but I dont, so its best over all that I sell it.. :)

John
Adguys.net

[Mandrake]

Is the sale gonna go through this time?

[Coolin]

What about Tom? Wasn't he supposed to share servers with you? What will he do now? Will Leadstreams be willing to share a server with Tom?

[Datablocks]

Hey Hey Hey,

First of all, Let me tell you the Lead Streams Marketing, Inc. is not a SPAMMING company, nor have we ever spammed. We are 100% SPAM FREE. However, if you would like to continue with what we deem offensive, please conduct your proper investigations. We do take our image and representations personally as we are proud of the business we have created.

Lead Streams Marketing, Inc. (LSM) is proud to add Datablocks.Net to its arsonal of Internet Products. We are changing some things, but only to make them Better for our users all together. Free Hosting alone is not going to last, and will not last. Advertising will support it, though with the new changes taking place on the 31st, all of our Users will have the benefits of 100.5 MEGS of PURE INTERNET SPEED as we migrate (expedited) all the Datablocks.Net servers into the LSM Switchroom.

Even our FREE HOSTING accounts will have the fastest net access offered!

LSM is not a losing company. We are 90% TECH-GEEKS, and 10% ADMIN! We run in the positive, and cover many countries with our services. We are also bringing out some amazing Internet tools and services that will keep Datablocks.Net offering the latest in NET GADGETS.

We want to provide a hosting solution that is going to always be there. We totally care about LONG TERM and are here to ensure your site a secure home for as long as you and your websites purpose need!

You will LOVE the NEW LSM/DATABLOCKS.NET. How's that for caps!!!

Thanks for your time!

-Rory
LSM

[Datablocks]

The deal is still on with Tom, I still have part ownership in datablocks..

The move to lead streams will benifit Tom as well and I hope him the best!

Datablocks is moving to some better bandwidth too..

Best of Luck

John

[MrsGiggles]

Bold promises, Datablocks and Co, very bold promises. I wish you all good luck, especially in these recent 'Net recession.

But may I be so bold as to point out the following?

- 90% tech-geeks and 10% admin. I hope the 10% admin have some business-savvy guys in there. You have no idea how lousy many tech-geeks are when it comes to understanding the business profit-loss model.

- Claiming to have the latest technology, etc means nothing if you can't promise reliability, stability, and speed. Work on them before making claims that may haunt you in the future.

And at the risk of sound petty, that winking icon doesn't exactly install confidence in your claims. Are you saying you are sharing some secret joke with other FWP owners? "Let's see if those suckers will buy this time around... ;););)?"

I'm evil. I'll shut up now.

[Edited by MrsGiggles on 03-02-2001 at 06:56 AM]

[Datablocks]

I more than appreciate the reality balloon presented. LSM has 2 dedicated staff to admin (and yes they are busy), and 18 to technical and sales. (We require all sales to understand the necessities, and most have long term computer telephony experience). R&D is 40% of total consumed time. We have some demanding (we love them totally) client bases, and have built numerous proprietary systems to accomodate their needs.

Bold... yes. LSM is very bold. We can be.

Time will tell. As for the Net recession... not even a part of our day here at LSM. We have uniquely ran systems, and rely very little on outside advertising. Plus, we are already highly profitable as a Web-Hosting firm. The Net Economy is being weeded out. The strong will prevail. We've been at this since 1994, and have been through it all. This is nothing more than a sponge bath.

We are lean and mean, and very effective. Datablocks.Net will undergo the LSM conversion, and will amaze!

See you all soon!

-Rory
LSM

[Coolin]

Since you still have part ownership in datablocks, why not convince them to use inline banners (preferably user-placable). We all know how popups will drive away all your users.

Also, will Tom have to use Lead Streams' banner system (popups :() or can he use his own?

[Cracker]

No, you should at least be like Angelfire or Tripod, and give the individual user a choice of whether to display the ad in a pop-up window or directly on the page. This way, you won't drive out members who use frames in their web designs.

[Datablocks]

Hey

The fact is, banner ads no longer make any money.. and trying to find banner ads for a FWP is next to impossible!

The Adguys popup does far better than any banner because its based on Keyword search and advertisers proxy bid for Keywords..

There is far more potential there then what you will find in a simple banner..

At least the adguys banner dont look like crap! :)


John
Adguys.net

[Coolin]

But popups are closed before they even download. That gives you even less revenue. Oh well, there goes my signup.