Does MyBB make money at all? They would be rolling in the dough if they have banner ads, but they have none. The software they put tons of hard work into is free. If there's no ads, and if the software is free, how does MyBB manage to make money...or do they?
We don't exactly make money. We have a few ads on the home page that give us a bit to put towards the server costs for the month, and the rest tends to come out of Chris Boulton's pocket.
Of course, donations help reduce the amount that he pays.
There are text-link-ads on the home page.
SMF has AdSense on their forums, I'm not sure how much that brings in.
I would add adsense to the main forums I think that would help a lot and help generate some cashflow then something like charter members like SMF does to help generate recurring reveneue.
phpBB has really expensive textlinks and adsense on their forums.
Chris has always had that option but I must say I love him for not taking those routes
. I wouldn't be mad if it changed as I would completely understand why. But, it's nice having such a clean site and forum.
(2010-06-30, 04:57 AM)Alex Smith Wrote: [ -> ]Chris has always had that option but I must say I love him for not taking those routes . I wouldn't be mad if it changed as I would completely understand why. But, it's nice having such a clean site and forum.
I wouldn't see it anyways. So I wouldn't care.
Ryan Gordon is a pro.
Chris Boulton is a pro.
The MyBB staff are pro.
The people that donate are pro.
Free, open-source software is feh teh weh.
They wouldn't make that much from banner ads. Probably $100-$300 a month would be my guess. It might be enough to pay server costs. Forums generally pay really low because the frequent viewing of ads my regular members makes them numb to clicking.
As it stands MyBB is a money losing project. At least I'm fairly sure. For one staff doesn't get paid at all. For another they are on an expensive dedicated. Even with $200 a month server costs MyBB loses money. Chris didn't start this project to make money and probably for that same reason it's not his main concern. He's rarely here as he attends his real world job that does pay him.
This is the partial problem with running a free project. They can suffer from stagnation when people have to divert their efforts toward actual income. Eventually guys like Ryan Gordon are going to get full-time jobs and will not want to waste his valuable free time with free projects. Others will go to college and not have much time available after their studies.
I'm probably getting off topic. Bottom line is that MyBB isn't a business and any money it does make is paled in comparison to the work the team pushes out.
(2010-06-30, 06:47 AM)labrocca Wrote: [ -> ]As it stands MyBB is a money losing project. At least I'm fairly sure. For one staff doesn't get paid at all. For another they are on an expensive dedicated. Even with $200 a month server costs MyBB loses money. Chris didn't start this project to make money and probably for that same reason it's not his main concern. He's rarely here as he attends his real world job that does pay him.
This is the partial problem with running a free project. They can suffer from stagnation when people have to divert their efforts toward actual income. Eventually guys like Ryan Gordon are going to get full-time jobs and will not want to waste his valuable free time with free projects. Others will go to college and not have much time available after their studies.
hard to hear but true all the same
but then again someone else would just step up ..someone always does
(2010-06-30, 06:47 AM)labrocca Wrote: [ -> ]They wouldn't make that much from banner ads. Probably $100-$300 a month would be my guess. It might be enough to pay server costs. Forums generally pay really low because the frequent viewing of ads my regular members makes them numb to clicking.
As it stands MyBB is a money losing project. At least I'm fairly sure. For one staff doesn't get paid at all. For another they are on an expensive dedicated. Even with $200 a month server costs MyBB loses money. Chris didn't start this project to make money and probably for that same reason it's not his main concern. He's rarely here as he attends his real world job that does pay him.
This is the partial problem with running a free project. They can suffer from stagnation when people have to divert their efforts toward actual income. Eventually guys like Ryan Gordon are going to get full-time jobs and will not want to waste his valuable free time with free projects. Others will go to college and not have much time available after their studies.
I'm probably getting off topic. Bottom line is that MyBB isn't a business and any money it does make is paled in comparison to the work the team pushes out.
Ubuntu is free open-source software and they are still running strong. Investors are the key.