When I first started the website I was the only one. This meant I could use google ads and really had no competition. I averaged around 5 cents per click whenever someone was searching for UFO Database, or I saw a UFO, or a variety of 100 other keywords. At 5 cents per click I would get between 100 and 200 clicks per day, and a great number of UFO reports. I may have been a bit crazy to pay for google clicks on a website that generates no income. A website not even trying to monetize itself, not even plans to monetize in the future. Fast forward to today and the landscape has changed a bit. UFOs have become mainstream and sites have popped up capitalizing on the traffic. Now clicks in this area are around $1 per click. This makes getting traffic from Google Ads a no-go, beyond a poor decision, just not a possibility for a sane individual.
I’ve experienced this issue throughout my life, throughout my time building Internet ventures. I’ll have an idea, I’ll start a site, but when it starts to gain traction, another company will start, a company with venture capital, and they will leapfrog ahead of whatever I’m doing. I’m basically seeding the Internet with great ideas, so that people with more money can come in and overshadow what I’m doing. I don’t really care, because I’m not motivated by money. I really couldn’t care less. Unfortunately, the websites that pop up are often made using generic website platforms, and they don’t share the same motivations that got me going in the first place. UFOIndex.com is one example. As someone very knowledgeable in programming, I wanted to make something that actually analyzes the data, and provides a great user experience. The sites that have leapfrogged my site just seem generic. I don’t understand their motivations or how they would generate a profit. I fund my website entirely myself. It costs money and I can’t even conceive of how it would become profitable, but profitability is not the goal this site. I spend money to find others who have had similar experiences, to alleviate a very strange type of loneliness.
I started the website because I had a close encounter with 3 amber-colored orbs in the late 90’s. A very close encounter. This was a life changing event for me. Ever since, I’ve wanted to connect with others who have also had these experiences. Unfortunately, many other platforms have popped up to document UFO sightings and I don’t know their motivations. I can’t seem to find any information that talks about their motivations. It makes me wonder if they’re just trying to capitalize on the growing traffic around UFOs and other phenomena that has been taking over the news lately.
I’ll keep working on my website. I’m sure these other websites will come and go because they lack concrete motivation. A motivation that transcends monetary value, to know something is coming here and wanting to gather more data.
Check out my UFO Reporting Database. It’s a labor of love these days.
