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On Sunday night we received by James Marino

  • On Sunday night we received an email from a reader regarding the new text ads from Google that have been running on BroadwayStars.com for the past few weeks. Here it is, in its entirety:

      Does it bother you that Google lists links to ticket brokers and scalpers on your website? It does bother me, A LOT.

      You're in good (well "good" might not be the best word) company, as the NY Post's website does the same thing. In fact, the article yesterday about the brokers bussing in homeless from PA to be the first in line for today's Producers on sale, "featured" 4 links to buy online broker tickets at greatly inflated prices through brokers. Kinda ironic. Being a Broadway professional for 10 years, I find it about as offensive or tacky, obviously not as serious, but humor me, as listing gun ads on an article about guns used in crimes. The fact that "we" (meaning the Broadway community) allows this to happen shocks me. I know it's hard to regulate this act, but by allowing these links to continue, it, in a sense, gives our approval. Why not list the links to re-sellers such as Broadway Inner Circle, where at least the great majority of the increase benefits the creative team and producers of the production. Or how about a link to Actors Fund where the overage goes to people in need, and not some scumsucking greaseball scalper.

      Having been a daily reader of Broadwaystars.com for two plus years I find it absolutely shocking that you would allow this to happen on your website. Yes it's a free country and scalping tickets is as American, unfortunately, as Apple Pie and Trailer Parks, but it puts money in the pockets of these creepy and sleazy brokers, and out of the pockets of the productions or folks in need.

    I think this is a valid argument, and I knew that it would eventually come up but here is my rationale:

    First of all, most people who read BroadwayStars.com fall into one of two categories. Either they are industry insiders (including media) or super-fans who are already well acquainted with box offices, ticket discounts, Tele-Charge, Ticketmaster, et al. BroadwayStars.com has very little traffic from the general public who has no interest in the news of the day from Broadway and just wants tickets to Mamma Mia. Our readers are very well educated in the area of getting tickets and most are aware of the ticket programs at BC/EFA and The Actor's Fund if they need that "must have" ticket and are willing to pay 2x face value in the form of a donation to these great groups.

    Secondly, BroadwayStars.com cannot reasonably control the content of the Google Ads. We can ban certain ads based on their destination link, but as there are so many scalper websites out there, it is nearly impossible to do that. And besides, from the point above, our readers don't need the services of a scalper -- so the ad is harmless.

    So, the root of the issue -- advertising. BroadwayStars.com is a small idea that grew into a large one. While it was never intended to be a source of revenue, I hoped that one day it would pay for itself. I turned to Google Ads as a simple way to generate revenue without having to hire an advertising department. I couldn't see fighting the other websites for advertising revenue when we get our content mostly from them! (It's that biting the hand that feeds you thing.)

    Rest assured, BroadwayStars.com does not condone scalping. If you want to vote against the scalpers and help us at the same time... click on their link at the top of our page. This will cost the scalpers money and help BroadwayStars.com with some revenue. (Yeah, it is only a few cents, but if everyone who reads the site does it, we can bring you more cool things!)

    And as a last note, we have added links to Telecharge.com and Ticketmaster.com on the upper left hand side of the page in case some newbie trips over our site and needs to purchase tickets. BroadwayStars.com does not receive any revenue from the Telecharge or Ticketmaster links.

    Thanks for your input. It is always welcome and appreciated.

    - James Marino

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    Published on Tuesday, November 18, 2003

    James Marino is the founder of BroadwayStars. A technology geek with a love of theatre, he has been involved with many aspects of show business throughout his lifetime. James lives on Long Island with his wife and two kids. He loves to email and is never very far from an internet device. You can contact him in many ways:
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