Scientific American Partnership

  • Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
  • Start date
In summary, Physics Forums and Scientific American have announced a partnership that will involve PF joining the Scientific American Network and participating in their ad model. This partnership brings the support and connections of a leader in the science industry, as well as the promise of higher revenue for PF. The ad model will feature professional and non-intrusive graphical ads and will not increase the number of ad units on PF. Other benefits include a special partner page on Sciam's homepage, an RSS feed, and potential content sharing projects in the future. The partnership is effective April 1st and is not an April Fools joke.
  • #1
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I am proud and happy to announce a partnership between Physics Forums and Scientific American. Over the past few weeks PF and Sciam have been in discussion on how they can help each other. The conclusion is that PF will enter into the very selective and prominent Scientific American Network. First and foremost it means we have the support of a giant in the industry. Secondly it means we will be participating in their ad model and possible future content sharing etc. Let me explain further by answering some likely questions.

Why would you want Scientific Americans support?
Scientific American is a leader in the science industry. Not only in magazine, but online and all mediums. It is a known brand in most houses and more importantly in every university. Scientific American can open many doors and connections for future growth.

What is this ad model
This is very significant. Scientific American (Sciam) has their own ad network which dishes out ad campaigns. Instead of using Google text ads we will be moving to Sciam's graphical ads. However, note, when no Sciam campaigns are running, you may see Google ads. This is in our best interest because Sciam has direct connections with top science and technology companies. Sciam also has high quality standards. We will no longer see crackpot theories advertised. And obviously this has the promise of higher revenue which help keep PF running and growing.

Graphical ads scare me, tell me more about them
I am confident these ads will be professional, not the silly and annoying banner ads that flash colors and try to trick you. The ads will not contain popups or intrusive flash animations.

How many and where will the ads be
There will be no increase in ad units. Just replacing 1-1. On the homepage we will actually decrease to 1 unit under the navbar and take out the small ad on the right side bar at the bottom. At the thread level we will have one under the navbar and add one to the first post of every page. The first post will be split in half. The left side with the post content and the right side with the ad. The google links unit under the first post will be eliminated. And as always those with Gold memberships will still see NO ads.

What else can you tell me
PF will be getting a special partner page off Sciam's homepage highlighting and describing PF to Sciam visitors. We will also be running an RSS feed for Sciam in replacement of the Science Daily feed we are currently running. In exchange for the feed we will be getting a number of free banner ads on Sciam to attract visitors to PF.

What is this content sharing about?
With the new partnership the future is very bright and it allows PF and Sciam to work together in many projects. One of these possible projects in for Sciam to host/linkto content on PF dynamicly off Sciam's website. There are a few other things in being talked about too and as soon as they have some substance I will let everyone know.

I am concerned PF will change or Sciam will take over
Quite honestly most will never know much of a difference. I can't speak for the future on how things can change. All I can say is that we want to remain as independent and flexible as we can while still setting up connections with industry leaders. I remain in complete control and value our indepedence greatly. Any changes will be for the better, you can be sure of that. Again, you'll likely see no changes, certainly no functional or overall appearance changes.

This Partnership is effective April 1st. And no, this is not an April Fools joke, this is a real deal. If you have any futher questions please feel free to ask.
 
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  • #2
I'll take you at your word that it isn't a gag, and offer my congratulations. I've been buying Sciam for almost 40 years, so I certainly approve of their presence.
 
  • #3
I was definitely most concerning about the last bold point =[ I don't look forward to the ever increasing waves of randoms who create an account, make 30 posts and never return. But I'm sure it will open new windows for PF, and I trust your judgment, so welcome Sciam =].
 
  • #4
Beats the church of Scientology at any rate...
 
  • #5
I actually thought that was already the case. Sounds like a plan.
 
  • #6
Great news, good work Greg! A partnership with Sciam can only be a good thing; replacing the Google ads with Sciam ads, lends an air of professionalism to PF. Furthermore, the potential targeted exposure for PF on the Sciam website must be huge, equally, the Sciam ads on PF are likely to be more relevant to the PF readership.
 
  • #7
I am a regular reader of Scientific American and other popular magazines. I welcome any association with such a great publication. I welcome the step. I am new to PF and has started loving it. It is a big help to have some one talk to you on Physics. That way, I am happy about the association. I am not much bothered about the ads et al. As long as PF and Scian continue to make science logical and understandable and enjoyable, that is enough!
 
  • #8
Congrats1

Happy birthdays Math Is Hard& zoobyshoe, BTW!:wink:
 
  • #9
I'm particularly unbothered by the ads. In fact I don't think I've seen any in about 5 of the nearly 6 years I've been on this site. :wink: :smile:
 
  • #10
Congratulations, Greg! This is a great idea which will not only increase exposure of PF, but also confirms PF's stance as the most credible and professional physics forum on the net.
 
  • #11
:smile: Releasing the news just in time for April Fools Day might not have been the best timing after the Church of Scientology joke last year, but this one's for real.
 
  • #12
Moonbear said:
:smile: Releasing the news just in time for April Fools Day might not have been the best timing after the Church of Scientology joke last year, but this one's for real.

You over reached with Scientology, should of gone for Christian Science, more believable. :smile:

Actually where's my April Fools wheeze, I'm quite disappointed nobody thought something up, like an article about spaghetti growing on trees. Or Stephen Hawking builds time machine or CERN creates black hole in test run: fears confirmed or string theory proven correct, or something somewhat believable but incredible. :smile:
 
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  • #13
In nearly all countries but the US (e.g., Canada, Singapore, Philippines, India, Australia, UK) PF enjoys a similar or much better page rank than sciam.com. Sciam has a lot to gain from this partnership too.
 
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  • #14
Not that it's vitally important, but from an aesthetic point of view are you permitted to edit the SciAm link at the bottom of the pages such that it has a transparent background?
 
  • #15
Hootenanny said:
Not that it's vitally important, but from an aesthetic point of view are you permitted to edit the SciAm link at the bottom of the pages such that it has a transparent background?

No, but I'll certainly request it matches the background. Shouldn't be a problem.
 
  • #16
Greg Bernhardt said:
No, but I'll certainly request it matches the background. Shouldn't be a problem.
Good stuff, thanks Greg :smile:
 
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  • #17
Congrats Greg! Funny it became effective on April 1st.
 
  • #18
Evo said:
Congrats Greg! Funny it became effective on April 1st.

If it is an April fools day wheeze let me just say in advance that it's rubbish. :biggrin:
 
  • #19
No, it's legitimate, Greg told us about it recently.
 
  • #20
Evo said:
No, it's legitimate, Greg told us about it recently.

Yes the timing is merely an unfortunate coincidence
 
  • #21
Schrodinger's Dog said:
If it is an April fools day wheeze let me just say in advance that it's rubbish. :biggrin:

There's a Sciam link at the bottom of the page, even!
 
  • #22
Now don't you start making trouble! :biggrin:

No joke. The staff has known about this for about ten days.
 
  • #23
Evo said:
No, it's legitimate, Greg told us about it recently.

I know I was just joshing. :smile: By rubbish I mean it's way too believable to be a good April 1st prank. :smile:

It's an art I think, too silly and no one will believe it, too credible and everyone will. Fools day is about making the gullible look foolish. :smile:
 
  • #24
This seems like it will work out great for both sites. Congrats Greg! You run a great website here and deserve this recognition.:approve:
 
  • #25
Makes me proud to be part of PF. Good work Greg.
 
  • #26
I'll be awaiting my check in the mail thank you.
 
  • #27
BRIGHT IDEA, can we get a free subscription?
 
  • #28
Cyrus said:
BRIGHT IDEA, can we get a free subscription?

I can't comment on this yet.
 
  • #32
Ooh! Cool :smile:
 
  • #33
(Im just kiddding about the subscription.) I hate getting mail and magazines because it just keeps piling up and up and up before I have time to read it. Id rather just read the website online. BTW they have a really nice looking website. Can we have a PF skin that follows the Sciam style? Its very GQ.
 
  • #34
Gosh, now I'm all curious about these Sciam ads... Wait! I've got it!
*runs away and comes back without logging in*
 
  • #35
Ummmm...
While I was gone, I didn't see any graphical banner ad thingies. I am mucho dissapointedo.
But this whole partnership with scientific american is too cool! Legitimacy at last! (ducks the frozen fish slap)
 

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