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We have been receiving a number of requests for Gaia to help promote products and services lately. It's kind of strange to be in the situation where others noticed that we're big enough to catch people's attention.
Since the first day we opened, I had always wanted to make Gaia a totally free site, and the cost of running the site would be handled by advertisers and sponsors. Though at the beginning, Gaia was too small to make any money from sponsorships. There was no one to help pay for the cost of running the site, and we thought that Gaia would need to close down permanently.
If not for the support of users contributing by purchasing the Monthly Collectables, there wouldn't be a Gaia today. Contributions from Gaia members have allowed us to grow and get more and more staff to develop for the site. Similarly, when we receive payment from sponsors, every single dollar goes back to buying more equipment and getting more staff members.
Since we announced the sponsorship, there seem to be a lot of concerns over the direction Gaia is headed. And I must stress that we share the exact same concerns. As creators, we're all Gaians at heart, and we wouldn't do anything to ruin your experience as fellow Gaians.
I think that most users would notice that we only have banner ads on 20% of the pages on Gaia. Even though we can make five times more money, we know that it sucks to see ads everywhere, so we made the decision to have fewer ads. Meanwhile, the same thought had went into all our sponsorship promotions, where we will make things that are fun and meaningful, but not invasive in any way. Gaians who wish to participate will get a good experience, while others who are not interested will not be bothered by them.
I think that what we have planned is a good balance between getting further support for the development of Gaia and maintaining a free environment. Once the promotion is launched next week, please give us as much feedback as you please, and we'll try our hardest to shape promotions in the future to cater to everyone's likes and needs.
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