OMs and YLs,
There is a new Banner Exchange Website up for Ham Radio Web sites.
The URL is:
http://www.cq-cq.org. It is called the Ham Banner Exchange
(HBE).
A Banner Exchange is a way of allowing your 468 x 60 banner to be
displayed on other Web sites in return for allowing other sites banners
to be displayed on yours.
This site has been created since the previous service providing
Banner Exchange for Ham Radio Web sites went dark. There is a need for
such a service so here it is.
It uses a commercially developed script. The site is fully
functional and a set of FAQs is has been developed. You must log in to
see the FAQs.
If you have a personal Ham Radio Web site and wish to attract more
traffic, you can exchange links with other web site owners or use a
banner exchange. Sites selling ham products and services are also
welcome.
Like QSL Net, it is a free service to ham radio operators. I may
get to the point where I'll accept a donation or two (like QSL Net does).
But I will limit donations to a small amount. I'm not going to allow
money to govern how often a particular banner appears on other Web sites.
For now, I am not accepting any donations.
The way it works is that you get an account by signing up on the
main page. Next, you create a campaign for your Web site/page. You
upload your 468 x 60 banner. Then you provide the URL where you would
like to see traffic.
Once I review your Web site, see that you've installed the HTML
snippet of code on the *top* part of your Web page (Above The Fold), and
activate your account on the Banner Exchange, your banner will be shown
randomly on other HBE member sites. They can click on the banner and be
taken to your site.
It runs on units called 'impressions'. Impressions are credits.
When you sign up, you get five thousand impressions. You assign as many
as you want to your campain(s) (I suggest you start out with a thousand
impressions on your campaign). And yes, you can have multiple campaigns.
The lower your impressions balance, the less often your banner will
appear on other sites.
When your site displays a banner, you will be credited one (for
now) impression to your account. If someone clicks on it, you will get
additional impression(s) added to your account for displaying their
banner (I am still working out the specific numbers for this. As time
goes by, I may adjust this a bit). When your banner is displayed on
another site, at least one impression will be debited from your account.
Go to the Ham Banner Exchange site at
http://www.cq-cq.org. You will see
two banners at the top. Click on the right one (the right one is a
randomly displayed banner from one of the member sites).
You will go to another member site. You will see another Banner on
that site. You can click on it. And this can go on and on.
I am not collecting or distributing data other than what I actually
need to run the site. But I do need your email address to contact you if
there is an issue about your Web site.
As far as terms of service, it is a service that I am providing at
no cost or obligation to you or you to me. If you use it and decide you
don't like it, you are free to remove the code from your page and delete
your account and banner(s) from the Ham Banner Exchange (you can have
multiple banners for the same campaign). Whether or not your site content
is acceptable is according to my judgement. As long as there is ham
content, nothing offensive, no pop up ads (unless ham related), and the
banner is displayed on the top of your page, there would probably be no
reason for me to preclude your site participation.
I will make every effort to see that it runs reliably. But I can't
be held financially responsible if the site goes down. I will consider that
beyond my control. But I have been running Web sites since 1995. While I
am not a PHP guru (the site runs on PHP scripts), I know enough about
Webmastering to address issues that arise. I did take a course in beginning
PHP and a complete overview of HTML some years back. I code HTML at the
text level. When I code PHP, I also code at the text level.
There is a forum for users to share information. I only answer
questions about HBE through that forum. If you have questions about it, I
would ask that you go to
http://www.cq-cq.org/forum and post them there. Then,
all can benefit from the information in the answer to your question.
If you have a ham site you'd like to publicize, please go to
http://www.cq-cq.org and sign up. Add at least a thousand impressions to your
campaign and upload a 468 x 60 pixel banner.
Sites will usually be reviewed within twenty-four hours. But it could
be more than that. As time goes by, maybe I can get a ham friend of mine to
stand in for me when I am traveling, etc..
The page must meet the following requirements:
1. The html snippet must appear near the top of the page. At the very
minimum, it must pop up visible in a maximized browser when someone accesses
your site. I refer to that as being ‘Above The Fold' at the suggestion that
was made when I publicized HBE on QRZ. This is only fair since your banner
will be displayed at the top of other member pages.
2. Neither the banner(s) nor the campaign(s) may be anything that is
offensive. This one everyone should understand.
3. The site must relate to Ham Radio and have significant Ham Radio
content.
4. There must be nothing on the site that ham radio operators would have
a problem with. What that means will be defined by the opinions of the ham
community at large.
5. Unless they are ham related, there must be no pop up ads on your site.
6. Your site must not have an adverse rating with McAfee SiteAdvisor.
The rule of thumb is a page that is well put together, relates to ham
radio, and won't offend. But I think that nothing listed here would get in
the way of anyone with a good ham site joining up.
Enjoy,
Fred, WB4AEJ
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