Image Rating Sites

[DigitalJay]

Sites like HotOrNot, RateaRod, etc. What do you think of them? Are there already too many? Was it a fad that is on it's way out? Is there any way to make money off of sites like these? Which script(s) works best? Do you think sites like this in niches would work? (as in, rate my slave, rate my houseboy, rate my pierced dick, etc ) Any comments or knowledge on this type of site would be much appreciated.

[DigitalJay]

I REALLY want everyone's opinion on this so don't be afraid to reply!

[Xstr8guy]

I have no idea how lucrative these type of sites are, but I haven't looked at one in over a year. They were fun for a while but I got bored with them.

[BDBionic]

The main problem I had with one that I worked with was how it was jampacked full of teenagers. Try getting them to pay for anything. It was a non-adult site - just pic rating, profiles, forums. Became a very popular site, though, with over 1.5 million members at last count and one of the best known rating sites out there. So even with a small percentage of folk being paid members, it's still a big enough number to generate quite a lot of revenue. And ad revenue made up a significant portion of income too. Could charge a hefty amount for ads when you have 1.5million users.

It was entirely non-adult, though, so I can't really speak to a couple of the specifics you mentioned, Jay.

All in all, though, I think they do quite well. People like the voyeurism/exhibitionism aspect of them. They like to show off and like to see real people. Give them the opportunity to do that and they'll most likely take it.

[DigitalJay]

Thanks for restoring my optimism BD! This is my current project, and as always I'm putting my all into it. I have a few spins that make it absolutely unlike any that are currently out there, but I don't know if they'll be enough to give me an edge. Plus i'm gonna be using a super-budget script because irater and such are just too damn much. As always I'm doing all I can do incorperate aspects of reality television and bring out guys competitive edge, so I think i'll find my niche and it'll work out nicely. Mine WILL have a forum, but because of budget it will be a seperate script with seperate signup, so it will probably not be as busy as it could be...

As far as having a members area, I don't want that, I can't afford the visa fee. Would it be idiotic to put the whole thing behind an AVS? Possibly a premium monthly recurring one? The only thing i'll get out of it is affiliate ad revenue.

[Lee]

As long as you have a solid base of traffic i see no reason why you shouldnt try one.

As Brian mentioned, they are good for getting repeat traffic and, the more times a surfer views an ad, the more chance you have of them clicking on one and, ultimately making a sale.

So long as they are able to buy of course

Regards,

Lee

[DigitalJay]

I have no solid base of traffic, at all. The content itself will provide the traffic though so that is oK. I was thinking you are right about repeat traffic Lee. The few spins I have on the basic site idea will make for a lot more repeat traffic and banner clicks than other sites of this type too, so hopefully it'll all just come down to if I have decent conversian ratios or not.

[basschick]

er... how will the content provide traffic?

[DigitalJay]

AVS sites, TGP galleries, etc etc...original amateur content, sounds good to me!