You may have noticed there are fewer ads in the actual posts today. We are terminating our relationship with an ad company that was underperforming.
Sadly for many, it is not the edge ads that pop up or into the screen. Those are helping pay the bills. You can “avoid” them with a larger display by zooming out to 90% on a PC or laptop (maybe 80%) and other methods I’ve shared when asked.
If we ever get the Grok App built (hint-hint), that mobile experience will be much different from the website mobile version you get now, so that’s in the pipeline (somewhere under the avalanche from Gunstock Mountain). Hopefully, it can get unearthed and pushed forward in the coming days and weeks.
The GrokMeets would be under there, too, if you were wondering.
And yes, there will be something else ad-wise (in-post) at some point, but we’re still fiddling around the edges. We are willing to ditch in-post ads altogether if we can raise by other means the monthly revenue they provide. That also means losing any automated ads if we can afford the change.
We manage and place ads ourselves at the top and in the sidebar, which helps, but it is inconsistent. We need to build consistent revenue streams so we can plan for upgrades and updates and pay the people who keep things on the backend well oiled and working correctly, and there’s that inflation thing crowding in on all of our costs.
Another change you’ll have noticed or not is that GrokTALK! started then disappeared. Scheduling Grok Gauntlets, travel and processing time, and an increase in other responsibilities coming to call precipitated its preemption. This is a hobby, and work and home do this thing where they demand more attention and make “free time” disappear.
Life was having a detrimental impact on the sort of program I wanted to provide, so I pulled the plug until we could do it right, or at least better. As fall and winter arrive, we’ll re-re-re-boot it because that’s what we do.
And our commitment to updating social media, always a challenge, has suffered for similar reasons. It’s been spotty, or perhaps inconsistent is a better word. We’re on Telegram, Minds, Gab, MeWe, Twitter, and a few others. And while it’s always better to just come directly on-site and or get the newsletter, we will maintain a few socials moving forward. Telegram, Minds, Gab, MeWe, and Twitter. The few others are probably going to savor the scent of rhetorical mothballs.
I’ll remind any followers there to get the daily newsletter or just hit the site for new content.
And.
Shortly after announcing that we were going to 9 posts a day, we went back to 11+, and that was because we had the content. You’ll have seen more op-eds in recent weeks and months. We also turned into GunstockGrok for a bit. That is winding down, but the stench lingers, so expect to “smell” updates as they become necessary.
We expect op-eds to continue strong until November and a few weeks after, regardless of the outcome. People will be pleased or pissed and need to celebrate or vent.
We’re here for you.
To close, thanks to everyone for reading, commenting, sharing, and sending us links and articles. I’m sure we’re missing a few, but we try. And we’re happy to share your opinions or other content when we can, but this isn’t a public utility.
We wouldn’t always be looking for ways to raise money if it were. We’d just charge more and blame global warming.
