[OSM-talk] Survey: How to pay the OSM bill

[Laurence Penney]

Christoph Eckert wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> while OSM is a volunteer project, it is obvious that it needs money to 
> keep the needed infrastructure (hardware, bandwidth, ...) up and 
> running. Currently there's some discussion about the newly introduced 
> ads on our beloved map. Some agree, some disagree with ads on the map.
> 
> All who disagree on advertising on the map have to elaborate 
> alternatives. IMO there should be a polpular vote whether we agree on 
> maps or even not. If someone votes against the ads, he/she also needs 
> to vote for fundraising alternatives.
> 
> I can imagine different kinds of ads:
> * Mappam ads as currently seen on the project's main page
> * Static banners on the main page
> * Temporary banners on the main page

We should also consider a menu where you select the ad layers you want 
with checkboxes. (I'd prefer a default of "all ads off".) Google Earth 
is exemplary here. Buying houses, buying cars, special offers from 
local shops - these are all things I would switch on at some time, but 
they would annoy me 99% of the time.

Before ad fans reject a default of "all ads off" we should compare 
clickthru rates of opt-in and opt-out.

Quite apart from the ad debate, we need a debate about which things 
should be on the default map tiles, and which things on layers above 
them. In a layer menu, ad layers should be identified as such and 
include a link to the advertiser. Since some ad layers will be 
genuinely useful to many, perhaps we can add community ratings for 
excellent layers, whether they are ads or not.

How do we formulate a policy on what ads are acceptable? Can we 
publish my geo-referenced database of strip clubs and drug dens? Who 
vets advertisers to check they're not pushing malware?

- L