You might mistakenly think that information on the internet is free… But someone is actually paying for it.
Maybe it is you, maybe it is other internet users, or it could very well be the website owners themselves. Make no mistake though, someone is paying for it.
It is just like the radio that you listen to or the television that you watch, both of which are either funded by advertisers (commercials) or a subscription/premium fee (Sirius/XM, HBO, Showtime, etc.).
The internet is no different!
How the World Really Works
At military Disney Tips our very first goal (our mission) is to help you, the military family save on and have a great Disney vacation.
This site was started in 2008 with that intent. As the visibility and popularity of the site has grown, so have the costs of operating it.
While you might be getting information from the site “For Free,” it costs me money to provide that information to you. It also takes a considerable amount of time.
Rising costs…
MDT’s initial entry level costs of $165 per year in 2008 have grown and grown to where the 2013 operating costs were over mid-four digits, 2014 high four digits, and 2015 very close to five digits! That is before any travel costs for research. Update: since 2015 non-travel costs have risen to well into the 5 digits!
Over the years we’ve had to upgrade to a pricey private server with our web host to handle the traffic growth and huge spikes in traffic for major news releases, it now costs 13 times what we were paying for that particular expense back in 2013. Our Newsletter service charges by the number of people on the list, and we now have over 14,000 people on the list! There are many other services that we pay significant amounts for in order to bring you the free information on this site.
In order to cover our costs we rely on advertising income and sales of our own books (which we spend a huge amount of time producing). Update: the books were discontinued in 2020.
We know ads aren’t the most welcome thing in the world… But they are necessary for us to keep this this site running for you!
You will see various contextual ads on the site from our ad partners, these display ads that you might be interested in based on your browsing history or topic of the page you are on.
Other products and items that I recommend as an affiliate are absolutely the finest in our opinion and are all used or tried by MDT first.
Grumblers
Occasionally I’ll get an email, blog comment, or contact via other means asking a question similar to the following:
- Why should I buy your book when I can find everything I want on the internet for free?
- How can you charge for information about military discounts? Military discounts mean the information should be free!
- I’m telling [Insert Disney or Shades of Green] that you wrote a book about them and are charging for it…
- “Are you here to give us information or SELL us information? I thought your obligation was to provide all eligible persons information on the benefits, not sell us books or other programs!”
- “I really love the idea of all the military info being in one location, however, I am extremely disappointed that there is a charge for this. All Disney parks and cruise vacation planning dvd’s are free. Disney planners are free. This page offers lots of tips for military free. I say this is a disgrace and taking advantage of our military! These should be free! Someone is trying to get rich.”
- “I wonder if the book would be worth buying. I can’t Fathom what would be in there that isn’t already online. “
- “Riping off the military with your guide. I’ll let Disney know.”
People who ask questions or make statements like these have very little grasp on how the real world actually works!
Here are my thoughts on these words of wisdom from the deep thinkers above:
- Do you really think that I am obligated to spend my time money to provide you with information… Really? That’s worth nothing to you?
- What kind of buffoon thinks that Disney isn’t making any money? Hint, it’s all made on the travel and the free things mentioned are paid for by the huge profits… Rich? I wish!!!
- There is plenty in my WDW book that isn’t online, that’s the extra value provided by a book, besides having everything organized together in one logically arranged place.
- I work with Disney and they already know! But while you are at it you should tell them about every other Disney Guide book out there too, they must be rip offs as well…
Recently elsewhere online one person actually complained that he already paid his internet service provider for the internet and that those running websites had no right to make money by having advertising on their sites!
How totally ignorant and inconsiderate are these complainers to think that web content producers like myself should spend a huge amount of time and huge amount of money to provide them content for free. And also think that they have no responsibility to consider supporting, or just being kind to those people who do provide them “free” information. How about a couple bucks for the effort?
Ad Blocking Software
I would really appreciate it if you do not use Ad Blockers when browsing MDT! The ads on the site pay for you to see the information provided on the site!
Using an ad blocker is cheating the system. It is like going out to eat at a restaurant and refusing to pay for your meal. [Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love]
A misconception of those who block ads is that websites are only paid for people clicking on ads and that if they are not someone who clicks on ads, their blocking the ads has no impact.
This is not true!
Besides being paid by clicks for some ads, websites earn money by simply displaying other ads to viewers, if you are blocking the ads and don’t allow them to be displayed, there will be no pay for the content producer (website owner). Other ads are purchased outright for time periods and low view statistics make these ad slots less valuable.
If a website owner can’t cover their costs they may decide to quit! Then all of their Free Information that you love will be deleted from the internet.
You are under no obligation to buy anything, just like when you listen to the radio or watch TV, you are free to ignore the ads. Just don’t block them! “
So again, I ask that you disable any ad blocking software when browsing Military Disney Tips, or any other website who’s content that you value.
By doing so you can help keep the internet full of useful content (by keeping sites from going out of business) and “Free” (one option for websites is to start charging a fee or subscription to see their information, some have started this already!).
Thanks for your understanding!
Steve