Starting in May 2005, I will be implementing Google Ads on the Storm Highway web site on a trial basis. While I have traditionally stayed away from advertising on this site, I've made this decision to experiment with ads for the following reasons:
Operating Costs - Maintaining the Storm Highway site is a time-consuming endeavor, paid for out-of-pocket. In order to justify the time and expense of maintaining fresh content on the site (beyond the occasional 'spare-time' update), the site must be able to generate revenue in some way.
Site Traffic - Storm Highway receives a large amount of traffic every day, which holds significant potential value in web advertising.
Ad Source - Google ads are a tasteful choice for this application, since the ads will be relevant to what this site is about (weather, storms, etc). There is no danger of ads appearing which are obscene or conflict with Christian values. The ads are text-based and will appear along the lower sides and bottom of the pages, so they will not detract from the appearance of the site. There will be no animated GIF or Flash-based ads.
How does this affect the mission of Storm Highway?
Storm Highway has and always will be primarily a ministry-based project, with the main goal of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. However, there is a cost involved in keeping the site fresh and maintaining the level of traffic it currently experiences. This was easier to do when I was younger and had more time and less responsibilities. Without any revenue coming from the site, I cannot continue to update the site to keep the flow of visitors steady. Modest advertising is a responsible and effective way to ensure that this site can keep running as it has been.
Will the ads appear on all Storm Highway pages?
I will not be placing ads on the Gospel page ('The Message'), the Storm Chaser Database, or any other page which would not be appropriate for advertising/commercialization or anywhere that might introduce a conflict of interest. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
My work is, at this very moment you are reading this, generating the most income it ever has in my career. Yet, I was forced to shut down the professional side of my successul operation, against my will, due to one cause alone: 95% of that revenue is being stolen by piracy and copyright infringement. I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. Do not be misled by the lies of infringers, anti-copyright activists and organized piracy cartels. This page is a detailed, evidenced account of my battle I had to undertake to just barely stay in business, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem faced by all of my colleagues and most other creators in the field.
Web Site Design and Internet Marketing by CIS Internet
From Dan: Please Read
To my regular readers, I offer my apologies for this heavy-handed notice. Unfortunately it has become necessary, so please bear with me!
Please don't copy/upload this site's content to social media or other web sites. Those copies have been a critical problem for me, seriously harming this site and my photography/storm chasing operation by diverting traffic, viewers, engagement and income. "Credit" and "exposure" does not benefit this site or my operation, rather they threaten my ability to cover my operating expenses. Please read my full explanation for this notice here.
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