Support Newgrounds!

[TomFulp]

When Newgrounds first hit the web in 1995, I was just goofing off after school. As a kid who spent countless hours toiling on cartoons and games no one would see, it was a breath of fresh air to share my work with the world.

Four years later, NG was a top 600 website with a growing section called The Portal, where I manually showcased Flash games and movies emailed to me by creators looking for exposure.

I hired my friend Ross and we launched an automated version of the Portal in 2000. It was the first ever place on the web that let you upload and showcase your games and movies instantly. Needless to say, it was a hit.

The dot com crash soon followed and like everyone, NG struggled through a period where ad revenue was hard to come by and expenses loomed ominously.

Having survived, NG began an upward trajectory that brought us to 2005, when we got an office, expanded the staff and got to work delivering NG to its maximum potential.

In the time since, NG has faced a sort of "death by a thousand cuts" scenario, with numerous competitors in the movie, gaming and music space. These sites have been backed by millions in venture capital and later bought for millions more by even bigger companies... you know the drill.

Throughout all this, NG has remained independent and has kept the bills paid.

Which brings us to our current reality: expenses have grown while our traffic has stayed the same and ad revenue has gone down.

One of our solutions to this is to stop leaning so heavily on advertisers and start leaning more on YOU, the people who enjoy NG.

Introducing the Supporter Upgrade. For $25, you will be branded a "Supporter" and will browse NG ad-free for one year. This includes the banner ads, 300x250 ads and site skins. It doesn't include the pre-roll ads contributors include in their games and movies.

Pages will load faster and run better. Everything looks REALLY NICE. You could run ad-block, but this works even better AND you are helping Newgrounds instead of contributing to its decline. I personally want to spend next year GROWING Newgrounds instead of agonizing over what to cut next.

There is a lot we hope to accomplish. Newgrounds was never intended to be a secondary dump on the information superhighway - it is a catalyst for creativity, a place where you meet the people you will create with for life.

We will accomplish great things with your support.

[LiquidFire]

Of course I'll support newgrounds <3

[Back-From-Purgatory]

I donated before the feature was even supposed to be live.

[Buoy]

At 9/17/12 03:15 PM, TomFulp wrote: tank_sm.gif

SOLD.

[Tony-DarkGrave]

how a bout a 50% EXP and B/P bonus and I'll buy three years of Support Upgrade right now?

[bigjonny13]

NG is the only site I keep adblock turned off for.

[TomFulp]

At 9/17/12 03:23 PM, big-jonny-13 wrote: NG is the only site I keep adblock turned off for.

GOOD ENOUGH.

[EJR]

At 9/17/12 03:20 PM, Back-From-Purgatory wrote: I donated before the feature was even supposed to be live.

OOPS

[ReNaeNae]

At 9/17/12 03:23 PM, big-jonny-13 wrote: NG is the only site I keep adblock turned off for.

Will there be a way for supporters to keep the ads? Every penny counts!

[Heretic-Anchorite]

Stuff is a little tight for me right now since I'm in school and all, but since I love this site, and have been here for awhile, I can spare $25 to support it.

[GoryBlizzard]

I already did my part 4 days ago even though I'm also tight on money. I never minded the ads to begin with, but I've felt and noticed a positive difference in my NG browsing experience.

[FromADistance]

I'm way ahead on that. What else can I do for you?

[DoctorStrongbad]

If there was a way to stop bans and having posts and/or reviews deleted, I would gladly pay.

[NATA]

At 9/17/12 03:23 PM, big-jonny-13 wrote: NG is the only site I keep adblock turned off for.

Doing this now as well

[TB1ZZL3]

Definitely gonna buy this once I get this job I'm shooting for. Viva Newgrounds!

[simon]

At 9/17/12 03:38 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: If there was a way to stop bans and having posts and/or reviews deleted, I would gladly pay.

Make more constructive posts/reviews - PROBLEM SOLVED.

I will support Newgrounds as soon as the month is over.

[Viper50]

I dont even use adblock...ever.
Also id gladly support Newgrounds when I have the money to do so.

[Otto]

FOR NEWGROUNDS!

gimme 20 minutes

[VicariousE]

At 9/17/12 03:15 PM, TomFulp wrote: Which brings us to our current reality: expenses have grown while our traffic has stayed the same and ad revenue has gone down.

Location, location, location... of where to put NG ads on the net. Try and find sites that have increasing traffic with the demography you're looking for. It might seem like trickle-down economics, but you have to keep up with population growth. The unholy YouTube alliance (of sorts) has helped, but there are plenty of fringe sites (4chan?) that have future NG members just waiting to be told "We're here!"

Can I mail you a personal check for the Supporter service, or am I making a 20th century gaffe here?

[TomFulp]

At 9/17/12 03:34 PM, ReNaeNae wrote:

At 9/17/12 03:23 PM, big-jonny-13 wrote: NG is the only site I keep adblock turned off for.

Will there be a way for supporters to keep the ads? Every penny counts!

I'll see about adding a toggle to the account settings area. :)

[TomFulp]

At 9/17/12 03:48 PM, VicariousE wrote: Location, location, location... of where to put NG ads on the net. Try and find sites that have increasing traffic with the demography you're looking for. It might seem like trickle-down economics, but you have to keep up with population growth. The unholy YouTube alliance (of sorts) has helped, but there are plenty of fringe sites (4chan?) that have future NG members just waiting to be told "We're here!"

Can I mail you a personal check for the Supporter service, or am I making a 20th century gaffe here?

I was actually gonna advertise on Drawception before it started running ads but we never ended up doing it. I do want to look for small opportunities in places with the sort of people who would be a fun fit on Newgrounds.

And a check could work - I could just convert it to store credit and then you can use the store credit to buy stuff.

[Step]

I would love to support Newgrounds but I don't have a credit card. Yet. But the instant I get one I'll get the Supporter upgrade gladly (if it's still around).

In the meantime I'll continue doing my audio mod work to support the site which has so far hopefully compensated for my postponed payment.

[Nijsse]

I'd love to help out, after all these years Newgrounds is still my favorite website.

Are there any other ways of payment, like Paypal/Moneybookers/Whatever? Us Euros (or at the very least Dutchies) almost never use/own creditcards. In short: I want to give you my money, but I don't know how. =)

[Tony-DarkGrave]

for Supporters they should get a extra 10EXP and for B/P you get 2 instead of 1. and my debit card ain't working does NG have a Paypal account I could send $25 to and you give me store credit?

[mandog]

So if I run adblock I am KILLING ng?

[BrokenDeck]

Would love to have a way to pay you through PayPal. Or would the cost of setting up PayPal be prohibitive at this time?

[Tony-DarkGrave]

At 9/17/12 03:57 PM, BrokenDeck wrote: Would love to have a way to pay you through PayPal. Or would the cost of setting up PayPal be prohibitive at this time?

yeah PayPal would be useful.

[wreckr]

At 9/17/12 03:57 PM, mandog wrote: So if I run adblock I am KILLING ng?

Essentially it makes you a leech. Using up the bandwidth and netting them no profit from ads.

[DoctorStrongbad]

At 9/17/12 03:46 PM, simon wrote:

At 9/17/12 03:38 PM, DoctorStrongbad wrote: If there was a way to stop bans and having posts and/or reviews deleted, I would gladly pay.

Make more constructive posts/reviews - PROBLEM SOLVED.

Thank you for insulting. lol Mods are so aggressive these days.

I have been on NewGrounds for many years ,and I would enjoy supporting you Tom.

[LiquidFire]

At 9/17/12 03:56 PM, Tony-DarkGrave wrote: for Supporters they should get a extra 10EXP and for B/P you get 2 instead of 1. and my debit card ain't working does NG have a Paypal account I could send $25 to and you give me store credit?

Nah we should get 990 extre exp per day.