Your Thoughts On Using Flash On Paysites / Affiliate Program Designs?

[Lee]

What do you all think of this?

Personally i beleive there is a place for flash on both sponsor program and pay site however, i think a lot of companies go over the top by adding 'sound' to their flash presentations.

Do you think utilizing flash on a site in the industry is warranted and, specifically on paysites, how do you think the surfer reacts when they get hit with flash?

Regards,

Lee

[gaystoryman]

My personal view is that flash (when done right) is great, but given some other factors, I'd prefer using it within the paysite member area rather than out.. to me the outside is more of a selling feature or billboard, i want it SEO to snare that free targeted traffic, use other methods like TGPs and such for traffic too, where page load is critical.

Once they have bought in, I'd say page load takes less prominence, plus SE is moot. And i'd say flash (used properly) is a great member retainer rather than as a selling tool.

but just my warped opinion.

Ian

[Bec]

I think flash is cool, but it has a lot of drawbacks ... slow load times, problems for SE's, and some people feel that it has security problems and won't enable their computers to "see" flash when they surf. With that in mind ... I'd only use the effect as a compliment to a page that would still stand on its own. Flash as a full fledge site ... I'd say NO ... with the exception of sites that need it for stuff like gaming, in which case, it's assumed the people using the site have the kind of system needed to view it.

[Matt 26z]

I think webmasters (adult and mainstream) need to step back and look at the Flash abuses going on right now. At this point Flash is primarily used for cartoons, games and annoying advertisements. This means that the average web surfer may see fit in the near future to block Flash.

Webmasters abused popup's and look what happened. Flash is next. This is going to be a big issue within 2 years. Mark my words.

As for the adult industry.... I think sponsors almost have to pull out all the bells and whistles to attract the average affiliate these days. Some of the best converting paysites out there have a bad sponsor page backing them and affiliates simply won't touch the program. Yet so many other sponsors have spent more on their sponsor page than on any of their paysite tours, and they get the affiliates. And many times, Flash comes into play.

For paysites, I'd never implement Flash in a way in which usability of the site was dependant upon it. Especially considering some Flash is processor dependant, and it just looks bad unless the user has a faster computer.